The Influence of Bias

Every group of people have both similarities and differences in identity. Biases can arise when power structure is naturally oriented toward one identity over another   identity which can end in conflict. This type of conflict is evident in Northern Ireland and Ladakh demonstrating the idea that government bias is a wide spread cause for conflict that can only be solved through a conscious awareness of the bias and systemic change.

While Northern Ireland is now at peace, there is still significant tension that has arisen from the relationship between culture and identity because the process towards peace is not complete. The identity of the people in Northern Ireland is primarily based in religion. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland is not. Within Northern Ireland, the Protestants who hold the majority in the region, enjoy being a part of the United Kingdom. However, the Catholics want to be a part of Ireland where Catholics enjoy the majority. This tension has ended in segregation. While Protestants and Catholics live peacefully all over the world, they must be separated by Peace Walls in Northern Ireland (“Peace” 9:44). In 2012, it was reported that more than 90% of schools were segregated (“Peace” 8:43). Even though the Belfast agreement “created a power-sharing government” between Catholics and Protestants, it did not solve the conflict of whether Northern Ireland should be a part of the UK or a part of the Republic of Ireland (“Backgrounders”).

Ladakh has also experienced a conflict in identity which has been greatly influenced by religious differences. The conflict in Ladakh arose from the Kashmir and Jammu leadership over Ladakh which seemed to have a bias over the Muslim voice versus the Buddhist voice. In 1989, this led to the Ladakh Buddhist Association imposing a social boycott on all Muslims disallowing “personal contact” and “commercial relationships (Bray 7). Each group used shop signs with their respective language as Buddhists usually wrote in Tibetan script and Muslims usually wrote in Urdu or English. In 1995, the Indian national and state government allowed the creation of the Hill Council. Ladakh is still considered part of Kashmir and Jammu, but it is given some liberty to self-government (Bray 8). While this has helped the situation, the people of Ladakh still want to be a Union Territory in order to have more autonomy.

These two regions are in very different areas of the world, but their conflicts have many parallels. Both regions contain two groups of people which have different religious affiliation. It appears that the original governments have acquired a bias toward one religion over the other. For Northern Ireland, this bias has been with the Protestants. For Ladakh, the Kashmir and Jammu government has had a stronger affiliation with the Muslims. In both scenarios, the solution for this bias has been to give the other group of people a voice. In Northern Ireland, a power-sharing government has been created. In Ladakh, a Hill council has been instated. While both regions are at peace, there is still internal tensions as the both sets of citizens still feel the bias has not been completely resolved because the change has not been great enough.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j48XwoTeFC4[/youtube]

Works Cited:

“Backgrounders.” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

Bray, John. “Old Relgions, New Identities, and Conflicting Values in Ladakh.”Universitat Passau (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

“Peace in Northern Ireland, But Religious Divide Remains.” YouTube. PBS News Hour, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.

 

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

12 Responses to The Influence of Bias

  1. Best I’ve ever been to so far. The staff is very
    nice and helpful too. We all deserve to be treated well you know.

  2. nmills says:

    I think your comparison between the situations in Ladakh and Ireland is a brilliant way to expand our concept of living with the “other.” While I think giving a stronger voice to underrepresented groups is a step in the right direction, I must agree with Cecely. A bond over the land Ladakhis all share, or their professions as farmers might establish a new dialogue less focused on religious affiliation, and more so on day-to-day living. It makes me think of how at Smith, each student comes to campus with various intermingling identities (race, gender, class, familial, etc), and yet we each unite with house pride, and our overarching Smith identity. Perhaps broadening the identity net could lead to greater unity?

  3. aminkin says:

    First of all, I wanted to compliment your video, I thought it was very interesting! I actually agree with your parallels between Ireland and Ladakh, in that if the power structure is shifted towards one identity or another, this tends to create bias and conflict. In fact, I think it’s telling that in Ladakh, whose people are known to identify as Ladakhi over any religious affiliation, it caused such a huge rift between Muslims and Buddhists in the area when the social boycott was imposed. Before this (I guess quite a bit before) the Ladakhis enjoyed a rather peaceful coexistence, and although there is still tension, since the boycott was dismantled and the Hill council created that rift is growing narrower. In Ireland, the differences between Catholics and Protestants are steeped in hundreds of years of history and English rule, and most recently the twenty years of bloodshed from the 1970’s to the 1990’s is obviously not something anyone has forgotten easily. Considering all of that, although there is still tension, it seems (at least from the video) that Northern Ireland is making a lot of progress. Giving a political voice to the historically disenfranchised Catholics has diffused the situation somewhat even if there are riots and some general ill-will. In terms of bonding over being Irish, I think that might be a bit difficult as long as the Island is divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

  4. Cecely says:

    At the end of your essay, you state, “both sets of citizens still feel the bias has not been completely resolved because the change has not been great enough.” In both Ireland and Ladahk, people of different religious affiliations feel hostility toward one another, but in Ladahk, that hostility has been known to fade away when people identify more as Ladahkis than as Muslims or Buddhists. When you say that the citizens need a greater change than giving a small voice to the side that the government is not biased toward, you seem to imply that you think that group needs a bigger voice, but I think what the opposing groups really need is something mutual to bond over such as national pride. If Muslims and Buddhists can live in peace together because they identify more as being Ladahki than being associated with a certain religion, then the Protestants and Catholics could potentially do the same if they start placing more importance on being Irish than on being associated with a certain religion.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *