The level of tolerance and the countries in the subcontinent

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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There is a separate thread on “India’s secularism”. So it was not a good idea to distract it with a comparative analysis.

The real test for nation’s character is to see how tolerant it is to its own people and the people of other nations.

If a nation decides to be tolerant, then its proclaimed inclination towards a religion or to secularism matters little.

For example a Christian USA can be tolerant to other people, and so could the Muslims nations of Dubai, or Malaysia.

A Buddhist nation may have to be intolerant towards a violent minority such as in Sri Lanka, or a Buddhist nation like Burma could have its very monks throwing stones on the government troops.

Having given some of these examples, let’s turn back to the subcontinent. It definitely is clear as a sun that India is the most tolerant nation in the region. They may or may not have laws on the books, but in general people from within or without feel accepted in the Indian society. This does not mean India is the epitome of tolerance. Heck no. It is just that they are “much more tolerant” than their immediate neighbors.

Pakistan has suffered greatly in the past and still suffering from the intolerant attitude of people and the laws of the land. We have allowed our minorities to suffer both with our civilian hands as well as in our Sharia-inspired courts.
We have become totally intolerant towards international visitors from Europe and Asia. Attacks on visitors like S. Lanka cricket team should have been a wakeup call. But sadly it isn’t. We are blaming others and soon we’ll revert to our islamism.

BDesh too is relatively tolerant country compared to Pakistan and so is Nepal.

This comparison should serve as an eye opener for us Pakistanis. And hopefully one day our tribal behavior and our tribal laws will become a thing of the past.

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Seems that none of ur target audience is impressed by ur views of tolrance burqaposhx. Sad indeed if its true. Pray its not.

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Perhaps that is the case.

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Re: The level of tolerance and the countries in the subcontinent

I view tolerance to be negative. To tolerate something is to say something is wrong but we'll just let it be. The idea of tolerance is inherently patronizing and I dont believe its an end point we should be striving towards.

Instead we should be looking to acceptance whereby we acknowledge a society (region) is made up of individuals that are equally able and capable of contributing.

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Can you provide the example of a country (if there is any) which is the epitome of tolerance ?

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Some of the points Burqa has mentioned are valid this time. (This is very rare though, so I'm kinda surprised)

However, I dont know how he is judging India as the most tolerant nation among all neighbors. I would like to ask him how many times has he personally visited India and met how many hindu fundamentalists and criticized them? He'll come to know the level of tolerance immediately. I hope he comes back alive then without being burnt alive. I sincerely hope so!

Yes, the level of tolerance is getting low in Pakistanis day by day but there are so many factors involved in that, not just one. we can discuss all those factors but I dont want to be called going off-topic.

And once again, giving example of attack on Srilanka team is a bad one here. Go to Pakistan and meet 50 people from every single region or language spoke there. You would rarely find a single person who'll be in favor to attack the foriegnors. And no way anyone will be in favor having these attacks unless you meet any of the extreamests who are already engaged in the fight with Pakistani Govt or vice versa.

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Re: The level of tolerance and the countries in the subcontinent

^^

I live in India and am a Roman Catholic. I have friends who are hindus. Religion has never been a criteria for friendship. I know many hindu fundamentalists and have personally criticized them. I have not been lynched till how. I am still alive.

Sid do you know of someone who has been burnt by these hindu fundamentalists. Have you visited India and personally felt the level of tolerance. You too are again making these statements from hearsay.

I am not saying that things are all rosy here. There are problems here with the rise of BJP and all that. But the problems are few and there are people who are genuinely concerned and working hard to nip the growth of fundamentalism in its bud.

Your comparing the tolerance level of Pakistan with India is fraught with danger. In India atleast people are encouraged to follow whatever religion they choose. There is nothing like the blashpemy law in India. I completely agree that India is the most tolerant of the south asian countries.

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Yep and that's Germany

e. g. For Muslims: If they want to built a mosque they r protected by the Law to do so even against protests ..... but it should be mentioned every Mosque that is opposed by the way protests there r also protesters who voice they opinion for the mosque so it's alway two way

Even PPL with Nazi-Like ideology r allowed their opinion but then they r not attacked (atleast on most occasions) but rather confronted in debates which they actually shy.

Now the Government is seriously thinking about introducing Islam-lectures to be part of the curriculum for schools

One has to reckon that in the 80's there were some 100 registered Mosques in Germany and now the number has gone beyond 2000

The Muslim Population of Germany is numbered at 3.3-3.5 Million

9/11 has rather helped to bring Islam closer to the society that alienating it.

There were times when Neo-Nazis attacks were common but after much public pressures all parties and the judicial system has stepped up to work a two way strategy to curb it with police force and starting up projects that aim to prevent the youth falling into such traps

BTW if u take a closer look at the German constitution (post ww2 of course) many things r common with Islamic teachings even though very few PPL would admit it actually.

So it's not only the Law that needs to be tolerant but much more it's implementation by the judiciary and Police

Not that they r angels but in comparison to many other (even EU countries) they have a better record

Some other countries i would think of r Sweden, Norway and Finland