Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
April 5, 2015

If I was a chocolate bunny I’d wish for a lot of things on a special day like Easter. Stuff like let the madness and violence that holds in thrall end globally.

Can’t we just get along and stop being so intolerant. Individually, as a race or creed and also as a people, regardless of those divisive factors.

On a day like this it is a sobering thought that we have lost our tolerance. In little ways and across the board in big bursts of organized anger. We display rage over little things. A bad driver, a rude subordinate, a silly remark causing huge outrage and offence. Every day pockmarked with intolerance and the gospel of hate rather than togetherness.  

We see it around us all the time. Intemperate reactions to small slights. Our sensitivity is now so on an edge it is as if we are seeking excuses to get angry. A small argument flares into a physical confrontation. Getting even is a consuming passion. We have forgotten how to walk away. A stranger becomes a target. Queues make us go berserk. Restaurant service becomes an issue. I don’t agree with you, I’ll hurt you, kill you. What happened to the silent majority except that they are silent.

It begins with small steps. No free speech. No ideas unless they fit mine. Believing you superior. Behaving as if others are inferior. My religion is better than yours. Demanding when you could be asking. Corrupting courtesy. Using piety to cloak our venom. Being holier than thou to camouflage ignorance.

The Easter Bunny, he’s got a lot of work to do. 

(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)