Ratan Sharda Nov. 2, 2015Yes Sir, intolerance has increased!
A friend of mine, moved to Chennai a decade back. As we chatted away, he told me, "I was a normal happy secular Hindu. But, after reading 'The Hindu' here for a few months, I have become staunch 'kattar' Hindu!"
This in a nutshell tells you what is wrong with our so called 'secular' narrative about 'Idea of India'. And how and why tolerance levels have dropped.
This 'Idea of India' has been floated by the people who believe that India was born on 15th August in 1947 at the 'stroke of midnight'. They quote this nice sounding cliche when they wish to criticise nationalists, Hindutva philosophy and abuse somebody who doesn't listen to them. This group refuses to believe that Bharat i.e. India is nation in true cultural sense since 5000 years if not more and has been a continuously flowing civilization that has lived to tell its tale unlike others that were silenced into graves by followers of 'exclusivist' faiths. So, it is a battle between those who believe in 'Idea of India' born on 15th August 1947 and those who believe in ancient cultural heritage of Bharat.
Yes Sir, intolerance has increased, but when did it all begin?
I will not go to 1200 years of exploitation and holocaust of Hindus. I will also avoid talking about Direct Action of Muslim League when thousands were butchered or pre-partition riots where thousands were again butchered by hooligans of Muslim League in Noakhali and around when Gandhi was packed off there to control next phase of retaliation or of train loads of Hindus butchered and sent to India to show power of Islamism.
Lets stick to the 'idea of India and begin from 1947. Seeds of intolerance were sown the day much revered icon of 'secular brigade''Marxists' and fellow travellers, J L Nehru threw out strong leaders or silenced them because their views didn't match with his romantic views of Fabian socialism, state controlled economies like Russia and his own west oriented version of 'irreligious' secularism in a spiritual country that respected pluralism due to its deep rooted Hindu ethos - basic condition of secularism.
Level of intolerance was further fuelled up during Indira Gandhi's time when she inducted Communists, fellow travellers, Marxist secular brigade and unread fashionable seculars in all academic and cultural bodies. They not only rewrote history in Marxian world view, they doctored it, neutered or castrated to their taste.
Their intolerance to history didn't stop here. They not only white washed history, but banished all other history books and historians from library shelves that were acknowledged in their field and referred for their thorough research. Just to name a few like R C Majumdar, Jadunath Sarkar. So, now there is no alternative view of history that is equally authentic! That was their tribute to liberalism and misguided effort at embedding secularism in young minds with wrong or partial history.
Left intolerance was at its peak when they closed their privileged doors to scholars and intellectuals with alternative views on not just history, but in any branch of humanities. Scholars like Ram Swaroop and Sitaram Goel who were originally Marxists but 'deviated' into Hindu and nationalist thought process, had no place in academics or in libraries or as even guest lecturers.
In recent times, Shrikant Teligiri, Koenraad Elst and public intellectual writer about Dharma Rajiv Malhtra have been banished from public discourse and libraries and abused by this same privileged class. Internationally renowned archaeologists like Prof Lall and Dr Rao were purged as 'revisionist' archaeologists who had turned renegade Hindutva fellow travellers when their authentic work showed that Ayodhya Ram Temple existed below the infamous Babri structure and that Dwarka of Mahabharata was not a myth. Their body of work debunked as immature. This bordered dangerously on fascism that is forcing your views on others and suppressing all other views. Now these one eyed historians talk of rising intolerance!!
Same humanities mafia persuaded Arjun Singh to stop research project of River Saraswati as it was inimical to their borrowed theories of Aryan Invasion. Their whole life's work and sinecures would be at risk. Yes, this was intolerance to alternative world view and oppression by privileged ruling clique of nationalist or indigenous thinkers.
Outlook, self professed secular weekly talked of Mafia controlling Sahitya Academies and Sahitya awards. No outsiders were allowed into the inner charmed circle and they gave each other awards.
Intolerance was further fuelled by Rajiv Gandhi first pandering to Muslim mullahs by nullifying Supreme Court judgement and then opening the locks on Ram Mandir to cushion the fall out.
From then on, Hindu bashing has continued unabated. Seculars were unhappy with 'destruction of secularism' with Babri, but were unconcerned that there were solid scientific proofs of a Ram Temple buried under it. The grand announcements that if a temple was found under rubble, Muslims will vacate the site, were withdrawn slyly later by non-Muslim actors abetting further animosity between communities. Scientific reports of ASI were rubbished as they didn't fall into Marxist-Secular model of conflict.
Hindus felt aggrieved when left-secular lobby kept quiet about exodus of 4 lac Kashmiri Hindus in their own country for loving their motherland. They had no words when 59 Hindus were burnt alive but came alive when post Godhra riots took place. They were quiet when 'big tree fell and earth shook' in Delhi.
Our Marxian social scientists were quiet about burying of Netaji's mysterious disappearance with connivance of ruling Nehru dynasty and its loyalists. Their protestations with release of Netaji files are proof of their role in this. Common citizen resented it.
Our society cried silently when Army memorial was desecrated for something happened in Myanmar and when a police women wrote poem in in-house magazine against molestation by religion of brotherhood but was asked to apologise.
What critics call intolerance is actually surfacing of years 'resentment' of silent majority who couldn't overcome the tag of 'good boys' as 'tolerant' understanding community. But, they probably questioned in their hearts time and again, why eyes of governing class were closed to the actions of aggressive communities who took to violence at their whims; but became active when aggressors became victims as majority community retaliated?
They resented sustained way these west oriented scholars insulted their traditions, their Gods, their beliefs and poked fun at them. They became intolerant when protests against M F Hussein's paintings showed their Gods in most indecent and perverse postures was taken as attack on freedom of expression, but murder of cartoonists for illustrating the Prophet was condoned and defended.
Common people were angered when seculars could joke about their revered cow but had no gumption to criticise goons who attacked a pork festival. They were bemused that saving useless stray dog was progressive but saving life giving cow was regressive.
They were surprised that Ayurveda and Yoga were lampooned till West took fancy to them. Not only that, anything good was sought to be delinked from Hinduism and only casteism and similar practices were used to define Hinduism. They couldn't digest this hypocrisy.
People who bemoan 'rise in tolerance' are surely not naming 'Hindus' as aggressors except quoting select incidents that show Hindus as aggressors but go 'mute' and cover incidents that show other communities as aggressors. This upsets Hindus.
Hindus resented minor stone Church incidents of stone throwing lobbed at them to show insecurity of minorities and naming of Hindu organizations as perpetrators of rapes on nuns not once but repeatedly but going 'mute' when evidence were found that they were either their own community people or from another non-Hindu community.
They resented Congress home minister asking police fast track cases of terrorism that involved 'minority' community, but let cases against alleged Hindu terrorists linger. They wondered why Hindus never became terrorists under gravest provocations in Kashmir or Bangladesh. They wondered why a single incident involving a Hindu was 'saffron terror' but huge numbers of terror incidents from India or world became 'non-religious' issues of bad people insulting a good religion?
Its funny that these so called intellectuals use all the platforms available to them freely to talk of rising tolerance and feeling suffocated! Same people who didn't allow any platform to nationalists and people with alternative views. None of them or none of the TV or media house has been harassed. Talk of Freedom of Opinion'!
People acted with democratic will and elected Narendra Modi who they thought represented true ethos of India and aspirations of an impatient young generation. But left-secular lobby's intolerance for Modi was beyond control. They insulted and abused their elected PM time and again. This left-secular brigade abetted by a discredited Congress doubted the sagacity of common man. This raised temperatures further. To that extent this lobby has succeeded in achieving what they want to do, that is - prove at any cost that Modi is a disaster as their fellow travellers had predicted. These are the same people who are resigning from various posts and returning rewards, same people who supported clemency petitions of terrorists.
This resentment is against the established and monopolist order that refuses to accept change popular thinking. This resentment shows impatience of common citizen whose aspirations were bottled up for decades. They would brook no roadblocks to their progress.
Yes Sir, intolerance is on rise. This intolerance is against such privileged lobbies and rentiers of old establishment. This intolerance could also turn against new government if it fails to deliver. That's what frustrated Congress is hoping.
About The Author
Ratan Sharda is a citizen journalist. He has authored books like 'Secrets of RSS'. A marketing consultant by profession, Mr. Sharda is a keen observer of the country's political scenario.