Lord Popat hosted an excellent discussion at the House of Lords on Monday afternoon, entitled “Teaching Tolerance: Ideas to unite the Next Generation.” The impetus for the event came from the publication of the ground-breaking new book, “Gita: The Battle of the Worlds.” The project was a collaboration between Hindu activist Sonal Sachdev Patel and her friend, the Jewish writer, Jemma Wayne-Kattan.
Speakers were parliamentarians from the Indian and Jewish communities - Lord Parekh, Baroness Prashar, Lord Hameed, Luciana Berger MP – as well as the journalist Justin Cohen.
Each of them gave their perspective on tolerance and what needed to be done to strengthen society. Wayne-Kattan pointing to the recent upsurge in anti-Semitism and said this was symptomatic of a larger virus of prejudice, ignorance and hate. Her friend, Sonal Sachdev, highlighted the importance of values-based education and teaching empathy.
Most of the speakers pointed to the limits of tolerance. Luciana Berger said that it implied grudging acceptance and this was not enough. Lord Parekh spoke about three levels of response: tolerance, respect and love, with tolerance being the lowest level. Baroness Prashar argued that we needed to encourage curiosity and dialogue. She said that all religions should be open to challenge, but this should be done with respect.
The Hindu and Jewish communities both face prejudice and discrimination from some elements of society. At the same time, they are well integrated communities, who make a huge contribution to all spheres of the UK. We should not settle for mere tolerance, and together take the lead of building a society of mutual respect. The blossoming relationship between our two communities is hopefully setting a shining example. Credit again must go to Lord Popat for instigating this thought-provoking event.
Zaki Cooper is a Trustee of the Indian Jewish Association.
