Whenever India has witnessed communal disturbances, be it against the Sikhs in Delhi or the Muslims in Gujarat, most corporate heads have chosen to remain silent—out of fear, indifference or “compliance.” Some have argued that the business of business is business and that corporates should not be bothered with politics. The consequence of such an attitude could be similar to what happened in Nazi Germany. Industrial firms built and sold gas chambers in which the Jews were killed in concentration camps. It was business as usual!

In the name of profit do we have to sell our souls and bend backward to appease political power? I choose to define the business of business as human well-being and I would ask the business community whether they can afford to remain neutral or passive, or what is worse—aid the political system even when there is grave injustice and the rule of law is violated. Without commitment to social justice, human dignity and sanctity of human life, can business—in the long run—ever flourish?

Since I represent the corporate world, I am often asked to defend communal harmony on the grounds that without it economic progress cannot take place. For example, the recent Gujarat incident—within 35 days the state lost over Rs 11,100 crores, according to the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. But I want the readers to remember that before I represent the business community, I belong to the human race. More than the economic loss, what concerns me most is the loss of innocent human life. Have we become so callous that human life means nothing to us? Does only financial loss mobilize us?

In spite of our tradition of tolerance, communal disturbances in India have erupted from time to time. What is scary is that many educated, well-placed people are justifying violence against the minority on the grounds that, for years, the Muslims have been pampered. They believe that Hindus have been rendered weak, effeminate and second-class citizens in their own country. Non-violence is seen as cowardice, forgiveness as sinful and secularism as evil; and hence it is okay to hit back.

They say the politicians are doing everything to placate the “Muslim vote-bank”; human rights movements are for the rights of minorities only. Sometimes even the judiciary seems to be biased. Above all, the media is also against Hindus—and hence, they justify violence.

It is of no use getting into a meaningless debate about which community has been more hurt in the recent past or wronged in the last hundred years. Clearly, there are hurts upon hurts. But as a citizen of a civilized nation, I am deeply concerned about the way these scores are being settled and how this will have a long-lasting effect on our Indian ethos and affect our economic well being. For selfish political gains, hate has been ignited and kept alive. History has been re-visited to keep manufacturing hate. In any civilized society do we keep re-calling events that divided people or move forward to find ways to unite the communities? Will we allow the wounds to continuously fester or will we work towards a healing process?

For sustained economic growth we have to dissuade people from expressing their frustrations in destructive ways. There is a vicious negative spiral created by the breakdown of law and order, which leads to further slowing down of economic growth—leading to more frustration, leading to more disorder. What is worse, instead of eliminating poverty we are eliminating innocent human life!

We must realize that in the globalized world, the only thing that matters is the power of knowledge and technology. And knowledge is neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Christian; and those wanting to imbibe and seek it must give up their narrowness. If we want to create a conducive environment for growth, knowledge has to be supreme.

I believe Gujarat represents a deeper malaise in our society and unless we address two other critical issues, which are interconnected, I do not think we will be able to do anything about communal harmony.

First, as Indians, we have become extremely insensitive to our surroundings. Abject poverty of our fellow human beings does not affect us. We continue to flaunt our wealth, live ostentatiously and expect the “have nots” to have the grace to tolerate this huge inequality and not get into any “negatives.” Against this background, can the business community afford to be indifferent to social causes?

Second, governance in our country is getting worse rather than better. We have learned to talk more about governance and practice less. We have seminars and committees on governance and yet corruption is on the rise. Once we elect our representatives we give up all responsibility. We sit back and passively observe, complain—and what is worse—add to the growing corruption. Corruption—like cancer—has spread and eaten up our moral, ethical and human values and we will need a massive, collective movement to tackle it. Corporate India has a very definite role in fighting corruption.

India and the world rightly expects the business community to follow governance. Without it, there would be exploitation of its stakeholders. Similarly, can we demand some code of governance from our politicians? Is it too much to expect them not to generate hate and follow divisive methods to gain power and popularity? Can we, as Indian citizens, realize that intolerance and negativity—once established—cannot be extinguished at will?

Can Corporate India, with its intellectual strength, financial muscle, persuasive power and leadership create a new momentum, a new voice, that whatever the cause, whatever the provocation—it does not justify violence, destruction and killing? If in the past there has been appeasement of minorities, can we discuss, debate and dialogue about it and find new solutions? I urge each business head to shed his or her fears and indifference—and with concern, stand up for the fundamental values of our country.

Arnawaz (Anu) Aga is the chairperson of Thermax India Limited, a publicly traded engineering company in Pune, India (THMX.BO, $70m). She took over the reins after the sudden death of her founder-husband, Rohinton Aga and has been instrumental in driving Thermax from its near-brink collapse to a dynamic, profitable corporation.