Prime Minister Modi emphasised that “there should be humility in victory”, that Ram was “a solution, not a problem” and recalling how the opponents of Ayodhya temple warned of catastrophic consequences, asserted that “Ram was not a source of fire but of energy”.

Many leaders in India have misled the minorities into believing that giving respect to the religion of the majority amounted to encouraging ‘majoritarianism’ - they knew only too well that the Constitution would not permit any political moves in that direction. They in fact injected religion into politics by demanding “a share in governance on the basis of community identity”.

So long as the minorities had religio-cultural freedom and the same political rights and economic opportunities that others had, they should have no problem about being a part of the political umbrella that the nation provides through the universal adult franchise. If because of numbers the majority sends more members to Assemblies and Parliament it does not violate the intrinsic strand of secularism that runs through a democratic state like India.

It is time the Hindu majority of India was consciously involved in building nationalism which is a sentiment to be shared by all communities here. Communal politics in India was pushed to a point where ‘nationalism’ was considered a ‘diminishing’ concept if not a politically ‘abusive’ word - all in the name of ‘sensitivity’ of the minorities - and there was even an endorsement of the suggestion that saluting the national flag or standing during the singing of national anthem should be made optional.

India no doubt had to suffer the unfortunate partition on communal lines in the process of achieving freedom - that was bound to produce a spill over - but many minority leaders of India continued to base their politics on the Hindu-Muslim divide which came in the way of national advancement and reconstruction.

A sense of belonging to the cultural heritage of the nation and adherence to the human value system shared by all Indians, should not be impeded by politics and it goes to the credit of Prime Minister Modi that he has been able to legitimise the concept of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ within India and at the global level as well.