“The seculars-A hypocritical breed apart”

Compliments to Gurumurthy for bringing into public domain the restoration works at the Katasraj temple complex,in his “Will seculars here resonate with new Pak tunes?” (TNIE-30 JAN).

Our ‘seculars’are a hypocritical breed apart.I came across a ‘pithy’ definition of this breed,by a well known author:

“They denounce Hinduism in public,but consult astrologers in private and get ‘Paaths’ and ‘Havans’ done in closets.They glorify the masses but denounce the sentiments of the masses for Rama.They proclaim ‘India is not ONE NATION’ and give as proof the Muslims’ different perceptions of our past.Every effort to remind us of our commonalities, they denounce as a design to swallow the minorities”.

A recent study, by the U.K based think-tank Policy Exchange, entitled “Living Together Apart: British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism’, stated:”The emergence of a strong Muslim identity in Britain is, in part, a result of multi-cultural policies implemented since the 1980s which have emphasised difference at the expense of shared national identity and divided people along ethnic, religious and cultural lines”. It resonates in the Indian context too.

In a recent article in the media,a senior editor of an English daily,had quoted a prominet Muslim intellectual as telling him: ‘he was convinced that the “secular” politicians do greater disservice to his community than their so-called communal counterparts. These self-appointed secularists are single-handedly responsible for the growing appeal of Hindu resurgence’.