Truly Secular India

A week ago I was travelling in a train. After a night’s sleep and breakfast the passengers in the compartment started talking at first about the food served in Rajdhani trains and then about dirty politics, security threats and raising prices. Suddenly the talk shifted to the cost of taking care of likes of Ajmal Kasab, Pakistani terrorist accused in 2008 Mumbai attacks. One passenger was thankful for Kasab (albeit in a sarcastic manner). He said that many people in India owe their bread to Kasab, for there are so many security personnel involved in protecting him. Another bluntly pointed out, “It is because he is Muslim, he is alive. No party would like to loose votes. If you hang him Muslim votes are lost. If you do that Pakistan would most likely hang Sarabjit Singh. If that happens Sikh votes are lost. If it were a Hindu they would have gotten rid of him in a instant by hanging him.” I was shocked at the ease with which such a view was accepted by all others in the compartment. Somehow it indicated a hurt Hindu sentiment shared by the middle class Indians. It was appalling to see that no one thought of truth, guilt or justice. Everything was reduced to vote bank politics.

How can a party come to power with appeasement of minorities when it is the majority that needs to be wooed to form a Government in a Democracy? This question always haunted me. A couple of days ago my doubts have been answered. I am also happy that my co-passenger was wrong. Dara Singh, convicted for burning alive Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in Orissa’s Koenjhar district in January 1999 was given a  life sentence. He was not hanged though it does look like was he did qualifies for being rarest of rare cases.  I am so happy India does not hang even Hindus, just as it does not hang Muslims etc. India is truly secular!