Teen Point of View

‘Intolerance’ — a hot debate

FEBRUARY 2016 TOPIC: ‘Intolerance’ is a topic of hot debate in the country. Your comments.

Consider the people from various castes and communities living together after the flood in Tamil Nadu. They are HUMANS. They stayed together in such circumstances. Forget the circumstances. You too might be living in an area where people belong to different religious groups? I’m sure you or they don’t create nuisance for the same! Then why is a Muslim in Dadri beaten to death all on the basis of a rumour? Why such religious intolerance in one part of the country and so much integrity in another? Intolerance is perhaps due to irrational agony of SOME people which may end if they start to see things from a broader prospective. Being humane comes first then does being religious.
Divya ParwaniDivya Parwani (17)
MGD Girls’ School, Jaipur

The canvas of our country has many colours to offer. The bright, vivid and vibrant colours also hide behind them some dark and evil colours. Intolerance is a burning issue. The old rotten beliefs and the submissive and subjugated views are a major cause of rising bigotry in our country. The advancing technology and supremacy of the social media assist in the revolution of venomous ideas and thoughts and thus increases the rage and fury of the people. People of the country need to accept the different opinions of distinct communities prevalent in our country to establish a diverse and peaceful India. Riots and other violent means are not a solution.
Aishwarya ChopraAishwarya Chopra (17)
Agra

Though India is a country known for its rich and varied heritage, it is also a nation which has a long history of being intolerant to people of different religion and caste. Widespread intolerance has been a topic of concern to the Government and the citizens of India. India has spent a lot of precious time and money to define a word whose definition is very clearly laid down in the Oxford English dictionary or any other dictionary as ‘unable to be endured’. If India is a country which can afford to spend so much money on something so futile and easily accessible, how is India still a ‘developing nation’? Why is almost half the population of India below the poverty line? Why isn’t India a ‘corruption-free’ nation? I think it is high time the Indian Government got their priorities right!
Nathishia ChandyNathishia Rebecca Chandy (14)
Excelsior English School, Kottayam

Firstly to be clear there is no such thing as intolerance. India has always been a secular country and the whole question of it becoming a Hindu nation is a pointless political argument. Had India been intolerant, Hamid Ansari would never be the vice president of our country or films like PK or OMG wouldn’t be given the love they got or singers like Adnan Sami wouldn’t spend years demanding Indian citizenship. “Intolerance” in our country is nothing but a mere opposition agenda to make the Modi government look like an incompetent and undeserving government. The whole debate on the topic of intolerance should be scrapped because reckless comments by political leaders would not be of any help and would do nothing but to amplify a new problem within the country. And as far as our country is concerned, intolerance and India are two parallel words which are never going to meet, at least not in this century.
Nandita KhajuriaNandita Khajuria (14)
Delhi Public School, Katra

India is a land which gives us liberal democracy, right to speech, right to express and right to adopt any religion but when these rights are violated it causes intolerance. For example, was it right to kill a writer just because he laid his opinion which differed from others. India is a country with rich cultures consisting of so many religions with tolerance but when a crack person comes between the lines of religion it causes religious intolerance which spreads as toxin. So time goes on and our thinking revolutionizes and evolves and this evolution produces a difference in opinion. So if we do not violate our rights and give up intolerance and let peace and harmony reign and let creativity evolve by moving away from the beaten path so we can realize the dreams of the 21st century.
Alina AliAlina Ali
St Anthony’s Jr College, Agra

Intolerance is never built due to difference in ideology, religion or opinion; it is an outcome of lack of mutual understanding and patience among the societies. When freedom of speech is subdued, individual’s choice is disrespected, anger dominates rationality, propagandist ideologies maximize, misinterpretations ascend and hatred is induced, therefore, intolerance is born. This is not created by one or two individuals but participation by many people has made it the biggest debatable concept today. Dire need is to rejuvenate pragmatism and focus on development of the country. India is an incredible illustration of unity in diversity, and the intolerant situations today are ruining its image.
Alruba SheikhAlruba Sheikh (20)
IP College for Women, New Delhi

Our country has been facing several evens and odds from past few months and intolerance being the latest, is the hatred towards other religion, caste, view and thought. It has become a trend now-a-days to resist other people’s opinion. It can be dangerous for future generations as they will not respect other persons’ thoughts, rather superimpose their own views and show rigidity. This would lead to misunderstandings and division. Young generation need to voice up their independent opinion by interpreting things which are not right. The burning issue can come to calm if we try and understand the views of others rather than resisting them.
Pahul SondPahul Sond (17)
MGN UE2, Jalandhar

India is a mother to many of the religions which are associated with different sets of beliefs. So, obviously they might be in clash but not in the name of intolerance. The clash results because of some disloyal people who go against the original beliefs of their religion. Because of recent political events people begin to doubt the tolerance level of our nation; besides media has given much interest in being a big critic of intolerance. Hence the idea of intolerance spread like a forest fire and people started really being intolerant. I think that the whole country cannot be blamed as intolerant because of certain people who themselves are intolerant. These people are just behaving like a cancer cell, which multiplies itself not knowing that it is harming itself.
Veena Atul VelankarVeena Atul Velankar (15)
Little Flower Convent High School, Solapur

Intolerance. Yes, it is a hot topic and we need to fight against this menace. An Indian citizen has his/her democratic right to fight back any evil he/she suffers from.  Hence, she/he should not put up with it. Every coin has two sides but some people use their dominating nature to suppress the weaker ones to impose their views by force. It is the duty of each and every individual to fight back and win the battle for the right cause. Intolerance itself can be defined positively and say, ‘YOU ARE IN TOLERANCE’. It is the responsibility of all to pull themselves out of this circle of ‘INTOLERANCE’ to stand for oneself in justice and truth.
Ritika BhatiaRitika Bhatia (18)
Kanodia Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur

We neglect this ego disguised as intolerance. Genuinely a person may have intolerance as his core behaviour or the circumstances may have pushed him into this situation. The person who has been stuck in this quagmire will have to face many difficulties. But the key of understanding is sure to open the lock of tolerance and then there can be serenity everywhere as the ladder of progress of our nation will become stronger with such optimistic citizens around.
Tanvi ShindeTanvi Sanjay Shinde (14)
Little Flower Convent High School, Solapur

Intolerance! Well this word has created a boom in our nation in the present scenario. The high societal people of the country say that the country has become an intolerable place to live in. We cannot judge our country on few bad things; rather we should look forward to the positive side of our country. We can’t blame the country which has given us a status, and this is absolutely wrong to make such allegations in front of the world.
Akshita MathurAkshita Mathur
ICG, Jaipur

So when it comes to INTOLERANCE I can write a full diary!! In today’s world intolerance is being spread like a disease which is very difficult to cure. It is a word that dominated the year 2015. It was a part of national headlines in all newspapers. We have seen that there was a trend of writers returning awards, intellectuals bashing the government and film stars raising questions against increasing intolerance in the Indian society. Surprisingly no one is telling exactly what went wrong all of a sudden which makes them to conclude India is heading towards Intolerance. I would like to know how this has changed our daily life and interaction with people.
Sanjana AgarwalSanjana Agarwal (14)
St Anthony’s Jr College, Agra