When the Roots Are Not the Problem: Violence , discrimination, hatted Begins at the Top
Many of society’s problems do not originate at the grassroots or among ordinary people. More often, they begin at the top—where power is concentrated, decisions are made, narratives are shaped, and divisions are sometimes deliberately cultivated.
Ordinary people generally live, work and coexist with one another. They share neighbourhoods, workplaces, markets and public spaces. Differences of religion, caste, language, region or ideology need not necessarily become sources of conflict. It is often the politics of power that turns these differences into divisions.
When those in positions of authority promote hatred, create fear, manipulate identities or deliberately deepen social fault lines, the consequences eventually reach the grassroots.
Violence may then appear to be a problem among ordinary people, while its deeper causes lie in the decisions, rhetoric and policies emanating from above.
A healthy society therefore cannot address violence merely by controlling its symptoms at the lower level. It must also examine who creates the conditions for division, who benefits from social polarisation, and how institutions of power are being used.
The responsibility of leadership is not to manufacture enemies but to build trust; not to exploit differences but to respect diversity; not to spread fear but to provide security; and not to divide people for political or economic gain but to unite them around justice, dignity and a shared future.
When division is engineered from the top, peace cannot be secured merely at the bottom. The real solution lies in questioning the politics, institutions and power structures that manufacture division in the first place.
Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra
