Surrounded by the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan etc. which boasts having a state religion, India is the beacon of secularism in the region and in the world.
Indian secularism does not mean anti religion but means treating all religions alike. This secular fabric is threatened by the irresponsible and venomous speeches by political leader and somewhat biased coverage by media.There has been numerous cases of muslim youths being arrested often without any substantial proofs by the police after any major terrorist attacks. These youths have to spend many years of their life in prison only to be released by the court in the absence of evidences. It is nothing but pressure from the public and general belief prevalent in the country which associates Islam with terrorism, which forces police to arrest sometimes innocent youths to show thier action. Recent case of arrest of a DRDO scientist Ejaz Ahmed Mirza for allegedly involving in helping terrorists has again raised the question about the biased nature of public in general and media and police in particular. In is very common to listen to TV anchors shouting Muslim names after each terroris attack. Even before any thing is clear about who is behind the attack. This kind of irresponsible attitude has led to the isolation of one community from the rest and is not good for Indian republic which is based on equality and secularism.Terrorist leaders who use religion as an instrument for brainwashing the youths in Kashmir and other regions are often benefited by such callous attitude of media, in painting whole of India as anti-Muslim. There is a need to be more responsible specially in the part of media which affects the mind of the people and is treated as showing collective consciousness of the society. We have to be careful in showing the hate speeches by the political leaders who wish to cash on the religious agenda.With the advent of social networking site and penetration of internet even in the rural areas things have become vulnerable. Along with the good things these technological revolutions have also taken bad things to common people. It is now easier to communicate hate messages to large population by uploading hate videos or publishing morphed pictures which insults any religion.Such facilities are now also available to the anti-social people who are making full use of it, which is evident from the choas generated among the people from north east India living in southern cities.But regulation of Internet may not be the answer, what is needed is a proper administration of internet and making people aware abou the harms that it could do to the country if not used responsibly.These are the new generation challenges that India is facing and it must find the new ways to deal with these kind of threats.
Indian secularism does not mean anti religion but means treating all religions alike. This secular fabric is threatened by the irresponsible and venomous speeches by political leader and somewhat biased coverage by media.There has been numerous cases of muslim youths being arrested often without any substantial proofs by the police after any major terrorist attacks. These youths have to spend many years of their life in prison only to be released by the court in the absence of evidences. It is nothing but pressure from the public and general belief prevalent in the country which associates Islam with terrorism, which forces police to arrest sometimes innocent youths to show thier action. Recent case of arrest of a DRDO scientist Ejaz Ahmed Mirza for allegedly involving in helping terrorists has again raised the question about the biased nature of public in general and media and police in particular. In is very common to listen to TV anchors shouting Muslim names after each terroris attack. Even before any thing is clear about who is behind the attack. This kind of irresponsible attitude has led to the isolation of one community from the rest and is not good for Indian republic which is based on equality and secularism.Terrorist leaders who use religion as an instrument for brainwashing the youths in Kashmir and other regions are often benefited by such callous attitude of media, in painting whole of India as anti-Muslim. There is a need to be more responsible specially in the part of media which affects the mind of the people and is treated as showing collective consciousness of the society. We have to be careful in showing the hate speeches by the political leaders who wish to cash on the religious agenda.With the advent of social networking site and penetration of internet even in the rural areas things have become vulnerable. Along with the good things these technological revolutions have also taken bad things to common people. It is now easier to communicate hate messages to large population by uploading hate videos or publishing morphed pictures which insults any religion.Such facilities are now also available to the anti-social people who are making full use of it, which is evident from the choas generated among the people from north east India living in southern cities.But regulation of Internet may not be the answer, what is needed is a proper administration of internet and making people aware abou the harms that it could do to the country if not used responsibly.These are the new generation challenges that India is facing and it must find the new ways to deal with these kind of threats.
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