To Kill a Mocking Bird

Eminent social psychologist Ashis Nandy is charged under SC/ST act. His crime was that he depicted a reality which was unpleasantly real and argued in favour of those whom he had reportedly sinned against. This incident could be termed as another example of growing intolerance for freedom of expression, another attack on the constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech, which has ,by now ,become more of a norm than an aberration. But a nuanced examination of the whole controversy reveals something more about our society. The controversy surrounding Ashish Nandy's remark at Jaipur Literary Festival, tells many a things what Nandy himself did not think of pointing out, but thanks to the twists and turns of the events, he ended up doing so. We are living in a society where celebration of intolerance and irrationality has become a national culture and hounding and harassment of freethinkers a national pastime. Every time a thinker speaks of something insightful, every time an artist creates something original or a writer depicts a reality which fails to achieve the norm of collective conformity, some group or other volunteer their 'sentiments' to get hurt. The recent controversy surrounding eminent sociologist Ashis Nandy's remark adds another feather to the crown of intolerance.