A peculiar kind of intolerance is fast infecting the Indian society. The virus of intolerance is so strong that even the most simple of words are creating controversies these days. As a result society is getting divided on all possible lines – caste, creed, religion and even on patriotic line. The situation is such that now if one requests the government to redress the genuine grievances of the people of Kashmir or North-East, there is every possibility that he/she will be branded as anti-national, will be trolled on social media, someone will lodge an FIR, etc. Even sedition charges can be slapped on him/her. Attacks do not end here. Even after facing all these opposition, if the person decides not to fall in line, he/she may meet the same fate as Gauri Lankesh or M. M. Kalburgi. The way things are moving sooner than later we may have to surrender all our fundamental rights.
No one wants to live under bondage. The indomitable spirit of human beings has given birth to many fascinating tales of struggle. No matter how powerful the enemy is people’s resistance had always brought down the forces that wanted the people to toe a particular line as per its likings. Starting from the French Revolution to the downfall of communist regimes in East Europe, finally the evil forces had to surrender before the people. It would have been better if our leaders would have learnt a lesson or two from the history of these struggles. Though the founding fathers of our nation had always respected and cared for keeping the freedom of the people intact, present day rulers are going the other way.
But those, who are misusing power given by the people by throttling our fundamental rights, should keep it in mind that today or tomorrow they will have to pay dearly for their misdeeds. It is sad to note that in every corner of the country intolerance is taking innocent lives. Even political opponents are not being spared. What is happening in Kerala? What is the present state of West Bengal? From Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan or Gujarat, everywhere intolerance is creating havoc. This concern on intolerance stems from incidents such as the lynching case in Jharkhand wherein one individual was accused and murdered on the pretext of carrying beef in his vehicle, further investigations into the lynching case between two persons (belonging to different religions) is actually turning out to be a case of revenge as the victim was known to the accused. This incident proves that hooliganism has overtaken the real concern over the state of said animals in our country. One thing is sure if this trend continues, everyone will start feeling insecure in this country. The very spirit of democracy will make a quiet exit. We all will have to speak, laugh, sing, dance, with the permission of our rulers. The dark era is looming in the horizon. So it is the duty of all the citizens to come forward to resist the fascist culture being indulged by our rulers. Everyone is trying to stream roll the voice of dissents just to remain in power for a longer period.
