While supposed intellectuals and self-styled activists continue to portray India as a place of religious extremism, one of the most celebrated global spiritual leader- The Dalai Lama- has appreciated the level of religious freedom in India. On Tuesday, Dalai Lama said that Muslim countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Syria should learn about religious tolerance from India so that there is peace in the world.
Dalai Lama said, “There are various religions and traditions in India having population of over 125 crore. Muslim countries should learn from India so that there is peace. There is coordination among all the religions here and due to non-violence principle, modern India is developing.”
This statement clearly acts as a reply to individuals and organizations who try to portray India as some sort of burning pit of religious extremism. As Mark Twain once said, “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition”. India is the origin of four major religions of the world- Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism- which co-exist peacefully with Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Indians have accepted people fleeing persecution from all over the world- Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Tibetan Buddhists.
Indian government officially recognizes national holidays for the festivals of all the major and minor religions. India along with celebrating religious freedom gives space to cultural freedom as well. There are dozens of official languages in the country with no imposition whatsoever. India protects its tribal population and the tribal culture. Romain Rolland has rightly said, “If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.”
Saudi Arabian columnist Khalaf Al-Harbi on the tolerance of India writes, “In India, there are more than 100 religions and more than 100 languages. Yet, the people live in peace and harmony. They have all joined hands to build a strong nation that can produce everything from a sewing needle to the rocket which is preparing to go to Mars.” He further says, “I must say that I feel a bit jealous because I come from a part of the world which has one religion and one language and yet there is killing everywhere. No matter how the world speaks about tolerance, India remains the oldest and most important school to teach tolerance and peaceful co-existence regardless of the religious, social, political or ethnical differences.”
Except for the pseudo-intellectuals and liberal-leftist cabal, no one finds India an intolerant society. It has been seen that people who claim that India is increasingly becoming intolerant, are the most intolerant. They are intolerant towards people who don’t buy their arguments. The cabal has manufactured the narrative of intolerance to serve their masters, and to earn their bread and butter. All we have to do is to ignore such people and their ad nauseam.