Intolerance thriving in India, thanks to Modi government

The culture of intolerance is growing in our country. Whether it's gau rakshaks lynching people from Dadri to Udhampur, without doing anything for the health of cows, much less improving their breeds as the Constitution strongly recommended, to the arrests of secular politicians November 2 in Delhi for wanting to pay their respects to a dead soldier who committed suicide over the OROP for the armed forces' currently inadequate pension scheme - the intolerance is exploding once again.

In Bhopal, the widespread criticism of the staged encounter of eight youth of SIMI who "escaped" from jail was portrayed as communal because it was seen as being partisan towards Muslims.

But do PM Modi and his bigoted followers even know the readily available statistics of Muslim poverty, unemployment and underrepresentation in the civil services, apart from the large and medium private sector?

Yet, as in the Bhopal case, they are quick to condemn those who expose the indefensible by saying that the "religious" angle is being unfairly used. Quite surprising for a party steeped in politicised religious orthodoxy used against other communities, castes, gender, oppressed, poor and unemployed.

After all, this is not restricted to politicians and political parties, but also divergent sects, godmen and their blind followers, strident media anchors who hope to reap financial dividends, businessmen and "patriotic" expatriates who are more hysterical than those in India.

For example, the issue of the "surgical strikes." Despite much jingoistic hullabaloo, no evidence has come to light. Despite promises, the media, public and political parties have been given no details. It did not help that UNMOGIP stated that it had "no direct evidence" of firing in the Line of Control area.

To make matters worse, the Pakistanis escorted some 50 foreign journalists to the LoC area where the strike might have taken place. No area was found where anything approaching recent hostilities was evident. The press therefore differentiated in their reportage. Their reports said "Pakistan states" as contrasted to "India claims".

Internationally, India is the much bigger and more respected country. So why put ourselves in a weak position? And, yet to raise this matter publicly now would lead to being accused of being "anti-national". But actions that do not put India in a good light are fine, as long as this suits the political leadership.

But what about the leadership's leading its own ministry, not to speak of the state or the country? The civil service increased its seniority compared that to the military, so that an officer compared to a bureaucrat became a step down, while the bureaucrat compared to the officer went a step up.

It has been claimed that defence minister Manohar Parrikar was not made aware of the details. But in a vital area like defence the leadership must be aware, and if the minister has not been properly informed, then swift remedial action must be taken.

Or, what about non-state actors in the Sangh Parivar? The RSS has proposed that study or research in universities should not be required in universities in order to obtain a PhD.

So in effect in international standards, India could have C+ to B grades for non-university PhDs and B+ to A grades for universities granting PhDs, surely an apology for higher education.

As it is, the RSS has claimed that the original Indians were Aryans, and their original languages were Aryan. No scientific proof for this exists in this widely researched area.

Or suggestions by the RSS that the Devanagari script should be the universal script for all Indian languages throughout the country, including those like Kashmiri which do not have a specific script.

And, of course, computers should use only the Devanagari script. This is a matter discussed in the RSS, debated in the RSS magazine The Organiser.

So the lack of comprehension, flexibility, knowledge and respect for the "other", characterise the RSS. More sadly, it is clear that the politicians, bureaucrats, media, and large sections of the intelligentsia are not yet aware of the damage this is doing, and can do more to the political and popular discourse of this country.

If the culture of open, wide ranging and fearless discussion is not reinvigorated, this will have serious and lamentable consequences. This means that the truth must triumph. When did you last hear a prominent politician in a speech say, "Satyameva Jayate?" Do you think this is an accident?

Also read - SIMI encounter will help BSP as much as surgical strikes is helping BJP in UP polls