Definition of
Intolerance from Oxford Dictionary: “Unwillingness to accept views,
beliefs, or behavior that differ from one’s own.”
As a society
can we tolerate one and act for it or be selective in showing tolerance. Current event of returning back awards bestowed by Government towards in tolerance is something i have never heard or read for last few years.
As said by Ms A. Roy, “I believe what artists and
intellectuals are doing right now is unprecedented, and does not have a
historical parallel.” I completely agree.
Not only Ms
Roy, but many award returnees and other literary personalities have voiced
their concern about intolerance in the Society.
But there are others who have
expressed their opinion (with different perspective) but somehow they got less attention. They appear in the
newspapers at places where people may have accidentally ignored it. I wish to
list it down here for the ones (newspaper readers) who might have missed these
portions.
Below is the
select extracts, as is taken and presented below, which appeared in various media ( links are provided under references):
Taslima
Nasreen
“.......majority of the Indian intellectuals were hypocritical as they did not speak up
when Muslim fanatics attacked her.”
"Many writers are guilty of double standards when it comes to
dissent,"
"Most secular people are pro-Muslims and anti-Hindu. They
protest against the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts
of Muslim fundamentalists,"
Bibek Debroy
“What is generally not known is that Jagdish Bhagwati was
essentially made to leave Delhi School of Economics and had to go abroad
because his life was made very uncomfortable. He left DSE because there is a
certain prevailing climate of opinion and if you buck that, your life is made
uncomfortable.”
“In the course of the second five-year plan, a committee of
economists was set up to examine it. Dr B.R. Shenoy was the only one who
opposed it. Do you find Dr Shenoy's name mentioned in the history of union
policymaking? No. He was completely ostracized. He could not get a job in India
and he ended up in Ceylon.”
The third is a book called 'Heart of India', written by Alexander
Campbell who was a journalist. A patronizing book for that day and time but it
is still banned in India because it says frivolous things about Jawaharlal
Nehru, socialism in India, and the Planning Commission. People who say there
should not be bans, why don't they ever mention 'Heart of India'.
“I cited these three examples to drive home the point that
intolerance has always existed and we will be stupid if we haven't recognized
it.”
“If you tell me intolerance is increasing, it is purely anecdotal
and is purely a subjective perception, there is no point in arguing with you
because you will say it is increasing and I will say there is no evidence of it
increasing. The only way I can measure something is that if I have got some
quantitative indicator. If I look at any quantitative indictor, communal
violence incidents, internet freedom, these are objective indicators, and I
don't think it is increasing. In the intellectual circuit there has always been
that intolerance. Let's not pretend otherwise.”
MC Govardhana
Rangan
“Remember the Charleston church massacre in South Carolina in the
US in June this year where nine people were killed in an attack by a White
supremacist gunman? Have you followed cases of White Americans, even policemen,
indulging in racist attacks on Black Americans? And yet, do intellectuals
portray the US as an intolerant society and return their Oscars or Pulitzers?
Do they blame President Barack Obama for every crime that happens in the name
of race or country of origin?”
“This outrage over ‘intolerance’ under Modi’s watch — leaving out
those who are responsible for law and order in states — may be a reflection of
a historical bias in political and intellectual discourse in the country.”
“Many tend to forget that the only period in independent India
when constitutional rights were suspended was when the Congress under Indira
Gandhi ruled.”
Please read
the respective links to get a broader idea about the article / interview whose
views appeared in newspapers.
Above is an attempt to see both sides of the coin.
References:
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