Theweek.in

Published on 21st August, 2016, on wwww.theweek.in . The Hindu identity over the past 70 years has become less defensive, more assertive, even aggressive and offensive. This, I feel, is a response to history, as secularism transformed from accommodating all religions to appeasing vote banks. It is also a response to a global media and academic discourse that is increasingly atheistic and selectively rational, where to criticise Hinduism makes you ‘liberal’ while mocking Islam makes you ‘radical’. My parents migrated to Mumbai from Odisha 50 years ago. I grew up in a suburb called Chembur, surrounded mostly by migrants from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, ..