India is tolerant, but where do we stand today?

Is India a tolerant country? Yes.
Are tolerance levels in India thinning down? Yes.
Indian history, believed to be 3,000 to 5,000 years old, has ample of evidence of people, even during the Stone and Iron Age, coming to India from far and beyond and making it their home. Leave alone other parts of the Indian Sub-continent, even Hyderabad and its surroundings -- proof of which is still preserved in parts - had people from Europe or Central Asia settle down here.
The nearly 3,000-year-old signs of Indus Valley civilisation, the hallmark of Indian history, can be seen in the ruins of Mohenjodaro and Harappa in today's Pakistan.
The history of the Aryans and Dravidians is well documented.
The year 357 BC saw Alexander the Great of Macedonia invade India. It is said that he was resisted by King Purushottama or Porus who finally lost. However, Alexander left behind parts of Greek civilisation on our soil in the form a contingent of army and civilians. Signs of this too are still available.
India, since time immemorial, has witnessed waves of people trooping into its land --wandering tribes, merchants, traders, travellers, fortune seekers, raiders, invaders and so on. They heard about India, saw it, conquered it, and then, overwhelmed by its beauty and riches, chose not to go back.
When we talk about religious groups arriving in India, Jews and Christians came with their faith, had hardly had any conflict with natives and made India their home. They had the liberty to not only practice their faith but also propagate it. Ditto Muslims from Iraq, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Iran who came as traders first and invaders later. From 17th century onwards, Europeans started to trickle in. They first nibbled into the decaying Indian political and military power and later went on to establish their own rule.
But unlike others, Europeans did not make India their home. They ruled, squeezed the Indian economy dry -- to enrich their largesse -- and left. But before returning, they sowed the seeds of disunity among Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Hindu nationalism came to the fore, which was countered by Muslim nationalism. This eventually resulted in the partition of the country.
Though Pakistan came into being on the concept of the Two Nation Theory, it shattered within a quarter of a century. West and East Pakistan was broken into Pakistan and Bangladesh. On the other hand, the Hindu nationalist movement, though had to lie low, could not come to terms with the idea of India as a secular, plural and liberal democracy. Its disturbing rise that was evident in the eighties, climaxed with the demolition of the Babri Mosque.
In the meantime, Pakistan became more Islamist, extremist and intolerant. Now, it is caught in the veritable vortex of religious frenzy called terrorism.
The Hindu nationalists who tasted power after a few years of the demolition now believe that being intolerant of others' faith and ideologies is the only way to hold on to the power. Peace, tranquility and interlinking prosperity are slowly but surely being pushed into the background.
Now the flavour of the season is branding people, who disagree with them, as anti-national and traitors. Unleashing 'mob' fury appears to be the only way to handle any 'unsavoury' development.
One such 'small' incident took place at the Pangaon village in Maharashtra's Latur district. On the night of February 19 Younus Shaikh, a 57-year-old assistant sub-inspector, along with his colleague K Awaskar, stopped a group of people from hoisting a saffron flag in front of a mosque located in a 'communally sensitive' area. The next day about 200-300 people gathered before the police station and thrashed Younus Shaikh and Awaskar. While Awaskar managed to escape, Shaikh was dragged, forced to hold a saffron flag, paraded on the streets and thrashed again. Shaikh is now in hospital with serious injuries.
The police have not suspended any policeman for serious dereliction of duty. They have arrested about 17 people that include well-known activists of BJP, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party.
This story takes a pause here.
But the question that is being asked now is this: if an on-duty Muslim policeman could be dragged from his bastion, beaten, humiliated and forced to raise slogans against his faith, how safe is a common Muslim?
The Maharashtra BJP has dismissed the 'shameful' incident a one-off case that was absolutely 'non-communal'.
So, what is the lesson that a common, conscientious Indian citizen is then expected to draw from this incident?