QRant: Intolerance Isn’t a Political Problem... It’s Us
When it comes to the intolerance debate, we need to look at ourselves before we blame politicians.
advertisement
Two of the richest and most famous men in India spoke against what they feel is a stifling, fear-inducing atmosphere in the country.
And the great public on social media reacted in an oh-so-mature manner… here’s what their ‘criticism’ basically boiled down to:
“Tere ko India intolerant lagta hai? India! Hum most tolerant nation in the world hai! India achcha nahi lagta toh go to…”
Fill in the blank… Pakistan, Iraq, Syria whatever.
Now before you go blaming the government for this… the people spewing this bullsh*t aren’t government of India employees or CGHS beneficiaries. Nope… they are just regular folk on social media, the ones whose freedom of expression and choice we are all so keen to uphold. They are the reason we wanted Section 66A repealed. And this is how they use their freedom of expression:
Unfortunately, this ‘trolling’ isn’t limited to Twitter. Faces are blackened and cash rewards are offered to slap movie stars. That’s the flipside of the freedom of expression and sometimes it feels like the price is too high.
And ‘liberals’, wipe that smug look off your face. You aren’t much better. Vikram Sampath, the founder of the Bangalore Literary Festival has decided to step down as director.
Why? Because three ‘award wapsi’ writers said they wouldn’t attend because Sampath disagreed with their decision.
What the hell is this? Intolerance pe intolerance? Intolerance squared?
Shahrukh Khan was right… there is a growing intolerance… but it isn’t coming from the government or Parliament. It’s coming for us.
Editor: Nitin Sharma
Cameraperson: Siddharth Safaya
Producer: Esha Paul
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)