Bharatiya Janata Party: Submitted By: SHIVANGI GUPTA, 1-D

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
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AMIT SHAH
National President,
Bharatiya Janata Party
POLICY STATEMENT: Rise of Communalism and Intolerance
The past year India, the land that gave birth to four religions and enshrined secularism in its
constitution was termed as being intolerant in the light of the unfortunate incidents of communal
violence witnessed in the country. It was alleged that under the aegis of the ruling party India has
shown a considerable rise in communalism and intolerance citing the incidents such as the murder
of 3 rationalist thinkers Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and the DadriLynching.
Communalism
When the people of a particular community care only for their own narrowly concerned interests
through the means of their religious faiths, old customs and conservatism policies, disregarding
the interest of the whole society, then, it may be termed as communalism.
The antagonism practiced by people of one religion or community against those belonging to other
religions and communities can be termed as communalism.
India might have a history of communal violence both before and after Independence but it cannot
be denied that inter-communal respect is woven into the fabric of Indian society, without which
such a diverse country couldnt have existed.
The genesis of communalism throughout the history of India, lies in individuals who have for
political purposes, tried and are still trying to communalize society and mar Indias beauty.
Analysis in regard to the alleged rise in communalism
An analysis of the Home Ministry data reveals the true picture:
Submitted by: SHIVANGI GUPTA, 1-D
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56 incidents of communal violence were recorded in October, while the Bihar elections
were underway and the "intolerance" debate came to dominate political discourse.
This is close to the monthly average of 54 communal incidents reported in 2014.
68 incidents were recorded in 2013, when the UPA was in power (owing to Muzaffarnagar
riots of 2013)
Dadri-Lynching in Uttar Pradesh
The state of Uttar Pradesh, which witnessed the most gruesome of communal incident is
ruled by Samajwadi Party.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for a fifth of all religious conflicts and has topped nearly every
fact sheet on communal violence for at least three years now.
This can be attributed to the fact that Public Order is a part of the State List in the 7th
Schedule of Indian Constitution and thus it doesnt fall under the purview of the Centre.
Empirical data and the facts cited belies that there has been a rise in India of incidents communal
in nature, hence, busting the myth nurtured and propagated with great care in mainstream media.
Intolerance
Intolerance can be generally defined as an unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that
differ from one's own. Though the words tolerance and intolerance rocked the nation through
its core, their meaning and contextual relevance has not been clear.
It might be useful to think of three kinds of tolerance: personal, legal, and societal, in that order of
increasing importance, relevance, and impact.
The personal is a matter of temperament and opinion. Every individual is a montage of legitimate
choices and biases. Personal tolerance is too varied for everyone to agree on. Thats the whole
purpose of law: to protect the right to varied choices.
Legal intolerance refers to a situation when opinion turns to violent action, when one expresses
their prejudices violently, or incite such violence, upon other people or their property.
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Societal tolerance is reflected in the systems and institutions promote, discourage, or respond to
intolerance, and how far they back up the constitution and law.
The outcry against rising intolerance, which began and ended with the Bihar elections, is wholly
unjustified. The mentioned incidents are isolated, regrettable incidents and are not indicators of a
nations intolerance. One Dadri does not make a country of 1.24 billion people intolerant.
Last year saw a slew of prominent writers returning their national awards in protest against the
rising intolerance in the country. In this case, they were referring to Societal Intolerance. This fact
was disregarded by the miscreants who, instead branded the nation and its people as intolerant.
A nation is intolerant when its constitution and institutions are intolerant. In Indias case, the Indian
Constitution is one of the most tolerant in the world:
The Preamble to Indian Constitution declares India to be a secular republic.
Freedom of religion in India is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 15 and Article

25 of the Constitution of India.
Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
Article 25 of our Constitution confers on all persons, including non-citizens, a fundamental

right to freely profess, practice and propagate their religion.
Articles 29 and 30 constitutionally protect the language, script and culture of minorities
and give them the right to establish educational institutions of their choice.
Thus, the rights and privileges of minorities have always been fiercely protected by the
Constitution of India.
The Beef Ban;
The government has not been intolerant as regards to the Beef Ban.
Law was formulated in various states many years ago, mostly by the then congress regime and the
issue is being politicized for narrow gains. Wherever there is a BJP government, the sentiments of
the people before imposing ban on beef were factored in.
Growing intolerance as a perception has been limited to the Lutyens zone of the country. Lutyens
zone is an area synonymous with political power and intellectual and cultural hubs. Moreover, a
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culturally diverse country like India would have disintegrated a long time ago if it wouldnt have
been tolerant. In fine, India is a tolerant country with a few intolerant people.
Bharatiya Janata Party seeks to build a consensus amongst the people that there is indeed no
intolerance in India. Intolerance is a myth and there has been no apparent rise in communalism
under the partys governance. The party is taking everyone along with it while ruling the country.
India first is the partys only religion and the Constitution of India is its only holy book. It
reasserts the fact that the country as a whole, people at large, India as a civilization, has been plural,
diverse and tolerant through millennia and will continue to remain so because the people of this
country will not allow the elements of intolerance to prosper.

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BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

POLICY STATEMENT: Rise of Communalism and Intolerance

Submitted by: SHIVANGI GUPTA, 1-D