Given are two quotations of moral thinkers/philosophers. For each of these bring out what it means to you in the present context. (a) "The weak can never forgive; forgiveness is the attribute of strong." (10) (b) "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light" (10 marks).

(a) Forgiveness as strength

• The line means that forgiveness is not the surrender of a person who cannot hit back. It is the choice of a person who could hit back and does not need that hit to stay whole.
• Weakness here is the need to keep the wound open because the wound is the only identity left.
• Strength is self-command: you name the wrong, you seek justice where justice is due, and you refuse to live as a permanent enemy.
• In the present context this is not a demand that a rape survivor hug the accused, or that a riot widow forget a killing. Cheap “move on” talk from the powerful is not this quote.
• Forgiveness in public life is the end of a blood feud after law has worked: a truth-telling, a penalty, then a refusal to hunt the next generation.
• South Africa’s truth and reconciliation idea, and India’s own need after communal riots, show the same structure: memory without a licence for endless revenge.
• For a civil servant the quote is practical. A file delayed to punish a critic is weakness. A speaking order that is firm and not spiteful is strength.
• Between States, prisoner swaps and talks after a crisis can be strength if they do not erase accountability for terror. Humiliation of a whole people is weakness wearing a flag.

(b) Fear of the light

• A child fears the dark because the dark is unknown. An adult who fears the light fears truth, scrutiny and the end of a convenient story.
• Light here is knowledge, RTI, a free press, a court record, a scientific fact, and a citizen who asks why.
• The tragedy is a society that punishes the lamp: the whistle-blower, the honest auditor, the teacher who says the textbook is wrong, the officer who puts a dissent on the note.
• In the present context, fake news, paid news, and attacks on universities are forms of this fear. So is a company that destroys emails, and a ministry that stamps every inconvenient paper secret.
• Plato’s cave is the same picture: people chained to shadows, angry at anyone who turns them toward the sun.
• For administration, fear of the light is the locked cupboard as default. The Right to Information Act, 2005 is a legal lamp; suo motu disclosure under Section 4 is lighting the room before anyone knocks.
• Personal ethics: it is easier to stay in a caste myth, a communal rumour, or a family lie than to admit harm. The quote calls that adult fear a tragedy, not a private taste.
• Courage of conviction is walking into the light with a file that can be read, not with a slogan about transparency.