Article Title: Learnt in Godhra, forgotten in Jaipur
By: Aakar Patel
Central Argument: One person or a few people's action should not be used to judge their entire community.
The world is a strange place. Our planet Earth is a home to various kinds of people. Each person has a unique characteristic which defines it. Each of them are a part of many communities. An army official might be a part of the military community and also a part of a religious community. But it is wrong to judge the entire military community or religious community by the action of that one soldier. We need to broaden our perspective. One person or a few people's actions should not be used to judge the entire community he or she belongs to.
The current attitude towards Pakistanis' and Muslims proves this. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain were two Muslims who chose to go in the wrong path. They became terrorists and instilled fear in the heart of others. But what they did not realize was that their actions was disrupting the reputation of Muslims all over the world. After the 9/11 and numerous other terrorist attacks that Bin Laden and Hussain were responsible for, people all over the world started looking at Muslims with suspicion. Even after so many years, the image of Muslims in people's mind is still of terrorists who enjoy death and destruction. Bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre. After that incident all Americans started hating Muslims. However they did not realize that if some American did such an act in another country, the citizens of those country will start ill-treating them. Then would they like this ? None of us would have liked this discrimination , if it would have happened with us. Thus we must not mistreat people of a community on the basis of actions of one of the members.
Schools have a large number of students. Each of these students are unique in their own way. The school teaches all the students the same thing. But it is up to the students whether they follow the teachings of the school or not. Some students go against the teachings of the school and act in rash or wrong ways. But the school should not only be judged on the basis of those students. We should also consider the rest 99% of the students in the school. If a few students in a school act rowdy that does not mean that the school is bad or that all the students are rowdy. In Kolkata there is a school known as La Martinere for Boys. A few students in that school are snobs. But that does not mean that everybody in that school is a snob. The school is actually good and some of the students are smart. Some people in Kolkata think that all the LMB students are snobs and that is just wrong. We need to broaden our mentality.
The field of politics is known to be the most corrupt field. However a lot of us don't realize that we call it corrupt just because of the actions of a few individuals. Just because a few politicians were greedy and thus did not do anything for the welfare of the country, this does not mean that all the politicians are like that. Many of the politicians are dedicated and concerned about the future of their country. In India there are quite a few politicians who are corrupt. They have spoiled not only their own reputation, but that of all the people in the field. Suresh Kalmadi and A.Raja are amongst those few corrupt politicians. Due to this people of India now think that all politicians are corrupt and, if anybody is related to politics then he or she is also corrupt. Thus, at present even if people like Rajiv Gandhi, who truly care for the common man, do some social work for the people, everybody thinks they are corrupt and are doing it for their own selfish needs. We need to criticize and be skeptical about the corrupt politicians only not everybody in the field of politics.
In todays world there are many groups and communities. Not everybody in those groups can be the perfect individual. But we should not judge the entire group on the basis of that person's action. We need to think with a broader perspective. We need to be more rational about our thought processes and what we consider good or bad. We must place ourselves in the place of innocent people we are skeptical about and think how would we feel if this happened to us. Then only will we understand the true nature of humanity.
By: Aakar Patel
Central Argument: One person or a few people's action should not be used to judge their entire community.
The world is a strange place. Our planet Earth is a home to various kinds of people. Each person has a unique characteristic which defines it. Each of them are a part of many communities. An army official might be a part of the military community and also a part of a religious community. But it is wrong to judge the entire military community or religious community by the action of that one soldier. We need to broaden our perspective. One person or a few people's actions should not be used to judge the entire community he or she belongs to.
The current attitude towards Pakistanis' and Muslims proves this. Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussain were two Muslims who chose to go in the wrong path. They became terrorists and instilled fear in the heart of others. But what they did not realize was that their actions was disrupting the reputation of Muslims all over the world. After the 9/11 and numerous other terrorist attacks that Bin Laden and Hussain were responsible for, people all over the world started looking at Muslims with suspicion. Even after so many years, the image of Muslims in people's mind is still of terrorists who enjoy death and destruction. Bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Centre. After that incident all Americans started hating Muslims. However they did not realize that if some American did such an act in another country, the citizens of those country will start ill-treating them. Then would they like this ? None of us would have liked this discrimination , if it would have happened with us. Thus we must not mistreat people of a community on the basis of actions of one of the members.
Schools have a large number of students. Each of these students are unique in their own way. The school teaches all the students the same thing. But it is up to the students whether they follow the teachings of the school or not. Some students go against the teachings of the school and act in rash or wrong ways. But the school should not only be judged on the basis of those students. We should also consider the rest 99% of the students in the school. If a few students in a school act rowdy that does not mean that the school is bad or that all the students are rowdy. In Kolkata there is a school known as La Martinere for Boys. A few students in that school are snobs. But that does not mean that everybody in that school is a snob. The school is actually good and some of the students are smart. Some people in Kolkata think that all the LMB students are snobs and that is just wrong. We need to broaden our mentality.
The field of politics is known to be the most corrupt field. However a lot of us don't realize that we call it corrupt just because of the actions of a few individuals. Just because a few politicians were greedy and thus did not do anything for the welfare of the country, this does not mean that all the politicians are like that. Many of the politicians are dedicated and concerned about the future of their country. In India there are quite a few politicians who are corrupt. They have spoiled not only their own reputation, but that of all the people in the field. Suresh Kalmadi and A.Raja are amongst those few corrupt politicians. Due to this people of India now think that all politicians are corrupt and, if anybody is related to politics then he or she is also corrupt. Thus, at present even if people like Rajiv Gandhi, who truly care for the common man, do some social work for the people, everybody thinks they are corrupt and are doing it for their own selfish needs. We need to criticize and be skeptical about the corrupt politicians only not everybody in the field of politics.
In todays world there are many groups and communities. Not everybody in those groups can be the perfect individual. But we should not judge the entire group on the basis of that person's action. We need to think with a broader perspective. We need to be more rational about our thought processes and what we consider good or bad. We must place ourselves in the place of innocent people we are skeptical about and think how would we feel if this happened to us. Then only will we understand the true nature of humanity.
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