Secularism is an Anathema.
It appears that the road to become a Secular country is always fraught with risks, particularly for a Muslim country .
The irony is, if Indians themselves are questioning its validity then how can one have any hope on these muslim nations of the subcontinent.
Despite the fact that in recent years Bangladesh has had a reasonably Good Govt which has helped the country tide over its many economic problems and decimated the Jamait E Islami responsible for the atrocities committed in 1970-71 with the help of Pakistani army, the fundamentalists keep organising themselves under different banners.
Now it is Hefazat –e-Islam Bangladesh, a hardline Islamist Group which staged violent protests against Mr Modi during his visit to Bangladesh in March and attacked Hindus there. The Bangladesh Govt which had been till now treating them with kid gloves, acted tough and arrested many of its cadre, which resulted in the break up of the core committee.
Hefazat-e-Islam has ample clout and can mobilize thousands in the streets to rally against secularism. In recent years, it successfully pressured Government into removing stories and poems by non-Muslim writers from school textbooks and into shifting the statue of Lady Justice away from the front of the Supreme Court. Hefazat-e-Islam was formed in 2010, comprising the teachers of several madrasas . It advocates the same which other islamist groups usually do.
It is to be seen as to how long the Govt of Bangladesh be able to keep its fundamentalists quiet.
This idea of Secularism, appears to be an anathema for all fundamentalists - be it Muslims or Hindu hardliners of the subcontinent. Its surprising that when the world has made such tremendous progress in the field of Information Technology and Space Tech and has virtually become a global village there are millions in the subcontinent who still prefer to look at things from the prism of religion.
The rise of fundamentalism in its neighbourhood, India must realise will only compound its security concerns.