Tuesday 4 March 2014

Skewed Intolerance!

"More bomb blasts in India than in Afghanistan".
Along with Pakistan and Iraq, India accounts for almost 75 per cent of blasts in the world".
This was the headline in one of the newspapers today, which obviously portrays how tolerant we are!

However, the paradox is that Indians are becoming intolerant enough to even kill someone....

What made me think think like this was a news story that appeared a few days back. The story (dismissed in just two paragraphs) narrated the incident in which a boy was shot dead in an incident of road rage. The incident took place in Delhi, the capital. The poor fellow had committed a crime of overtaking the vehicle of the spoilt brats of some rich and mighty. The brats took out their pistols and shot several rounds until the boy was dead. There was no follow up of the story.

Another story that shook me was of a woman, who was killed by her husband, in Assam. Her crime was to be overwhelmed on seeing Rahul Gandhi in person and giving a peck on his cheeks.  

Even today I read two stories from Uttar Pradesh, that displayed the intolerant behaviour of our fellow Indians: A band master was killed at a marriage ceremony only because he did not play the tune desired by a person, who incidentally happened to be a government employee. In another case, a DJ (Disc Jockey) playing at a wedding was beaten black and blue with sharp weapons only because some people did not like the song he played.

This intolerance amazes me to no end! Reason: The same Indians have easily tolerate when they spot a person easing him/herself on the roadside, spitting paan (betel leaves) at corners of any public building, littering parks and other public places, stealing electricity, not paying their taxes or loud music being played in the middle of the night.

Interestingly, there are laws which prohibit such acts, yet no one reacts!

This makes me think aloud as to which era we are living in? Why can we be so angry to beat a person for not playing the desired song and why cannot it ignites a reaction when we spot a person peeing on the road?

I fail to find a rationale behind this skewed intolerance!!! Does anyone have an explanation???