On a slippery slope

The suicide bombings at two Lahore churches on Sunday that left 15 dead and more than 70 injured again highlighted the plight of minorities in Pakistan who continue to live in the shadow of terrorism.

Over the years Pakistani minorities – including Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Hindus and Christians – have been consistently persecuted because of their beliefs, receiving little protection from the Pakistani state. To see such deep-seated sectarian belligerence as different from the rising scourge of Islamic terrorism in Pakistan is wrong.

In fact, it is the very institutional biases against minorities and official tolerance for extremist ideology that have allowed militant groups to drag Pakistan into the throes of an existential crisis.

It is true that India is not Pakistan, with democracy, constitutionalism and secularism being deeprooted in India.

But we, too, may be on a slippery slope of communal intolerance and we must desist sliding down further – else it becomes difficult to climb back later as Pakistan’s example vividly demonstrates.

Even as Haryana’s new BJP chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, stated his intention to introduce compulsory teaching of the Bhagavad Gita in schools alongside draconian punishments for cow slaughter, attackers tore down a church that hoisted a “ram” flag.

This comes on the heels of a BJP leader saying a mosque, unlike a temple, was not a religious place. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government’s recently introduced enhanced ban on possession, sale and consumption of beef reeks of religious bias.

Pakistan may be an extreme example, but it is a useful reminder of what would happen if the Indian leadership surrenders to communal agendas.