Jessica Lange, a famous American actress, had superbly
said and here I quote;
“Acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons.”
What is tolerance? It is the act or capacity of enduring. One of the major elements that make a well organized society is tolerance.
Many societies around the world are admired because of the tolerance and
patience they show towards each other, making the society exemplary.
Unfortunately, I have to say instead of moving towards being a positive,
prosperous and tolerant society; we are becoming more miserable day by day.
Starting from a lay man to big organizations, we all have become animals that
just try to eat each other on minor things.
Being a Muslim state, we have let down, the best religion, the best Prophet
and of course, our God eventually. But still we are ignorant intentionally of
the fact. There are a lot of examples of intolerance everywhere and almost at
every time in our society. Forget about being educated or not and young or old,
we all stand at the same place, in this context.
Let’s consider an example if a little child in a neighborhood just slaps
another child, look at the perfect scene afterwards. Instead of teaching
children to forgive and tolerate, we jump in and start fighting ourselves.
What a pity!
Similarly, after an accident, instead of resolving the issue, passersby
create an entertainment in which every man comes from here and there, form a
circle and starts enjoying. This is what we do and we are known as a most
uneducated, intolerant society.
The story doesn't end here. Take a quick glance in any organization, in
politics, on religious issues; everywhere on minor things we are ready to kill
each other.
The question is where does this intolerance come from? The answer is
simple. Almost every child is a witness to intolerance in their homes from an
early age. Intolerance between our parents, our siblings, our co-workers etc
often leads to violence. Violence breeds violence. Children become intolerant
with the people around them from such an early age.
What is the solution? It doesn't seem that killing or having disputes among
each other can solve any problem. Why can’t we start by working on ourselves
rather than expecting others and become better, decent and civilized human
beings? Instead of showing hatred to each other, why can’t we be positive and
literate? Starting from our domestic lives to professional, social, cultural
and political lives, we can take a small initiative towards being a change. As
Gandhi said and rightly so;
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Tolerance is absolutely the need of the hour. It is one of the elements we
can groom ourselves as individuals hence a society and nation. Getting a third
world country on to the track leading to progress is not at all easy, but if
each and every individual starts to practice tolerance, then this impossible
dream will become a reality.
In the end I would like to say that practicing tolerance will not only help
us to present a better image of our country to the world, but it will also help
us become better human beings altogether. A beautiful quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton sums it all up as;
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”
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