Perils of the tolerant Indian society

In the recent times, there is an immense hullabaloo about the rising intolerance in the Indian society. This intolerance is apparent from the recent incidents of violence against Africans supposedly driven by racial discrimination along with the perpetual tension along with religious fault lines ranging from location of the clichéd Ram Mandir along with the food preferences particularly in context of beef. The saffron government and its undefined relationship with the RSS doesn’t provide a comforting ambience and thus aggravates the background noises regarding growing intolerance. A group of intellectuals led by prominent artists have pioneered a fervour effort against rising intolerance in a typical Gandhian manner. The mainstream media has cashed in big time and has become extremely opinionated especially with regards to the role of the government. In this backdrop, certain facts need to be highlighted.

1) As per official estimates, nearly 45% of the girls in India are married before the age of 18 while more realistic estimates peg the figure in excess of 50%.

2   2) As per WHO, 626 million people continue to defecate in the open and this population constitutes nearly 60% of all people who practice open defecation worldwide.
    3) Since 2001, the incidence of rapes amongst Dalit women has increased by nearly 500% with an estimated 60% of the population subjected to sexual abuse.

    4) Nearly 15% of all metropolitan population continues to live in slums due to lack of affordable housing and a plethora of schemes pioneered in this regards.

     5) As per a World Bank study, out of 35 cities with million plus population, only 2 cities have water availability in double digits.

6   6) As per the latest available government’s data, almost 20,000 villages are not electrified even after 67 years of independence.

    7) There are regular incidents of human trafficking with women selling their daughters for negligible amounts such as INR 500.

And the list goes on. Infact, I have not even touched the tip of the iceberg for the above are only a handful of the blessed issues that are covered by the mainstream media. With absolute certainty, I can assure you that there are regional issues that would never even see the daylight of the mainstream intellectual debates. In a society, with pressing problems revolving around “Roti, Kapda, Makaan” i.e. food, clothing, shelter coupled with dignity, the lack of dissent is harrowing and heart breaking. Ours is a “Democratic” society but the voice of the poor or the invisible people is a mere squeal which is pacified by the fake promises at the faithful rituals executed by the unscrupulous politicians with merciless proficiency. With a society as plagued as ours, this tolerance is deafening and one is left wondering at the continued existence and celebration of a democracy devoid of soul and substance. We tend to flaunt the human rights that we have as compared to China but it is mere symbolism which does not amount of any noticeable progressive change due to the inherent tolerant nature of the Indian society. The majority of the population practice Hinduism and ironically while the religion propagates tolerance towards religion, Indians have tolerance in all others spheres except religion. The “chalta hai” attitude has laid for a solid foundation for a society where even an incremental change is celebrated. Further, any positive change has to pass the test of the majority which is flawed with the presence of a fractured society divided by multiple fault lines. In such a society, change happens only at a snail’s pace while the politicians and vested groups tend to spend their energies on more productive ventures which invoke passion and so called “nationalism” amongst people. This diverts the attention of the people from the real issues of the day and hence the stalemate continues. Hence, I appeal to all my brothers and sisters to flaunt our much famed intolerance that has captivated the attention of the elite in a form of a progressive wave. Lets remember that great nations are not born but are nurtured.

“The pompous and intuitive display of tolerance by our society is a retrograde gesture. We need to grow more intolerant regarding the critical issues of the day and channelize our anger into providing an impetus in the forward direction instead of acting as puppets in the hands of shrewd politicians whose actions are driven by political gains”