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Hindu  nation  theory. In fact, Lala    unleash terror  on  minority segments    lested  in  Mangalore  pubs,  killings
         Lajpat  Rai  had even drawn a map  of   and  most  Indians  do  not seem  to   in Kandhahar, all that propaganda in
         divided India  -  along religious  lines.   realize the  magnitude  of   this  dan-  circulation  -  of Christians   convert-
         Whatever the RSS had been trying   gerous   trend, the  very  magnitude    ing ( though the  reality is that the
         ever since the country’s Independ-  of  intolerance  though  signs  are  writ    Christian  population  in the  country
         ence they seemed to get now! Fascism   large. MF  Husain had to  live  in exile,    has  actually gone down), the  Sangh
         well and truly crossed our threshold   his  paintings  were  burnt,  girls  mo-  keeps whipping those old  preju-
         and dug its heels in our courtyard. We                            dices against the  Muslims…Hindutva
         let the fanatics get away with every                              theory   does  not  believe  in  treating
         step they took without raising a howl   The fascist agenda        all  nationals as  one ,on the   same
         of protest. They burnt books they                                 footing ….there’s  that  discrimination
         did not like, they beat up journalists   of Hindu fanatics is     against the   Muslims and  Christians  …
         who wrote against them, they openly   unlike anything India       that  discrimination against Muslims ,
         butchered people for believing in a                               culminating  in the  very   destruction
         different God…The carnage in Gujarat,   has experienced in its    of the Babri  masjid,  the   massacre  of
         the Mahatma’s home state, in early                                Muslims  in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom,
         2002 and the subsequent landslide   modern history…For            the  murder of  Christian  missionaries
         victory for Narendra Modi spelt disas-  the  last several   years    , burning  of the  Bible ...”
         ter for our country. The fascist agenda                                       
         of Hindu fanatics is unlike anything   I  have  been  seeing        And let us not be naïve enough to
         India has experienced in its modern   signs of  fascism           be taken up by the double or triple
         history…For  the  last several   years  I                         speak of the  BJP rulers…their  bogus
         have  been  seeing  signs of  fascism    creeping in  …           assurances that minorities are safe
         creeping in  …private senas are used to                           and  intact  under their  rule. Not to be



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