I'm a voracious consumer of media articles. I've been (I was) forced to believe that India had become intolerant. That our nation was creeping to a theocracy under the "Hinduvata" forces- BJP,RSS, Sangh Parivar etc. The "Award wapsi" movement did not help either. Eminent Intellectuals from all spheres of life relinquishing awards to register their protest. But a part of me remained unconvinced. How could stray incidents (that happened all the time) make India intolerant suddenly?
Turning to history, India has been a nation of refuge for Parsis and the Jews. We are the birthplace of Four Great Religions- Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Modern India harbors All three of the world's largest religions- Hindus, Muslims and Christians. There has never been a continuous persecution of any community based on their religion in India. Yes, there have been riots, there have been incidents which would shame us as Indians. But suddenly now, all communal incidents in this nation was the responsibility of the Union Government. The murder of MM Kalburgi is, apparently, the full responsibility of the BJP, or more specifically of our Prime Minister.
The activities of bigoted, stupid, idiotic, ignoramuses now define my nation.
Yes, we are a society that overwhelmingly is conservative, yes. People will judge me for how I look, who I go out with, where I go to,when I go out. That hasn't changed much. I'm talking about the intolerance alleged by countless debates and articles over the last month or so.
The incident in Dadri or the murder of MM Kalburgi must be condemned, no doubt. But to blame this on the Union Government is well, to say, far fetched. The stupid and idiotic pronouncements of Yogi Adithynad and others did not help the situation either. As I wrote in the earlier article, criticize where it is necessary, not make statements that fly off the rational mind. My point is simple, the so called liberals are as bigoted and stupid as the "Hinduvatha" agents they oppose.
If you blame the Dadri incident on the Union Government, please, blame the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2012 on our then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.Blame every single violent act done in the soil of India on the Government of India.
Now to Award wapsi. Awards, such as those given by the Sahithya Akademi, and Padmas especially, are recognition of ones service to the nation. If you're returning them to protest intolerance (something I don't see, but it goes what goes) aren't it you dishonoring the nation? The way to protest, according to me, is to write, write and write, as Vikram Sampath noted. I saw a cartoon on Facebook comparing the return of awards by our intellectuals to the return of Knighthood by Tagore and Kaiser-i-Hind by Gandhi in the wake of the Jallianwala Bagh massacare to the current award returnees. Well, I do admire the ingenuity. But the cartoon could not be more off the mark. Gandhi and Tagore protested against the massacre by a colonial government. You're comparing that to the incidents that happened, and our government to a repressive colonial one, that suppresses all forms of dissent (Remind you of something? (***Emergency***) ) Anish Kapoor might have represented at least some when he compared the current Government to Taliban. Okay great. What comparison is next?(Daesh?)
Going back to the intolerance debate, I don't think our Indian media was gracious enough to report this incident:
Where the sacred symbol of Aum was compared to the Nazi swastika, and Modi to Hitler. Branding every Hindu a supporter of extremists, equating them to a regime which is the most despicable the world has ever seen. And no, not a single finger was raised in India. NOT A SINGLE FINGER. Ah well, it seems the intolerance has suddenly died.
When you take a stand against intolerance, please, mention this too.
Now, to Aamir Khan. I have no clue why suddenly, his wife decided India was unsafe. I'm not making any further judgements, he can say what he wants to.
Political & Communal Violence is a staple in India, we're a land of a Billion people. There's bound to be incidents. But rather than trying to stay on track, these intellectuals seem to be working for political capital.
But the Arguments and the provocations by the other side, have been equally saddening. The Anti-Sikh riots of 1984 under congress does not validate BJP molesting us now. (They ain't , and which has earlier been tackled)
The rhetoric of the Shiv Sena and the Bajrang Dal was so irrational and stupid. (1 lakh for slapping Aamir Khan? Are you Serious?) They replied to accusations of intolerance with intolerance, but then again, those who protested against the inclusion of Vikram Sampath in the Banglore Lit Fest on the basis that he did not support "Award Wapsi" is well, intolerant. (Protesting against intolerance by not tolerating someone who has a divergent view? Go figure that out.)
In conclusion, I'm dismayed. I'll tell you one thing though:
The solution to bigotry,stupidity , extremism, idiocy and fanaticism is not to crib about this.
The solution is not to say "This is Bad, so we're gonna leave." NO.
It's to say, "Look we have these problems, we need to solve this."
NO PLACE IS PERFECT.
It's time we stood up and said , "Enough is Enough".
and not just to crib about this one day and move on.
Raise your voice when necessary, when it is needed, not when it helps yourself, when our freedom is being suppressed
~
Credits for cartoon: by R. Prasad
By Ananth Krishna
Turning to history, India has been a nation of refuge for Parsis and the Jews. We are the birthplace of Four Great Religions- Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Modern India harbors All three of the world's largest religions- Hindus, Muslims and Christians. There has never been a continuous persecution of any community based on their religion in India. Yes, there have been riots, there have been incidents which would shame us as Indians. But suddenly now, all communal incidents in this nation was the responsibility of the Union Government. The murder of MM Kalburgi is, apparently, the full responsibility of the BJP, or more specifically of our Prime Minister.
The activities of bigoted, stupid, idiotic, ignoramuses now define my nation.
Yes, we are a society that overwhelmingly is conservative, yes. People will judge me for how I look, who I go out with, where I go to,when I go out. That hasn't changed much. I'm talking about the intolerance alleged by countless debates and articles over the last month or so.
The incident in Dadri or the murder of MM Kalburgi must be condemned, no doubt. But to blame this on the Union Government is well, to say, far fetched. The stupid and idiotic pronouncements of Yogi Adithynad and others did not help the situation either. As I wrote in the earlier article, criticize where it is necessary, not make statements that fly off the rational mind. My point is simple, the so called liberals are as bigoted and stupid as the "Hinduvatha" agents they oppose.
If you blame the Dadri incident on the Union Government, please, blame the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2012 on our then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.Blame every single violent act done in the soil of India on the Government of India.
Now to Award wapsi. Awards, such as those given by the Sahithya Akademi, and Padmas especially, are recognition of ones service to the nation. If you're returning them to protest intolerance (something I don't see, but it goes what goes) aren't it you dishonoring the nation? The way to protest, according to me, is to write, write and write, as Vikram Sampath noted. I saw a cartoon on Facebook comparing the return of awards by our intellectuals to the return of Knighthood by Tagore and Kaiser-i-Hind by Gandhi in the wake of the Jallianwala Bagh massacare to the current award returnees. Well, I do admire the ingenuity. But the cartoon could not be more off the mark. Gandhi and Tagore protested against the massacre by a colonial government. You're comparing that to the incidents that happened, and our government to a repressive colonial one, that suppresses all forms of dissent (Remind you of something? (***Emergency***) ) Anish Kapoor might have represented at least some when he compared the current Government to Taliban. Okay great. What comparison is next?(Daesh?)
Going back to the intolerance debate, I don't think our Indian media was gracious enough to report this incident:
Where the sacred symbol of Aum was compared to the Nazi swastika, and Modi to Hitler. Branding every Hindu a supporter of extremists, equating them to a regime which is the most despicable the world has ever seen. And no, not a single finger was raised in India. NOT A SINGLE FINGER. Ah well, it seems the intolerance has suddenly died.
When you take a stand against intolerance, please, mention this too.
Now, to Aamir Khan. I have no clue why suddenly, his wife decided India was unsafe. I'm not making any further judgements, he can say what he wants to.
Political & Communal Violence is a staple in India, we're a land of a Billion people. There's bound to be incidents. But rather than trying to stay on track, these intellectuals seem to be working for political capital.
But the Arguments and the provocations by the other side, have been equally saddening. The Anti-Sikh riots of 1984 under congress does not validate BJP molesting us now. (They ain't , and which has earlier been tackled)
The rhetoric of the Shiv Sena and the Bajrang Dal was so irrational and stupid. (1 lakh for slapping Aamir Khan? Are you Serious?) They replied to accusations of intolerance with intolerance, but then again, those who protested against the inclusion of Vikram Sampath in the Banglore Lit Fest on the basis that he did not support "Award Wapsi" is well, intolerant. (Protesting against intolerance by not tolerating someone who has a divergent view? Go figure that out.)
In conclusion, I'm dismayed. I'll tell you one thing though:
The solution to bigotry,stupidity , extremism, idiocy and fanaticism is not to crib about this.
The solution is not to say "This is Bad, so we're gonna leave." NO.
It's to say, "Look we have these problems, we need to solve this."
NO PLACE IS PERFECT.
It's time we stood up and said , "Enough is Enough".
and not just to crib about this one day and move on.
Raise your voice when necessary, when it is needed, not when it helps yourself, when our freedom is being suppressed
~
Credits for cartoon: by R. Prasad
By Ananth Krishna
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