Manage Differences through Tolerance

A Hindu scholar during his speech mentioned an incident that Gandhiji wrote about in his autobiography. He wrote that he met Allama Iqbal in London during the Second Round Table Conference (1931). Iqbal introduced himself by saying, “I am a Kashmiri Pandit.” Before 1947, Hindus and Muslims generally conversed in this manner about their lineage. But, due to the unnatural movement of the ‘two-nation theory’, the mood on both sides had changed. Now, such talk arouses nationalistic sentiments. Doctor Mahesh Sharma has been associated with the RSS from a young age. During a conversation one day, I said tolerance is now essential for national unity. He said that the followers of Golwalkar do not like the word tolerance. They say that we don’t just tolerate others; we welcome them. They say, “Be truthful, and you will be welcomed.” Many people say we should not pay so much attention to religious disputes. Other issues are more worthy of attention, such as education, economics, creating national character among the individual, etc. Today, the most essential task is to prepare the new generation to play their proper role in the country’s development. Mr. Ram Bahadur Rai, the editor of Jansatta, spoke the least. I observed that people listened to him with great attention whenever he spoke. Seeing this, I thought that some people consider speaking more important but speaking less is even more important. But to say less, one needs the power of tolerance, and very few people possess that.