Debate on intolerance: India known for communal harmony, says Ratan Tata

Hyderabad: Top industry leader Ratan Tata on Thursday said India is known for communal harmony even as he sought to steer clear of the ongoing debate on 'intolerance' in the country.

"I don't think it is my lot to  make a comment on that. I can only say that in  country we live together and I hope we can live together in harmony . I don't want to get into the issues of  the observations what is being taken place," Tata said when asked about the industry view on the ongoing debate on "intolerance".

"This is a country I think has been a country of communal harmony. We work together live together  for centuries. And I am sure  we continue to do that," he explained.

Tata was speaking with reporters here on the sidelines of inauguration of T-Hub a technology incubator for startups.

A host of eminent personalities and business leaders have joined the debate on 'intolerance', with Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy saying there was "considerable fear" among the minorities in India.

"I am not a politician, I am not interested in politics, therefore, I don't want to comment on that but the reality today is that there is considerable fear in the minds of minority in India," he had said.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had said tolerance and mutual respect was necessary and physical harm or verbal contempt for any particular group should not be allowed.

Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and economist Lord Meghnad Desai had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must act quickly to correct India's image to prevent any threat to foreign investments.

Several BJP leaders, including it Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, were recently in news over making allegedly intemperate remarks. Adityanath had compared Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to Pakistani terrorist Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai carnage, over his "extreme intolerance" comment.

Before him, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya had triggered a row with a series of tweets in which he called Shah Rukh an "anti-national" and said that the actor's "soul" is in Pakistan though he lives in India. Under fire for the remark, he later withdrew the controversial tweets but asserted had there been intolerance in India, Shah Rukh would not have been the most popular actor after Amitabh Bachchan.