Religion and Language as Forces Affecting Unity in Asia

Abstract

Religion and language move Asians less than anticolonialism and the desire for economic development. It is the hope of Asian countries to attain increased agricultural pro duction, industrial expansion, more equitable distribution of wealth, and the attainment of the good life for their citizens. In the Near East religion and language furnish some of the background for Islamic and Arab hostility to Israel, but they are not strong enough to unite either the Islamic or the Arab nations. In the Far East and Southeast Asia, they play scarcely any part. In South Asia religion led to the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. This division has been an embarrassment for the Western democracies since it has di vided South Asia at a time when the West wanted a united South Asian support of its cause in the cold war. Language is an internally disruptive force in both India and Pakistan. In South and Southeast Asia the ethical concept of Ahinsa is one of the elements producing "neutralism" toward the cold war. It is felt that this "neutralism" can contribute more toward world peace than the propaganda and arms race.