Intolerant India

Tolerance seems to be the buzzword today. 10 years ago if we heard that India is intolerant, it would have been considered amusing (with possible exception of a reference to Gujarat). 10 years ago if someone said the west is intolerant, it would have been met with derision.

For long, we considered Islam intolerant. We found communist China intolerant. We found Russia intolerant. But why this sudden shift, when the tolerant have become intolerant and the intolerant have somehow become the sinned?

 The surprise is Hindu India being called intolerant! Haven’t we had sectarian violence in India since independence? Is it something new? Haven’t we had inter caste issues in the country? Didn’t we have the hindu fringe elements creating trouble? So what is new? The new factor is that there is a BJP government at helm that is seen as sympathetic to these elements. I am sure that if this country is run by the Congress party, then we will become a tolerant nation; let us just blame the fringe elements.

 The unfortunate truth is that fringe elements of all colors; whether they be Hindi rightist, Muslim fanatics, caste bigots, tribal war groups or extreme left, have always existed and have consistently demonstrated intolerance. The intelligentsia and the political system has always classified this as a law and order problem. Even today, khap panchayats are not classified as intolerance, they are law and order problem. The naxal problem is not one of intolerance, but a class war. The clashes between Dalits and other caste groups across the country is not intolerance, but a law and order problem. The brutal suppression of opinions earlier by communist and now by Trinamool is a law and order problem and not intolerance. Bombing or arson by muslims were always called terrorism and same by right wing Hindu’s was called Hindu terror.

 For 66 years since Independence, we have been a very tolerant society (the record was tainted by Vajpayee a bit). We even had a glorious era of emergency, which our public tolerated. We But suddenly, there is a right wing government and now every act of the right wing fringe elements is termed intolerant India!

 Is BJP government going to ban the right wing groups? No, they never will. But neither did the UPA government or for that matter any government in history! Should the government make more noises of the right kind? They certainly should and Modi might have missed a trick here. However, if the opposition is quite sure about right wing intolerance, the opposition controlled states (and there are quite a few) should ban these outfits. I don’t think they will ever do it.

 Sooner than later, we should recognize that this whole issue is poor PR by the Modi government, a lot of ugly politics led by the secular front unhappy about being out of power and left leaning intelligentsia which can’t just accept redundancy of the left idealogy.

Did I forget to mention that to confess having Hindu sentiment is right wing fanaticism? Or is it what the comments are going to say?

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