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We as human species are vulnerable and insecure at heart. Any threat or insult to our ego/pride can turn a simple event into an explosive situation. It is good to criticize as long as it is based on facts and is done in a manner which is decorous and sensible. To insult or smear someone or a community with unfounded lies and damaging slander will only provoke a messy reaction. False accusations, defaming allegations and tainted mockery of people only serves to vitiate the environment and incites the society to hate, isolate and even terminate the victimised sections. The end result- the poison of hate engulfs the society as a whole and there is no going back to normalcy.
If someone is committing a wrong act, should he be paraded naked, stoned, inked, lynched to death etc? No, and we all agree to it. Yet when it comes to penalising someone who we think has done something wrong, why we secretly or openly wish to hurt him with offensive words or fatal bashing. Think about it.
Hence the question we need to ask is – why people insult and how to logically address our opinion without acting as prejudiced, fanatical, or intolerant.
We pride in our culture, in our genes, looks, sect, boiling down to my-way-of-doing things. It is but natural. However, it gets wrong when such a way of thinking is imposed on others suggesting that my-way-of-doing things is superior to others. The pride of an individual person or a community has more impact if they belong to a dominant class in the society – so their way of doing things gets a legal sanction while everyone else is thrown to the margins and is considered inferior, illegal, and insignificant etc. This can happen in a school, home, government, and it is such a common occurrence that the need to engender TOLERANCE is indispensable. As someone has rightly said, “We are each burdened with prejudice; against the poor or the rich, the smart or the slow, the gaunt or the obese. It is natural to develop prejudices. It is but noble to rise above them”. It is hence an utmost necessity to inculcate the sensibility of tolerance so that DIVERSITY is not seen as a threat but a good thing.
Our way of doing things if is different than those of the others, that should not be a reason to segregate societies and discriminate one against the other. The key element of tolerance is appreciating the difference be it based on CULTURE, COLOUR, DOMICILE, SEX, or RELIGION. The resolution lies in allowing one person or community the freedom to live with a condition that it does not curtail the freedom of the other – the conflict between majority and the minority can only be resolved if it is understood that the liberty of each does not imply one should dominate the other or consider the other inferior, or irrelevant.
WHY INTOLERANCE PERSISTS? Why Is It Here?
INTOLERANCE is prevalent in the society as people jump to conclusions without knowing the two sides of the story. It is not enough to hear what one part is accusing the other part of, but to also hear out the second party which is being prosecuted. Only after analyzing the two-sides of the issue, one can foster a logical public opinion. Otherwise in a lopsided hearing of facts, the other party will remain discriminated against and the whole society will remain divided over religious, cultural and nationalistic grounds. And such conflicted divisions tend to linger on and take a long of time to regain peace.
Intolerance persists as it is not patiently and logically ascertained as to which cases are instances of intolerance and which are being blown out of proportion. Sometimes it happens that even when there is no cause of alarm, the issue is dangerously politicised, exaggerated, and exploited to create disorder for ulterior motives. And mostly instead of resolving the issue, it is further fanned and provoked to dangerous levels of violence and unrest.
Along these lines, it also has to be assured if a person is practicing his/her culture the same person and others are not being hurt, or undermined by it – i.e. in practicing your way of doing things, it shouldn’t pose a threat to another person’s sentiments. Freedom of Opinion if is allowed that doesn’t invariably suggest such an opinion if bordering on offensive, vulgar, racist, fanatic can be considered permissible. No not at all.
Finally, it should be accepted that hate, fear of the other, envy etc are emotions which can infect even the most literate and sensible person. When it happens, the greatest power of humans – SENSIBILITY should be called in to control this hatred against the other and to not let it control us. It is natural and a human tendency to develop HOSTILITY for some people, but we have our brains and our hearts to keep such aversions contained and to rectify them sooner than later. You might think badly for someone because you might not like how he dresses up or looks like but your actions should be informed by TOLERANCE to ensure order in the…
