The concern is that India will turn into an intolerant majoritarian state

Highlights

• India and Pakistan were conceived at the time of Independence with widely divergent ideas of nationhood. Pakistan was created expressly with the idea of perpetuating the dominance of the Muslim majority.
• The Indian concept of citizenship as enshrined in the Constitution was vastly different. It grants equality of status to all citizens and expressly rejects the identification of the state with any single religion.
• Although practice often fell short of the ideal, secularism was held up by the Indian elite as the guiding principle of governance.

Why the comparison now?

• The wave of lynching’s of Muslims and Dalits on the suspicion that they were eating beef is one symptom of this malaise.
• What is worse is the governing elite’s condoning of such acts as the recent action of Union Minister has demonstrated.
• The feeling of insecurity and discrimination among the minorities, especially Muslims, is now palpable.
• Religious divisions and communal violence, especially if endorsed by the powerful, could lead to the decimation of India’s democratic structure.
• India is likely to become a mirror image of Pakistan if the two distinctive features of the Indian polity, secularism and liberal democracy, are eroded beyond repair.

Source: The Hindu