Religious intolerance in India

India has never stood for religious intolerance, yet looking at the country in the last decade would make that claim seem like an outright lie. If extremists of any religion feel empowered by the legal, cultural or moral framework within which a society exists, extremism will thrive. It is then only a matter of time before extremism finds expression in terrorism. If this continues perhaps India’s greatest loss will be in the memories of people everywhere—memories of an India accepting of diversity and plurality that will fade away for good.

Few said it better than Samuel Johnson did in The Patriot in 1774: “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Or one of my favourite essayists and debaters, Christopher Hitchens: “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”