The Challenge from Within: Tyranny of the Majority
A minority group in Dvaraka—followers of a spiritual practice that differed from the city's mainstream traditions—began to experience subtle forms of discrimination. They were not persecuted openly, but they were gradually excluded from certain opportunities, their practices were mocked in social settings, their children faced pressure to conform. The city's commitment to dignity seemed to apply only to those who were similar enough.
When the injustice was brought before the Council, some argued that the majority had the right to set the city's cultural tone and that minorities must accept that they would be somewhat marginalized. Others argued fiercely that equality meant nothing if it only applied to people similar to you. The debate became heated, revealing a fault line in Dvaraka's commitment that had been hidden because the city had never been truly tested on it.
An elder brought forward writings from the Archive—not from Krishna or Pradyumna but from ordinary people who had been in the original outsider groups, people who had fought for inclusion and dignity only to face the same exclusion when they became established. "This is a pattern," the elder said. "Each group, once included, forgets what it was like to be excluded and begins to exclude others. We must guard against this tendency consciously, or we will gradually become the very thing we fought against."
The city undertook a painful audit: which practices were genuinely communal and which were merely habitual? Which traditions were worth preserving and which were being preserved only because they were traditional? The spiritual minority's practices were analyzed not for how different they were but for whether they harmed others or prevented participation. Most were found to be simply different, and the city recommitted to protecting those differences.
Yet the process also revealed something about Dvaraka's character: the willingness to acknowledge and correct injustice when named, the capacity to expand what it meant to be part of the community, the commitment to live according to its stated values rather than merely profess them. By the time the process concluded, the minority group was not just tolerated but genuinely integrated, and the majority had learned once again why the principles of dignity and inclusion required constant, active practice.