You think India is intolerant? Read this.

Apprarently, the new fad, the "in" thing is to call India an INTOLERANT nation.

Yeah right! India, the first (if not the only) country in the world that achieved its freedom through non-violent means. The United States, supposedly the world's greatest democracy, had resorted to weapons to attain its independence. 

So yes, India is intolerant.

Now take the case of this 16 year young girl from Pune, also called the Oxford of the East, a child from a well educated affluent family, got her fundamental education from a reputed school, went astray. Decided to go bonkers. She decided to change her entire existence and lifestyle. She also went a step further and decided to join a terrorist organization. (For more, click here)

The local ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) gets a whiff of this development. Imagine what happens next.

They arrest her? Yes

They put her behind bars? No

They question her the way cops do in Bollywood movies? NO.

Instead, they do a background check. Realise that this case has a potential to be un-radicalized; the cancer can be cured using medicines instead of using chemotherapy, the solution for last stage. They take the family and the local leaders of the religious community into confidence. And then go about counselling her to correct her mindset.

By undoing potential damaging consequences by this one sixteen year old, the ATS has saved her present family's life, her future family's life, and most definitely her own life and bright future.

Point to ponder here: Is the ATS crazy to spend money and resources on un-radicalizing one person? What did they get by doing this? They could have easily imprisoned or "encountered" her, closed her file, gotten a couple of medals, and gone home and slept off happily. Instead, they decided to do the right thing because they saw there was an opportunity to do things the right way. They would have certainly done the "encounter" if circumstances dictated it.

But in this case, they decided it was right to give someone a fair chance.

This is India and her system. We are still grappling with our problems and it will take us forever to fix some of them. But while we criticize ourselves, it is also important to reflect upon the good things and righteousness we have been following since centuries, even before the Gandhis and Vivekanandas, the Boses and Bhagats et al. There is arguably no other country which would have put so much thought into one person and would have blindly made an example out of her to show the whole world that their country does not tolerate terrorism. 

Nothing against countries who make an example out of one person. They are right in their own way. But consider this: Do you still think India is intolerant?