The character of a country is reflected in the policies of its government and the collective responses of the majority community. It is the ruthless massacre of Muslims, humiliating harassment of Christian missionaries and indiscriminate genocide of Sikhs, inspired and aided by the ruling circle that has earned the epithet of Hindu for India. Your chagrin at the repeated use of the phrase Hindu India is understandable, but truth has to be faced, howsoever, bitter it may be. Time has come for the minorities of India to face the truth. They must steer clear of the intellectual clichés and pious platitudes that have been woven around them through artful juggling of idealistic formulations.
The dehumanization, you think has been brought about by the holocausts and massacres are authored by Congress (1) that gives an unprecedented mandate to continue those very policies. Millions endorse and applaud its actions as excellent individuals like Basus, NTR, Kotharis, etc., helplessly watch the ghastly spectacle. We could blame the Congress (I) if the electorate had rejected Rajiv and his party for perpetrating the most heinous crimes against the minorities. In the situation obtaining now in India minorities cannot blindly subscribe to the myth of secular India. So long excellent Hindus do not succeed in creating a climate in which minorities can also feel the glow of freedom and practice their religion, India would continue to be correctly described as Hindu India.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 20, 1990
