Tolerance of Intolerance

What happened in Kanpur on 28th of November is despicable. Unfortunately, while not an isolated incident of this type, the desecration of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s statue is indeed shameful. However, what followed in Maharashtra and other parts of India is even more shameful. Loss of public property was in the millions of rupees. Add to that countless hours of lost wages ad productivity. Such violent protests cost Indian economy millions of rupees a year. Whether or not these riots qualify as protest is also a matter of debate. These are just some shameful publicity stunts undertaken by the so-called leaders of their own fiefdoms – be it a small locality or city or a state.

In today’s shameless and opportunistic politics, this great democracy of ours has become somewhat an example of intolerance. Dissent is the very essence of any democracy. But so is tolerance of views one does not necessarily agree with. It is imperative that there be a protest but in no case should this protest result in destruction of public or private property. We as a nation have become quite tolerant of such intolerance.

We let our politicians engage in violent protests without holding them accountable for their actions. We let our government ban books or films that contain slightest controversial material. The Supreme Court, overruling a Madras High Court judgment banning a film, has opined "If the film is unobjectionable and cannot constitutionally be restricted, freedom of expression cannot be suppressed on account of threats of demonstrations and processions or threats of violence. That would be tantamount to negation of the Rule of Law and surrender to blackmail and intimidation. The State cannot plead its inability to handle the hostile audience problem".

We have long let our representatives off the hook for their intolerant behavior. We have let our government get away with not enforcing the law of the land. In fact, the very people whom we as voters have put in power mock the very laws they are supposed to uphold. Our constitution, instead of being the document to live and die by has become a puppet in the hand of these politicians – modified at will and convenience.

It is time to wake up to the power and hold every single representative of ours accountable for his actions and inactions. It is also time to use the Right to Information law to find about what is really going on behind the scenes in the government and force it to correct its course of actions. And above all, it is time to stop being tolerant of the intolerance.