Love jihad is something that is creating discordant notes over the last few years. The luring of brides from other religions into Islam is something that is not knew. In fact as mentioned in the earlier posts, love jihad is often the way the Islam managed to expand its tentacles across the Middle East and beyond. Therefore, there exists an ever-present threat of one religion overpowering another religion. In Islam, apparently, there exists a norm wherein they can marry into other religions subject to the condition that bride or the groom converting into Islam. Secondly, Islam follows the principle of prisoner’s dilemma with a mafia scenario. In the context of someone desirous of leaving Islam, the punishment is death. Therefore, the very nature of the punishment and the strict enforcement of the same results in almost one way conversion. Therefore, the question of love jihad even though it is dismissed as figment of Hindu right imagination has to be tackled.
In fact, the context of love jihad was not raised by the Hindu groups but in fact raised in the context of Kerala by the Christian groups. The Christian brides were being married off to Islamic grooms and converted and thus the church raised this issue. In fact, it was much later that the Hindu groups joined the bandwagon. The only outcome was the left liberal ecosystem becoming strong ardent supporters of love jihad. The context has taken a new turn with the events in Jammu involving the Sikh community. Apparently a Sikh girl was married to an elderly Muslim raising more than an eyebrow among the Sikh community. The community came onto the streets in full force. There was little of the so-called brotherhood that was being displayed during the anti-CAA agitation a year and half or so ago. The intervention of community elders from both sides apparently ensured a compromise was reached, the bride returned back who in turn was married within the community in a few hours’ time.
The intervention might indicate a community’s determination to protect its turf. At the heart of the street battles is the beti-bahu bachao as it has come to be known in the northern parts of the country. The actions have divided the community too with a small vocal section advocating woke agenda. It is a signal for every community in the sense, woke is quite strong and robust except in the context of Islam. Irrespective of the events that led towards this issue, lie a scenario wherein a community might seek to exercise certain rights towards its fellow members and further protect those members from the inducements of others. The fact, that Sikh girl was involved did not raise the eyebrows of the left mafia in the same way it would have done with Hindu girls were involved. The Sikh groups which were opposing the love jihad laws in UP sometime before are demanding the same in Jammu and Kashmir.
At a deeper level, one needs to decode this phenomenon through the lens of theoretical assertions. Broken Windows perhaps best help in analyzing this phenomenon. The sign of broken window unattended is an indicator of the tolerance levels and raise the bar for further moves on the part of the intolerant. The attackers are influenced significantly by signals on the tolerance limit of a certain community. This brings to the question of the Tolerance Paradox as argued by Karl Popper. Popper uses this paradox as something articulated by Plato in his defense of benevolent despotism. To Popper, in a society, if tolerance has to be maintained, there must exist an intolerance of the intolerant. The argument is posited in simple explanation. If there was tolerance at an extreme level, one would tolerate all sorts of views even those which threaten the very existence of society. There might be a group who might be intolerant and thus use force or otherwise to push their ideas down to the society. If they succeed, they gain power and impose their view of tolerance on the society. The society turns into intolerant. In other words, if Taliban or ISIS is tolerated, it will lead to a society dominated by the rules of the Taliban or ISIS which does not need any elaboration.
Tolerance is something akin to a Broken Windows phenomenon. John Rawls might argue strongly in favor of a tolerant society yet the argument would fail if there were to be a set of people who would not accept the same. The argument by Rawls on tolerances might not hold well in the presence of Hitler for instance. In this context, there arises a need when the society has to be intolerant something which even Rawls recognizes. Rawls of course argues that the intolerance must be exercised in extreme circumstances yet the circumstances by the time they become extreme they would have passed what Galdwell might call a tipping point. Therefore, in contrast to Rawl’s assertions, the intolerance must begin very early and perhaps at the level of the street. The state can continue to remain tolerant but the community in its self-interest must seek to protect itself and fix the broken windows at the earliest opportunity.
The talk about revisionism in Indian history too demonstrates a similar phenomenon. To regain our history, one needs to be intolerant of the tribe that is sought to rewrite and did monopolize the history framing over four decades or so. The events in Jammu do reflect the street battles for seeking to end the intolerance of the intolerant. These battles are being fought every minute perhaps by the Hindus in Pakistan or Afghanistan and in fact even Bangladesh. The CAA was essentially to protect the turf of those hounded by the intolerant. There was opposition to the same but now when the community itself is facing the wrath where they are in a minority, the actions seem to be different. The skin in the game brings new characteristics to the fore what are essentially hidden when there is no such skin in the game. What is happening across streets in India is essentially the application of Popper’s paradox and might increase in intensity in the months and years to come till the reverse tipping point occurs.
Thoughts on Theory and Practice 