India can’t be dubbed as intolerant on basis of few incidents: Amish
Famous writer Amish Tripathi of the ‘Shiva Triology’ fame ruled out any form of intolerance in India but refused to comment on political parties harping on the issue.
He was in the state capital on Sunday to attend a session ‘Shiva to Ikshvaku’ at Lucknow Literature Carnival, 2015. Surabhi Modi anchored the session. Starting the session with the ongoing debate in the country on the issue of intolerance, Surabhi Modi asked Amish to express his views on the issue.
“I have expressed my views on intolerance on many occasions. But I have always refrained from making any political statement on the issue or take sides with any party,” said Amish.
Elaborating his views on intolerance, Amish said: “People talking about intolerance in India must substantiate it with data. On the basis of a few incidents, the country cannot be dubbed as intolerant.”
“In this country of 1.25 billion people, few incidents cannot be a judgment on the rest of the country,” he asserted. The author, who is credited with writing the fastest selling novel, said: “Every year, more farmers commit suicide as compared to people killed in riots in the past few years.”
Empowerment of women, and not intolerance, is the most important issue at present, he emphasised.
“About five lakh incidents of female foeticide take place in the country every year. And such incidents are reported more from rich states,” pointed out Amish. On his choice of mythology as subject for writing novels, Amish said: “I come from a background wherein people are more inclined towards culture and mythology. My grandfather was a priest in Kashi (Varanasi), so I could easily associate myself with mythology rather a love story.”
Replying to a query on the reason behind the success of his book, Amish said: “There is a misconception that youths do not like mythology or culture. In every generation, we have this debate of youths deviating from their culture.” “However, this is not the case. Youths love their culture,” he added.
The writer shared with the audience that his first book ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ was rejected more than 20 times by publishers because it was based on mythology. “I had to self-publish the book along with my agent,” said Amish.