Religion is a way of preaching to the Supreme Power. Different people have different beliefs which influence their habits. Most people believe that religion is the way to pray to the Supreme God to protect them against the odds and help them out when they are facing a tough time in their lives. Over the centuries many religions have evolved. Each of which has different cores, beliefs, and traditions.
Initially, all religions lived and cooperated. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs everyone stayed and worked together as a unit. However, as time evolved people were wanting to break this unity. They started finding ways to differentiate people based on religion. Sometimes personal rivalries between people who are of different religions and at a high post caused the people to hold a grudge against people of the opposite religion. Those who tried to separate people based on religion left a wound on society that will take many years to heal.
All ruling sectors in different parts of the world are trying to get rid of religious intolerance. They ensure that the rules they introduce do not hurt the sentiments of any religion. We have come a long way from where we were 50 years back. People have started accepting each other. Many have let go of religious intolerance. There is progress in society but still, in some parts, there is religious intolerance present in the minds of the people. There are still many residential areas where people of different religions are not allowed. Places where the domination of a particular religion is so high that people of other religions fear going there. The government has introduced many policies which promote equality between religions but the inequality remains in the minds of the people.
All the government can do is introduce laws and change certain set-ups but the mentality of the public is one thing that no one has control over. India being a democratic republic allows all its citizens to think freely and express their ideas to everyone. This as a rule in itself is amazing and Indians are blessed to have it but the only catch that comes is when people start misusing it. They start propagating a certain religion and insulting the other. They start discriminating against people based on religion, openly. Religion is something we learn right from the time we are born. Naturally, we are very connected to our religion and extremely sentimental towards it. Thus, when someone speaks against our religion it is very understandable that our blood will boil. Not all people have the courage to speak up but many people do and when they speak up for their religion is when fights take place.
The funny fact to note here is that these fights are not happening in places of worship or any place which is connected to religion. These fights take place in common areas, on the roads. The political parties also have religious-biased voters. Certain political parties propagate a certain religion to be able to win votes from them. They take out rallies chanting the name of God in the way it was done by certain religions. If these political figures propagate one religion, then the people of another religion will be unhappy and they will question the government whether the other religions are important to them. I believe that winning votes based on religious propagation is incorrect. While doing this may be an easy way to gain votes from at least a part of the population, the government ends up destroying the unity between the religions which can thus affect the progress of the nation in the future if not immediately. The government has started by introducing some laws; however, the example they set by propagating certain religions confuses the public.
Another fact in Indian society that shows the presence of religious intolerance is accepting or rejecting a person based on their religion. In some Indian houses, when the child says that they have made a new friend or have met a new person, then instead of asking about the character of the person the family asks about their religion. They accept or reject a person based on religion. They justify themselves by saying that all people of one religion are alike and thus if they know one person who did not have a very positive character and was of a certain religion then they will ensure they do not have any relations with any other person of that religion. This is absurd because the religion of a person cannot describe their character. Religion is the way they preach God and while that may be a part of their life it is not a fact-on the basis of which we can decide the character of a person.
There is no doubt that things are changing. There is an attempt to give a mindset of equality in all sectors through education. The majority of the schools propagate equality for religion. All we can hope for is that society continues to keep changing and the mindset of everyone in the world becomes such that never does a person have to cry that they were born into a family that practices a certain religion.
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