Intolerance that’s not tolerable anymore! ‘Na dukh hai maa se juda hone ka, na gum hai kuch paise kam kamaane ka… Meri takleef to bas itni hai k tune mere Allah ko uske Ram se juda kiya hai!’ In a subconscious state of mind, while riding on a smooth empty road, these lines spilled out of my mind, which mean that ‘my only concern is life is that you separated my Allah from his Ram’. Time and again I have been thinking about my many friends who don’t follow the same faith as I do, but have been an inseparable and charming part of my life. A friend of mine who professes Islamic faith had carried out most of the important tasks during my wedding, which was, obviously, by Hindu rituals. He exactly knew where should the Kalash be placed and that raw rice must be sprinkled before placing the god’s idol or frame. He did restrict himself to a vegetarian diet like the rest of us as Guru Granth Sahib was at our home during the three important days just before the wedding. What is it then, that separates him from my other friends, brothers, brother-in-laws or any other Hindu. Yes, I have many friends of Muslim and Christianity faiths and I have never found them any different. If I avoid a meaty diet on Tuesday, they do cook vegetarian food for me and I serve chicken and meat to them. We clearly respect each others’ faiths and this is what our parents and grandparents have taught us. The things that we were taught to be intolerable to were begging children on the road, female foeticide, men hitting their wives and boys raping girls. We were strictly instructed to never tolerate what was wrong and injustice. Our country is changing and how! The communal differences are widening and the rift has grown in past two years like never before. Minorities like Christians and Muslims are being targeted while those suffering include Christians, Muslims and Hindus. I do feel bad and worried when a church is burned in Delhi or a Muslim man is killed in UP. Cow is not an endangered species. Save animals but not at the cost of human beings. The country that once taught the world how to live in peace is now ready to take lessons. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has finally ordered the US administration to intervene with the Indian Government and set things right. To teach the Indians to have tolerance and to allow people around you to profess the faith of their own choices. All of this, despite the fact that our constitution clearly states India to be a state of sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavors to promote fraternity among them.