First, my feeling that intolerance is on the rise in India is based on several
sources, both anecdotal and otherwise. For the first time, I am seeing some
of my dear friends in India showing total disregard for their own credibility and
dignity when they unashamedly speak about Muslims overtaking the Hindus
in population. I cannot think of a more idiotic theory, but there you go.
A lot many people, and some of them "educated", have, without hesitation,
embraced this theory. And I see that it is a fairly recent development.
This is as classic a red herring as one can get. Even if one uses the most
outrageous population projections, such a scenario will occur only when India's
population increases ten-fold from these levels. And when it happens, if I were
there, I would worry about whether I get standing space, not whether one
community or the other would dominate!
And also when I spoke to some other people whom I could describe as "less
culturally developed" than the above mentioned friends, I detect the same
intolerance and lack of rational thinking in their talk. Not that this would surprise
me much, but the fact that this has had a corrosive influence on those who
should know better is a new development that I have noticed taking place
during the 1990s.
On a more broader note, the intolerance is seen in shrill cries that the Congress
party is handing the country to Christians on a platter, that MF Husain committed
a "crime" when he did his paintings (which btw, were done by him 20 years ago,
and that is as good a piece of evidence as any, of the growth of intolerance in
recent times), and repeated utterances from demagogues who, though not kings,
are clearly the king-makers, that nuclear weapons will be used to re-establish
"dharma" (along with references to Lord Ram and Lord Krishna et al, of course),
that the verdicts of courts and even the Constitution need not be obeyed because
"God is higher than the judiciary or the Constitution"...
As for the "backward theocracy who(sic) is hell bent on destruction" part, I see
a large neighbor of Pakistan is joining the ranks of Afghanistan, Pakistan and
numerous other countries, mainly in the Middle East. And that is hardly anything
to cheer about either. The fact that it is based on a religion other than Islam
doesn't change things even a wee bit. ALL theocracies are destructive. Period.
Finally, you are not alone in constantly comparing India with Pakistan and feeling
good about it. I know your views are your own personal views, but they are more
in consonance with the general mood than the view that says the opposite. Don't
feel that you alone are indulging in that ridiculous exercise. Millions
of fellow-Indians are doing it too, and most of them are better at it than you are! ;-)
Dipy. |
