Tolerance vs Intolerance debate - 15th November 2015

Of late, in India, the hot topic doing the rounds is the debate about whether the present Indian BJP Government is tolerant or intolerant. Enough has been said about it with many political parties, especially the opposition, tearing at the government calling it intolerant. Many people from the field of art have also returned their awards calling upon the government to be more tolerant.

A different section of people from the same field of art differ in their stance and say that it is not up to the government to decide it and even question those giving away the awards as to the timing of their protests, as to why they didn't give them away when much graver crimes were committed against humanity. Whatever be the context or the background the question still remains - who decides if we are tolerant or intolerant.

Technically speaking it is a subjective decision depending about a person's beliefs and his or her level of tolerance. We have all been brought up in different surroundings and amongst different people. For a person who has been bought up with much care, even a hard pinch on the arm would feel like an intolerant act. On the other hand a person who has had a hard an abusive upbringing might not feel even a hard punch on the face as being an intolerant. Then the question arises how can a particular section of society term a government as intolerant.

Running a government in the biggest democracy of the world is not easy and when small incidents of cruelty against a particular minority community makes people make a hue and cry about the government being intolerant, then certainly something is not quite right. The government acts on facts and figures and according to the merits of the case leaving the law enforcement agencies of the particular state to act on the same. If in this instance the entire government is said to be intolerant then something is certainly amiss.

The same people calling the government intolerant today may not take the same stand tomorrow if the same minority community were to commit some form of retaliation in the form of terrorist attacks. In the wake of the terrorist acts in France yesterday, the French officials were quick to issue statements that the perpetrators would not be shown any mercy. Now the question arises if the French government can be termed as being intolerant towards a particular community - in this case the Islamic extremists group ISIS.

With ISIS issuing a statement asking all Muslims to join them in their attack against the atrocities of the Western world, would any act against them be termed as intolerant. So, the need of the hour is not to blame each other but depending on the merits of the case debate with the law enforcement agencies and the Government about the likely action to be taken against the law breakers. If the incident is a small one, then the perpetrator must be brought to book as soon as possible without teeming the entire Government as intolerant. Yes, if the Government is not acting on the case there is very right for the group pursuing the case to approach the judiciary, but calling the entire Government as intolerant is not right.

Having said that the debate is bound to continue as it is a subjective opinion which an individual takes - some may find a particular incident tolerant while some others may find it intolerant. But who are we to decide? Whatever be the perception the work of the Government is to maintain peace and harmony and in maintaining the same if it has to become intolerant towards certain sections or individuals, then it is perfectly alright from the Government's point of view. Then the masses do not need to keep fanning the debate about tolerant and intolerant - but let the Government do its job. 

List of famous personalities who have returned their awards (in favour of Intolerance):

1.	Uday Prakash Hindi writer
2.	Ashok Vajpeyi Hindi poet
3.	Ghulam Nabi Khayal Kashmiri writer
4.	Waryam Sandhu Punjabi writer
5.	Ajmer Singh Aulakh Punjabi writer
6.	GN Ranganatha Rao Kannada translator
7.	Rajesh Joshi Hindi writer
8.	DN Srinath Kannada translator
9.	Rahmat Tarikere Kannada writer
10.	Jaswinder Punjabi poet
11.	Surjit Patar Punjabi poet
12.	Homen Borgohain Assamese journalist
13.	Keki N Daruwalla English poet
14.	Munawar Rana Urdu writer
15.	Krishna Sobti Hindi writer
16.	Marghoob Banihali Kashmiri writer
17.	Kashinath Singh Hindi writer
18.	K. Katyayani Vidhmahe Telugu writer
19.	Nayantara Sahgal English writer
20.	Sarah Joseph Malayalam femnist writer
21.	Rahman Abbas Urdu writer
22.	Gurbachan Singh Bhullar Punjabi writer
23.	Atamjit Singh Punjabi writer
24.	Mangalesh Dabral Hindi writer
25.	Ganesh Devy Gujarati writer
26.	Kum Vee a.k.a. Kumbar Veerabhadrappa Kannada writer
27.	Baldev Singh Sadaknama Punjabi writer
28.	Darshan Battar Punjabi poet
29.	Chaman Lal Punjabi translator
30.	Mandakranta Sen Bengali poet
31.	Nand Bhardwaj Hindi writer
32.	Kashi Nath Singh Hindi writer
33.	Mohan Bhandari Punjabi writer
34.	Ambika Dutt Hindi writer
35.	Nirupama Borghain Assamese writer
36.	Bhoopal Reddy Telugu writer

37.	Aamir Khan Bollywood actor

List of famous personalities who are against returning their awards (against Intolerance): 

1. Prasoon Joshi – Lyricist and adman

2. Savita Raj Hiremath – Producer

3. Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasiya – Multiple Padma Awardee

4. Madhur Bhandarkar – National Award winning filmmaker

5. Vidya Balan – Actress

6. Vivek Agnihotri –  Director

7. Anupam Kher – Senior actor

8. S L Bhyrappa  – Eminent Kannada writer & Sahitya Akademi awardee

9. Shyam Benegal – Multiple Padma awardee

10. Anup Jalota – Bhajan Singer

11. Manish Mundra – Producer

12. Pt Chetan Joshi – Flutist

13. Daya Prakash Sinha –  Playright

14. Amish Tripathi – Celebrated author

15. Gopaldas Neeraj – Multiple Padma Awardee and veteran poet

16. Chidananda Murthy –  Sahitya Akademi Awardee and  Kannada writer, researcher and historian

17. Patil Puttappa – Writer and veteran journalist

18. Ashok Chakradhar – Renowned Hindi poet and author

19. P Valsala – Malyalam novelist

20. U A Khader – Sahitya Akademi Awardee and veteran novelist

21. P Narayan Kurup – awardee of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and a noted literary critic

22. to 34. Bollywood and south Indian movies director Priyadarshan, famous Malayalam writers Akkitham, S.Ramesan Nair, P. Parameshwaran, Thuravur Viswambaran, Prof Melathu Chandrasekharan, Madambu Kunjikuttan, K.B Shreedevi, Actor Sureshgopi, Major Ravi, Musicians Alleppey Ranganath, K.G.Jayan (Jaya Vijaya), Artist Kanayi Kunjiraman jointly issued a statement against the Leftist intellectuals who returned awards.

35. Kamal Hassan – Multiple Padma Awardee actor

36. Raveena Tandon – Bollywood actress

37. Sudarsan Patnaik – Padma Shree Awardee and renowned sand sculptor

38. Salim Khan: Noted writer

39. Vikram Sampath – Historian and Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar awardee

40. Amritanshu Gupta – award winning radio journalist

41. Rajendra Talak – National Award winning director

42. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar – National Award winner

43. Anil Kapoor – Senior actor

44. Raza Murad – Senior actor

45. to 48. Dr Agnishekhar, Dr Kshema Kaul, Gokal Dembi and Shiban Khebri representing Sanmukh  - a Forum for Writers  & Artists in Exile

49. to 54. Professor Sumatheendra R Nadig, poet, author, Karnataka Sahitya Akademi  Awardee, former UGC Emeritus Fellow, former Chairman National Book Trust, Mrs. Sreekumari Ramachandran, Novelist, short story writer,  Shri T.S.Nagabharana, Film Director, Karnataka, N. Kuttikrishna Pillai, author, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awardee,  Dr. Madusoodhanan Pillai, Academic Director, Bharatiya Institute of Research, Prof Meleth Chandrasekharan, Writer, Author – All of the above signed a petition titled “Intolerance in Contemporary India – a Statement"

55. Bikash Sinha – Padma Bhushan awardee and a Physicist

56. G Madhavan Nair – Former chairman of ISRO and Padma Bhushan

57. Harish Chandra Verma  – Prof HC Verma,  an Indian experimental physicist and professor in the Department of Physics at IIT

58. to 82.  to Professor Kapil Kapoor, former Pro-VC JNU, Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antar-rashtriya Hindi Viswavidyalaya, Wardha, Professor Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus University of Cambridge, Professor Jayanta Kumar Ray, National Professor,  Professor Aswini Mohapatra, JNU, Professor Santisree Pandit, University of Pune, Professor C.I.Issac, Member ICHR,Dr. Lokesh Chandra, President ICCR, Professor Purabi Roy, Member ICHR, Dr. Meenakshi Jain, Member ICHR, Professor Sacchidanand Sahai, Member, ICHR, Dr. Saradindu Mukherjee, Member ICHR, Dr. Nikhilesh Guha, Member ICHR, Professor Mohan Kashikar – University of Nagpur, Dr. Inakshi Chaturvedi – Associate Professor University of Rajasthan, Professor Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Chaudhuri Charan Singh University, Meerut, Dr. Dodda Range Gowda, academician, Dr. Prakash Shah, Associate Professor, Queen Mary University, London, Dr. Gautam Sen, former Professor LSE, Professor K.Gopinath, IISC, Professor Gopala Reddy – Osmania University, Professor G.Ram Reddy – Osmania University, Professor K.K.Mishra – Banaras Hindu University, Professor Maduraiveeran – University of Madras, Dr. R.Radhakrishnan – Asst Professor, Symbiosis University Hyderabad, Professor Ramakrishnan – Madurai Kamaraj University – All of the above signed a petition titled “Intolerance in Contemporary India – a Statement"

83. Ram Gopal Varma – Director Bollywood