Reflections on intolerance in society

FROM OUR READERS

Politicisation by intelligentsia

MF Hussain satisfied himself with pictures of Hindu godesses. M M Kalburg thought pen is mightier than the sword and expressed his feelings which should never have been printed in media. Some of the media organisations are eager to publish such articles. Dhabolker and Pansare were not far behind. The retaliation by the Hindus on the writers was resented by Nayantara Sehgal, who lost her 'Sahanam' and returned her academy award. Nearly forty other writers followed her. So also did a dozen film artistes.

But nobody sympathised with Salman Rushdie when he received fatwa for Satanic Verses, nor was there any help offered to Tasleema Nasreen whose book 'Lajja' (Shame) which deals with anti-Hindu riots in Bangladesh in 1983, and had nothing to do with Islamic religion. She had to migrate to America, Europe, India and finally seek citizenship in Sweden. Recently, Avijit Roy and a few others were killed in Bangladesh “for being anti-Islamic.” Nobody threw away their awards/ rewards there. Let the intelligent literate not write objectionable material for easy reputation nor politicise the issue unnecessarily, but follow SRK, Kamal Hasaan and Vidy for peace and solidarity

— Dr R VaraPrasad, Visakhapatnam

Who can stem this rot?

Politics of intolerance is sweeping across the Indian political spectrum these days, casting a long and dark shadow on our assiduously built democratic and secular system! Yes politics of intolerance is not new or unknown to us. In 1947, India in her birth pangs had witnessed a massacre and bloodshed of unbelievable proportions. About 2,00,000 Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were killed across the borders of two babe nations. The bodies of men, women and children were virtually littered even in remote areas and on trains between the two burning nations. The following lines from one of the classic novels on the Partition, " A Train to Pakistan" by Kushwant Sikh bring out the gory scenes in lucid terms:

"How many were there? Did you count"

" No, sir. The Sikh officer said there were more than a thousand. I think he just calculated how many people could get into a bogie and multiplied it by the number of bogies. He said that another four or five hundred must have been killed on the roofs, on footboards and between buffers. They must have fallen off when they were attacked. The roof was certainly covered with dried-up blood."

In 1919, India witnessed intolerance of another sort. A British police officer perpetrated a pogrom, by gunning down about 1500 Indians congregated on the 7-acre walled grounds of Jalianwala Bagh. It was racial intolerance as the killer was a patriotic Brit and the killed were patriotic Indians.

in 1984 when the Sikh body guards pumped 16 bullets into the abdomen of Indira Gandhi, it triggered religious intolerance. About 3,000 Sikh men, women and children were raped, burnt, and butchered by the Congress activities in the streets of Delhi and surrounding areas even as the newly formed Government chose to look the other way. "When a tree falls, the earth shakes" was the comment of the PM Rajiv Gandhi then . True the persons who felled the tree were punished but alas the killers of the innocent people have yet to be brought to book!

The demolition of Babri Mosque on December 9, 1992 was the result of politics of religious intolerance between Hindu and Muslims communities that claimed about 2000 innocent lives. The flames of the pyres died out but not 'the mandir-masjid issue which may surface again and cause yet another round of riots.

The killing of 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims was also stemmed from our religious intolerance. The burning down of a train bogie in which 59 Hindu pilgrims were torched to death is said to be the provocation for the shameful show of intolerance.

When viewed against this backdrop, the razing politics of intolerance today appears to be a sore fruit of the communal intolerance. But what must worry us is the fact that leaders of all political parties do have a role or a share in it. This type of participation poses a direct and more potent threat not only to the present Government in Delhi but also to the democratic unity and secular diversity of our society.

Who can stem this rot? The need of the hour is taking the truth to the masses by true and committed leaders of Anna Hajara stature backed by apolitical Press. It must be done now and here to stop and bring back the country from heading into a 'cul de sac'.

— M Somasekhar Prasad, Badvel,

Kadapa district Virtuosic editorial

The vibrations of Indian heart are reflected in your virtuosic editorial- ‘Politics of intolerance.’ It is a fact that levels of intolerance have spurred up in the recent past. It is not incidents, per se, but the reaction to the incidents by the government had made the situation ugly. The spells of silence by the Prime Minister accompanied by acerbic outbursts by his colleagues have aggravated the scenario. The well-meaning criticism is eschewed by the ruling party and it severely condemned the critics who hailed from various spectrums across the nation. Ministers Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu are the most notable faces at the top level who dubbed the critics as anti-BJP elements and spoke as though being anti-BJP is antinational.

True. Congress is not a saint and it had indulged in many monstrous deeds like imposing emergency etc. the party paid the penalty too. But two wrongs do not make it right. The fact that these things have happened earlier doesn’t offer any valued defense to the government. Nor does it gain by harping again and again that law and order is a state subject. It is rightly suggested in the edit that the debate shouldn’t die with Bihar elections but must continue so that all concerned will be vigilant and fissiparous tendencies remain under check.

— Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty, Hyderabad

Selective amnesia of Congress

The atmosphere of intolerance in India is nothing new. It existed even before MF Hussain was forced to live in self imposed exile fearing threat to his life, for painting Hindu goddesses in the nude. Why didn’t the Congress government try and bring him back? Can anyone forget the massacre of hapless Dalits in Tsundur in Andhra Pradesh in 1991 under the Congress rule? Congress seems to be suffering from selective amnesia.

— N Ratan Prasad Reddy, Hanamkonda

PM Modi must rein in elements of chaos

The rising of intolerance in India is quite palpable. Both the cause and effects – Bans, ink attacks and irresponsible provocative statements on one side, returning awards, counter statements and protests on other side – are running full throttle causing damage to social fabric as well as severe dent to the image of brand India. The Finance Minister's statement that Modi himself is a victim of intolerance cannot bring laurels to the government.

Irrespective of his being victim or victor, the Prime Minister is considered the first person to clear the decks when things go wrong. He has no luxury to keep quiet and outsource the business of reining in the elements of chaos to others. The erstwhile Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had become a mute spectator when his colleagues were found guilty of corruption and paid the price. Modi should not follow the suit. He should keep his ears close to the ground and act before it is too late.

— Dr DVG Sankararao, Nellimarla, Vizianagaram district