The Intolerance Myth About India
Open|December 7, 2015

"Is India as wretched as it is being portrayed by a section of the intellectual class?"

- Siddharth Singh
The Intolerance Myth About India

 Arguments have A shorter life in this country, and, invariably, they are more incendiary than insightful, more spectacular than substantial. Enters Aamir Khan, Hindi cinema’s Peter Pan with an oversized conscience, and we are back to the noisy theatre of intolerant India, a wretched place worth running away from. Elsewhere, debates take a longer time in words, ideas and data before coming to a conclusion—or a pause. In Britain, the rhetoric over the extension of the franchise lasted almost 60 years. Arguments over the last US war in the Middle East lasted barely a year before the Tomahawks were unchained. Even by Indian standards, the intolerance debate was pretty spontaneous. From the spate of awards being returned in protest against the murder of three activist-thinkers and a villager to the near-silence after the BJP’s electoral rout in Bihar, it lasted barely 60 days. Aamir Khan altered the script, and the noise level in the intolerance constituency has gone up considerably.

Hang on. Is there enough empirical evidence to substantiate the claim of the anguished minority? Do four killings, however horrible, make India an intolerant country? Can slogans be substitute for evidence? There is evidence but it points in the other direction. Even as the protests were reaching a high-pitch, the US think-tank, Pew Research Center released a report Global Support for Principle of Free Expression, but Opposition to Some Forms of Speech last week (on 18 November).

Denne historien er fra December 7, 2015-utgaven av Open.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prÞveperiode pÄ Magzter GOLD for Ä fÄ tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra December 7, 2015-utgaven av Open.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prÞveperiode pÄ Magzter GOLD for Ä fÄ tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA OPENSe alt
Can Therapy Break The Taboo Of Hypersexuality?
Open

Can Therapy Break The Taboo Of Hypersexuality?

Can therapy break the taboo of hypersexuality?

time-read
10+ mins  |
December 28, 2015
Afghanistan: Waiting For A New Life
Open

Afghanistan: Waiting For A New Life

Ravaged by war, terror and bad politics, Afghanistan is waiting for a new life after the withdrawal of American troops.

time-read
8 mins  |
December 28, 2015
Grand Opening Of Dance Bars, Are The Girls Excited?
Open

Grand Opening Of Dance Bars, Are The Girls Excited?

Following a Supreme Court order, Mumbais dance bars are preparing for a grand opening. Are the girls equally excited?

time-read
10 mins  |
December 21, 2015
Discovery Of Colonial India
Open

Discovery Of Colonial India

Lord Hastings 1814 journey from Calcutta to Punjab with painter Sita Ram is a discovery of Colonial India through lives mundane and magical.

time-read
8 mins  |
December 21, 2015
Imtiaz Ali: Auteur In Love
Open

Imtiaz Ali: Auteur In Love

Imtiaz Ali's new film too is a celebration of desire and longing. The filmmaker in conversation with Divya Unny.

time-read
8 mins  |
December 14, 2015
Athleisure, A Lifestyle Trend Of This Decade
Open

Athleisure, A Lifestyle Trend Of This Decade

As the defining lifestyle trend of this decade, athleisure has changed the way we dress, appear, move and feel.

time-read
9 mins  |
January 18, 2016
Hate Wave In Communal India
Open

Hate Wave In Communal India

Provocative clerics, frenzied mobs and the widening fault lines of communal India.

time-read
10+ mins  |
January 25, 2016
Delhi Government: Getting Even With The Odd Chief Minister
Open

Delhi Government: Getting Even With The Odd Chief Minister

A righteous Kejriwal makes the governance of Delhi all about one man’s whims and paranoia.

time-read
8 mins  |
January 25, 2016
India’s Cricket Prodigies: Who Will Stay Like Tendulkar?
Open

India’s Cricket Prodigies: Who Will Stay Like Tendulkar?

India’s cricket prodigies today are luckier than their predecessors, but who will stay the distance like Tendulkar? 

time-read
7 mins  |
January 25, 2016
Dating Apps: A Sexual Revolution
Open

Dating Apps: A Sexual Revolution

As the dating app sets up office in India, its first ever outside the US, Lhendup G Bhutia signs on to see what the fuss is all about. He comes out unwanted.

time-read
9 mins  |
February 2, 2016