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Trying to get the idea from the sentence.

What I am saying is these are only differences of degree and not of kind, as in labelling a minority as religious or political or social.

What is the meaning of "differences of degree and not of kind"?

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The meaning behind this would be that the differences are not of sort, type, or style, but of level, stage, or class.

Basically, 'degree' and 'kind' are generalizing words for different types of other words.

  • Cats, dogs, and mice are kinds of animals.
  • And first-, second-, and third-degree burns are degrees of burns.

To differentiate things by kind would mean to contrast or compare them.

Differentiating by degree would mean comparing things within a group of the same things, but on different stages/levels.

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A difference of degree is a difference of magnitude, between two things that are otherwise of the same type. The difference between a small dog and a large dog is one of degree. So is the difference between a light tap and a heavy blow. A difference of kind is a difference of type or category. The difference between a dog and a cat is a difference of kind. If you are quoting from the Sashi Kumar interview on India Abroad, then he is saying that attacks in India on political, ethnic, caste, or religious minorities are all the same kind of thing, and not different in nature.

degree noun (AMOUNT) ​ (an) amount or level of something

kind noun a group with similar characteristics, or a particular type

Degree
Kind

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  • A pertinent example is that the different explosive forces of chemical explosives such as gunpowder, ammonium nitrate, nitroglycerine and Semtex exhibit differences of degree. But nuclear explosives exhibit a difference in kind.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 13 at 18:50
  • @EdwinAshworth - as I mentioned somewhere else (question about any difference in meaning between 'detonate' and 'explode' ), gunpowder is a low explosive that deflagrates, while the others are high explosives that detonate.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 13 at 20:29
  • '... The difference in kind, rather than in degree, that distinguishes nuclear weapons from others (to which Mr. Bernstein alludes) ...' [Harvard Hollenberg; 1984; in NYT] // But yes; these are not well-defined. It is quite legitimate to class deflagrating and detonating explosives separately rather than ... er ... scalarly. But I'd say intrinsically even more appropriate to distinguish chemical and nuclear reactions / weapons. // It depends on how these things are classified. The chosen hypernym.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 14 at 14:56
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All kinds of virtues (honesty, kindness, compassion, loyalty, morality) and vices (kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mad and matsara) are present in the humans, the difference lies in the extent or the degree of these virtues and vices.

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    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented May 5, 2022 at 5:46
  • Hi Suhas, that's a nice example sentence, but doesn't answer the question. Can you expand on your answer? Welcome to ELU!
    – Joachim
    Commented May 5, 2022 at 8:00

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