POLITICS in India is rarely less than febrile. In a federation where 29 states and two “territories” have elected governments, the campaign season never ends. And its press is both outspoken and herd-like, turning the most tippy-toed of trends into a thunderous stampede. Even so, the uproar over the alleged spread of “intolerance” is remarkable. Many blame the 18-month-old government led by Narendra Modi of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Its most fervent members believe that India should be a Hindu state. But its priority was supposed to be rapid economic growth, not sectarian bickering. So it is puzzling that in a few short weeks it has alienated not just India’s non-Hindu minorities and its liberal intelligentsia, but broad swathes of domestic and foreign opinion.
A sense of alarm has mounted since the lynching in late September of a Muslim man in Dadri, a village in northern India. The mob wrongly thought he was storing beef and attacked his entire family. Cows are considered holy by many Hindus, and most Indian states ban their slaughter. The country had already been shocked by the murder in August of M.M. Kalburgi, a...Continue reading
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