Letters: The concept of secularism

Apropos M C Joshi's letter "Nitish is not secular"(June 28), a fuzzy conception of secularism hardly helps to make a fair analysis of the current political situation. Perhaps, unwittingly, the theory of "guilt by association" was invoked to say Nitish Kumar is not secular. Kumar provides a perfect foil for Narendra Modi in the ongoing secularism versus sectarianism debate. The very fact that Kumar severed all links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the wake of the implicit projection of Modi as the prime ministerial candidate establishes his secular credentials. Had the BJP groomed and projected a Vajpayee-like leader as its face for 2014, Kumar would not have remained in the National Democratic Alliance with the same comfort level. For him, it was not a question of gaining or losing in electoral terms from the decision taken to break off from the BJP. But a question of saving the nation from the threat posed by the forces of sectarianism, epitomised by his Gujarat counterpart. No less a person than L K Advani castigated the party that he built from scratch for allowing the new rising star to call the shots and pursue his personal agenda of trying to occupy the throne. Kumar worked under a prime minister who, in no uncertain terms, asked Modi to follow "raj dharma". Nor did he allow Modi to land in Bihar to whip up passions or take undue political advantage of his standing in the state. Realising the danger of letting communalism spread, Kumar in one masterstroke exposed the starkness of the communal profile of a leader who gave tacit support to the anti-Muslim pogrom and fake encounters and is still unrepentant.

G David Milton, Maruthancode

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