India’s intolerance is plain disturbing
India is becoming intolerant with issues that the majoritarians believe don’t align well with their ‘ideologies’. The same, if I may be allowed to say so rings true for the minorities who would not shy away from calling India anti-secular or anti-religion if certain conditions are imposed that don’t align wth their ideologies too. The fault lines lie on both sides of the divide. The point that most conflicts of this nature fail to note is that the issues by themselves aren’t at the heart of a violent debate but an inability to accept that someone can have a way of life that is completely different from ours. It is also true that most indians would not subscribe to this or that fringe group’s vendetta politics, but how often have we stood up to dastardly acts like the Dadri killing and taken a stern stand to wipe out such extremist forces that are a threat to India’s internal security and balance itself?
Our intolerance is not just restricted to the ways of one particular community but extends to castes, regions, ideologies and even political inclinations. For those with a short memory, recall 2014 when buses were burnt and police vehicles were charred, roads were blocked and tensions were sky high before the formation of Telangana. One could argue that this intolerance emanated from our politicians sitting on this simmering issue for years, if not decades but then why separate politicians from the rest as they are one of us and carved out of the same ‘secular’ fabric. They didn’t choose us; we chose them.
Our politicians are intolerant too. When did we last see two politicians from opposite sides agree on one issue even if one couldn’t find any logic in disagreement (the exception being raise in salaries and the exclusion from RTI, amongst others!). Here, again intolerance reaches to a point where being irrational and divisive makes more sense. Politicians are one of us and it is apparently this attitude that makes us vote for them. Why else would a politician expend his energy and resources in opposing every move by the party in power if it didn’t make political sense? We are 
partners in crime without knowing we actually are.
The Dadri killing was well orchestrated and cold blooded by every yardstick. It was the defeat of humanity by the hands of a few hungry mobsters for whom the blood of a human seemed less worthy than the blood of a cow (I am all for animal rights but I believe there are more peaceful and harmonious ways of doing so). The right wing Hindu groups have been planning and executing acts like the ones in Muzaffarnagar with great precision and timing, some often before important upcoming elections. And yet, no action has been taken against the perpetrators when it is public knowledge. We, as Indians are turning tolerant toward such acts of intolerance. These are heydays for extremist groups who know they can spill black ink on almost anyone that suits their preferences and get away without a scratch. The swords are becoming mightier than the pens and the ink is being spilled on someone’s face instead on that white sheet of paper.
Tolerance towards intolerance only exacerbates intolerance instead of wiping it out. If justice would have been delivered swiftly and without bias to the Ikhlaq’s family in Dadri, other mobs in Himachal Pradesh and J&K would ave thought twice before lynching other men in broad daylight. Instead our national leaders make hollow promises and cosmetic summons to a handful of MPs and political leaders who were seen as instigating or possibly could have ‘played’ a role in organising any of the above movements. Most Shiv Sainiks and RSS related groups have become so venomous because we have allowed them to survive so long. They can storm into an office for publicity and attention because they know a threat or an agitation is all that it takes. Threats like this have led to even respected and loved Pakistani cricketers like Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar to opt out of commentary in the upcoming India-SA ODI. Even with fool proof security arrangements in place, threat perceptions of this kind by itself is a failure of the state to guarantee that such forces will be marginalised at all costs. These hooligans and mobsters deserve no place in a civilised society. They thrive because we are incentivising their behaviour by either remaining silent or voting in favour of them the next time an opportunity arises.
For anyone who believes in the freedom of speech, depression and democracy, the most dangerous environment arises when a mob feels empowered enough to bring down anybody – whether by force or by slogans without any administrative and legal consequences. Such laxity by the state tends to stifle the forces that keep us secular and in harmony and tend to destroy the idea of a tolerant and a peace loving nation from within. Those days aren’t far enough when communities feel so alienated to the point of being threatened by another leading to a level of animosity not seen in recent times. It is exactly what some groups want : alienate some of us and use that to their advantage by planing thoughts and ideas that never existed yesterday.
We are, at the end of the day, intolerant about being tolerant and tolerant about being intolerant. These words might seem confusing , but so our thoughts we claim we live by and our actions ultimately.
I am a vegetarian and bluntly believe too that animals deserve way better than being slaughtered for human consumption. However, I would prefer to engage in dialogues and debates than to use violence as a tool to force my opinions on others.
Also, its time we ask all those who are vehemently sloganeering against cow slaughter in the media : how many of you have actually adopted cows and invested in animal husbandry? I bet with good odds that the answer would be a ‘political’ one too.
New ThinkInk 