North Indian Polity - Lack of Permanence in Power Projection

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The course of history changes when the power shifts from the hands of one beholder to next. After all, history is indeed a report of events from the point of view of survivor, who most of the times is also a victor in the conflict for power-inheritance. If the change in power-centre of a particular region is sudden and drastic, so is the change in Geo-Political and Socio-Economic outlook of individuals, societies, nations and civilizations. Thus, we see that the flow of power determines the course of history. Softer the transition of power, smoother is the change in the course

In India, usually it is just a sequence of small insignificant chain of events which brings about a change in the history, sociology of a civilization over the period of time, rather than big events which rarely influence the course of history as much. Moreover, a vast country like India in term of space, time, population and diversity, trait of accepting the changes rather slowly is typically observed when viewed from neutral perspective.

As stated earlier, the shift of power-centre is a result of complex web of forces which are acting in tandem. The net direction of the forces decides the inheritor of power. The method in which power transition occurs successively, largely depends upon the inherent power-structure of the region. The inherent power-structure of a region largely depends upon climate, geography, social and religious customs and world-view of the power-holders. It also depends upon the outlook and the world-view of the rival meme intending to shift the equilibrium in its favour.

Buffering of power transition by local power-centres.

The power structure of Indo-Gangetic plains is primarily feudal in nature. The Zamindari OR feudal lords of the region have vested power-interests of self-preservation in spite of all the global changes. Thus, it rarely mattered to a peasant who the king in Delhi was because his immediate ruler, the feudal lord and his system, remained unchanged in average life-span of an ordinary citizen. The feudal set-up is deeply entrenched within the social hierarchy and power-structure of Indo-Gangetic plains.

This deeply entrenched feudal system had a very favourable impact on preservation of Indic identity during 800 long Islamic onslaught on North Indian plains. Every conqueror OR invader from central asia who succeeded in displacing the incumbent ruler of Delhi Sultanate, had to enter into some sort of power-sharing agreement with these local power centres (who were primarily Indic) which possessed very high degree of mercantile and mercenary character. For example, Mughals had to initiate Mansabdari system (by Raja Mansingh under Emperor Akbar) to accommodate and share power with these very feudal lords. In fact, this system was encouraged and strengthened in order to enlist the help of feudal lords in imperial conquests of Mughals.

This tremendously dilutes the ability of the conqueror/invader to flawlessly project his power. The chain of local power-centres throughout Indo-Gangetic plains made the progress of invader (in terms of implementing drastic change in existing socio-economic and political system) rather slow.

Thus, India was saved from suffering the fate of Zoroastrian Persia and was able to retain the Indic identity in spite of all the onslaughts.

Emergence of North Indian local Satraps - A Historical Perspective

The region of Magadha (modern Bihar, eastern UP and West Bengal) has been the traditional powerhouse of India since the dawn of civilization. This region is blessed with all natural resources, fertile land, amicable climate and above all, its a very large reservoir of extremely talented human resource. This remained (and to certain extent, still remains) the core and the heartland of India. The zeal with with Bimbisara, Nanda, Maurya, Sunga, Gupta, Vardhan, Pratiharas consolidated the power over entire swathe from Khyber to Assam time and again, shows the character of Indian polity. The mercenary and Mercantile character which we see today in this region was by and large minimal in Indic rulers of ancient and early-medieval times.

Something happened over the course of history. After defeat of Harshavardhan of Kannauj at the hands of Chalukya king Pulikeshi in 640 AD, the tendency to consolidate the power for longer and farther started evaporating from Gangetic plains. Even though Gurjara-Pratiharas consolidated much of North and entered into tripartite struggle for control of India with Paal dynasty of Bengal and Rashtrakoot dynasty of Deccan, this evaporation did not stop. Pratihara dynasty had to invest lot of energy in consolidating the feudals of gangetic plains and could not strike back at Rashtrakutas when Dhruva Dharavarsh and later Govind-3rd, defeated Pratiharas and conquered Varanasi and Kannauj.

The decentralization that set in Indo-Gangetic plains since defeat of Harsha could not be undone. The local feudal lords started garnering more power than any central authority. Thus, power became dispersed and impermanent. The last effort of successful consolidation of power in Indo-Gangetic plains was during Battle of Bahraich (1033 AD) when confederacy of all the kings from Punjab and Ganga plains united to defeat Masood Gazni decisively. Since then there has not been a single instance of an Indic power from Indo-Gangetic plains which successfully tried to consolidate entire North Indian plains from Attock to Guwahati. All the subsequent consolidations of this region (until 1947) were achieved by foreign invaders.

The mercantile mentality of buying off temporary peace and power at all costs without complete consolidation power set in and became deeply ingrained in the psyche of people from Indo-Gangetic plains.

Brief comparison with South Indian Power-Structure

If we carefully study the politics of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of modern Republic of India, we see the tendency of pampering to the local dissipative forces by all the political parties to sustain in power at all costs. On the contrary, the South Indian politics strives for consolidation of power. Irrespective of political party, the ruler tries to consolidate the power centrally while correcting all the local anomalies. Certain regions were under rule of one dynasty for as long as 5 to 6 centuries. Compared to north, the south Indian politicians tend to consolidate absolute power in their hands. The local nuclei or the power centres tend to coalesce to form a larger power-droplet in South, where as in north, they tend to remain segregated.

When government consolidates total power of the state in its hand and provides an environment of stability, prosperity sets in no time. The region which was ravaged by Tughlaqs, Khiljis and Bahmanis, became the most prosperous region of India within 30 years when Vijaynagar kings consolidated the power. Same goes for Mughal Consolidation of Indo-gangetic plains brought about by Akbar. Permanent power encourages trade. Trade brings in prosperity and resources to protect and expand the power over space and time.

What was it that led to the loss of consolidating tendency of North Indic polity? Perhaps it was the flight of intellectuals to the south during Islamic onslaught. But then, the decay was set in long before advent of Islam. Was it because of too much of prosperity for too long? The uprising of 1857 showed a momentary promise, but soon it died out as well.

What is the reason for all this brain-storming??

The Gangetic plains still is the largest reservoir of talented human resource. Most of the IAS come from this very region. The issues of this region still are very relevant while thinking of rise of India in coming times. Without consolidation of Gangetic plains and eradication of this mercantile mentality which dissipates and discourages the consolidation of power, India cannot rise. This mercantile mentality is still seen in policies of Indian government which in turn comes partially due to mental shackles on the minds of bureaucrats and people from this region. The enormous zeal for political consolidation of entire subcontinent shown by Chanakya, Chandragupta, Samudragupta and Vikramaditya has to return in this region.

Unless this happens, India's rise on India's terms will continue to remain a distant possibility.

* Discussions with Mr. Kartik Srinivasan and Mr. Niraj Patel sparked the basic idea for this article.

Nostalgia - Retrieval of lost Kaleidoscope - Surabhi

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Yes, those born in late 70's and early 80's will definitely remember and feel nostalgic on seeing these videos. Surabhi... India's online database of knowledge and culture, which became a cult and was immensely popular owing to its originality, creativity and honesty...

Surabhi – a cultural magazine that has been voted as one of the top ten television programmes of India. For over ten years Surabhi has travelled all over the country, covering fascinating facets of Indian culture, in the widest sense of the word.

The life and living of the various peoples of India is brought to viewers with all its rich plurality. But Surabhi brings to viewers not just a record or report but insight and understanding of India in evolution, mirroring the changes of an ancient culture metamorphosing into a modern nation.

And in the process of presenting the various dimensions of India’s vast heritage, interactivity has been an important goal. The Sawal Jawab (the Weekly Competition Section in the programme) was the first of its kind to elicit audience response.

It is pleasure sharing these videos here with the readers of the blog. It is sad to

compare the quality and authenticity of the reports shown on this program with

today's shallow news channels shouting out information. The quality of Indian

media should have increased, but sadly has gone southwards since opening up of

the media post liberalization era. This program was truly of prime-time calibre on

Discovery or National-Geographic channels. The simple yet passionate deliverance

of information without having to resort to shouting and gaudy music and subtitles

makes it further more respectable.

I long for such dignified shows to reappear again on the arena of Indian television.

सुनता हैं गुरु ज्ञानी - Sunta hain Guru Gyani - Nirgun Bhajan by Kabeer

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संत कबीर रचित निर्गुण भजन - Nirgun Bhajan by Kabeer

Rendition of this Bhajan by Pandit Kumar-Gandharva

Another Rendition of this Bhajan by Rahul Deshpande (I love this version more)

सुनता हैं गुरु ज्ञानी गगन में,

आवाज हो रही झिनी झिनी - (धृ)

पाहि लीयाये नाद बिंदु से,

पीछे जमया पानी हो जी

सब घट पूरण बोली रह्या है,

अलख पुरुष निर्बानी हो जी ll 1 ll

वहां से आया पता लिखाया,

तृष्णा तौने बुझाई ..

अमृत छोडसो विषय को धावे,

उलटी फाँस फंसानी हो जी ll 2 ll

गगन मंडलू में गौ भी आनी

भोई पे दही जमाया...

माखन माखन संतों ने खाया,

छाछ जगत बापरानी हो जी ... ll 3 ll

बिन धरती एक मंडल दीसे,

बिन सरोवर जूँ पानी रे

गगन मंडलू में होए उजियाला,

बोल गुरु-मुख बानी हो जी ll 4 ll

ओऽहं सोऽहं बाजा बाजे,

त्रिकुटी धाम सुहानी रे

इडा पिंगला सुखमन नारी,

सुनत भजन पहरानी हो जी ll 5 ll

कहत कबीरा सुनो भई साधो,

जानी अगम के बानी रे..

दिन भर रे जो नज़र भर देखे,

अजर अमर वो निशानी हो जी ... ll 6 ll

Attempted Translation

Says the all knowing teacher from the sky, if you care to listen His gentle whisperings... (Dhripad)

1. I am unable understand the full significance of this verse as yet.. :-)

2. When You arrived from There at a particular address (took birth in particular family), spotless and desireless you were.. why then are you falling back in trap by desiring worldly pleasures over eternal peace and complete knowledge?

3. The celestial cow (of knowledge/Brahman) is milched for the benefit of everyone.. The knowledgeable opt for butter (spiritual knowledge), while the commoners out of ignorance are content in butter-milk...

4. Instead of seeing at earth, understand that it is merely a circle... Just like seeing at lake, one should understand that it is (in principle) nothing but water.. When one starts experiencing the underlying unifying principle over apparent diversity and duality, the knowledge dawns.. Says the words of the Teacher..

5. When this happens (verse 4), then all the questions like "Who am I" and "So am I" are answered and one easily can meditate on Agnaa-Chakra (आज्ञा चक्र ) and experience peace and pleasure. Ida and Pingala Naadis are pacified and Sushumna Naadi is activated upon listening these protective hymns... Says the Teacher from sky....

6. Says Kabeer, listen oh righteous brothers.. Understand and experience and become one with the Non-Aging and eternal One-Principle who looks after this entire universe every single moment..

Comments

The composition of this song in Raaga Ahir Bhairav is highlight which makes it enjoyable, even if one decides to overlook the deeper esoteric meaning of the words being sung. However, it is bound that listeners who get stuck with these beautiful renditions and listen to it often, enquire about the meaning of the composition.

To analyse and comment on experiences of Kabir authentically requires a spiritual qualification far beyond my current understanding and status. Furthermore, my incomplete knowledge of Bhojpuri language makes it further more difficult. I wish and hope that at some point of time in future, when the complete significance of these verses dawn on to me, I will update this blog-article and share it with my readers..

Meanwhile, if any of the readers have any greater understanding and insight of the verses than the one provided by me, please feel obliged to correct me.. :-)

P.S. - I would request the Sikh-readers of the blog to please comment on this article and let me know whether this bhajan is included in Sri Gurugranth Saahib or not. If yes, what is the elaboration of this Bhajan from Sikh perspective. My translation is slightly influenced by Advaita-Vedanta world-view. I would appreciate the Dvaita and Sikh take on these verses.

Dhanyavaad...

Dharma - A Fundamental and unique Indian world-view

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According to Indian world-view, there are four achievements of a human being in his life; Dharma-Artha-Kaama-Moksha. Pursuit of all four is required for anybody to be referred to as successful human being. As long as all of the four are not achieved, a person can't be successful.

Few basic terms which should be understood before hand.

1. Shaastra - शास्त्र - Science; Knowledge; Understanding
2. Dharma - धर्म - Righteousness; Duty; Basic nature
3. Artha - अर्थ - Wealth and Material success; Legacy; Fame
4. Kaama - काम - Desires
5. Moksha or Nirvana - मोक्ष or निर्वाण - Liberation; Attaining everlasting peace with Self and Universe owing to some spiritual pursuit.

Since Indian world-view asks for achievement of all four of these Purusharthas (पुरुषार्थ), there are methods OR sciences or Shaastras which are designed by thinkers of India in various ages for easier achievement of each of these four.

1. Dharma-Shaastra - धर्मशास्त्र - The science of Righteousness and Duty (Individual, societal, national).
2. Artha-Shaastra - अर्थशास्त्र - The science of earning and protecting wealth and power (individual, societal and national)
3. Kaam-Shaastra - कामशास्त्र - The science of fulfilling all the desires (primarily Individual). Kamasutra (कामसूत्र ) is but one of the many Kaam-Shaastras available.
4. Moksha-Shaastra - मोक्षशास्त्र - The sciences of attaining liberation OR nirvana OR peace by spiritual pursuits (Necessarily Individual). Ideologies like Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Vedanta, Saamkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vaisheshika, Tantra, Buddhism, Jaina, Sikh, Charvaaka, Ajivika etc are essentially various Moksha-Shastras available.

Careful look at all the Indian religious ideologies, we understand that all the religious ideologies(especially Indic ones) are nothing but Moksha-Shaastras and are strictly personal endeavours. In fact, Ishaavaasya Upanishad (ईशावास्य उपनिषद् ) conclusively states that sciences for obtaining Spiritual gains or Moksha is completely segregated from the sciences for obtaining Dharma, Artha and Kaama. However, it is essential for a human being to master both the domains of the sciences in order to lead a successful life. 


अन्धं तमः प्रवेशंती ये अविद्यामुपसिते ततो भूय इव ते तमः ये उ विद्यायाम रताः ll 9 ll


Those who worship Avidya alone fall in dark pit of nothingness... But those who worship Vidya alone fall in a dark pit which which is deeper than the one in which worshippers of Avidya alone fall.


अन्यदेवाहुर्विद्यया अन्यदाहुर्विद्यया इति शुश्रुम धीराणाम ये नस्तद विचचक्षिरे ll 10 ll


The seers say that the fruit of Vidya is different from that of Avidya


विद्याम चाविद्याम च यस्ताद वेदोभायम सह अविद्यया मृत्युं तीर्त्वा विद्याया अमृतमश्नुते ll 11 ll


Hence one who understands Vidya and Avidya together, he overcomes death using his Avidya and gains Moksha using his Vidya.
Here is Avidya refers to Material knowledge i.e.sciences to attain Dharma, Artha and Kaama in life) and Vidya refers to sciences for gaining Salvation/Moksha/Nirvana. The sages say, both Vidya and Avidya are equally important and should be pursued simultaneously.



Dharma

Out of all four, the correct understanding of Dharma is direly missed in India. Every Indian knows in his mind what he means when he uses the word Dharma. But since colonial times, Dharma has been incorrectly referred to as synonym to religion. 


Religion is defined as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

Careful inspection of this definition will reveal that there is nothing like Religion in Indian civilization which simultaneously addresses Spiritual, Social, Moral and Political issues of life. The spiritual aspect is segregated from rest of the aspects of human life. The term which is used as synonym of religion in India, Dharma, is not exactly similar to religion at all.

Then, What is Personal Dharma?

While I speak of "personal Dharma" I wish to make clear that, Dharma is a system which is built on ensuring a sustainable and just evolution of every component of ecology. Since apart from "sane human being" no other compartment of ecology has the ability to perform "karma", it becomes necessary that every sane human being understands the crux of Dharma. But it is not seen so in society. Either due to lack of education, time, propensity or resources not everybody has the understanding the "universal aspect of dharma" with its interlinking intricacies. Hence, it becomes important for sustenance of dharma that every "sane human being" or in other words, every "Kartaa" of every "Karma" is a stake-holder in this system. Hence it is important to make sane human beings realize the personal aspect of Dharma which is commonly known as "duty" and usage of Sat-asat-viveka-buddhi (intellectual ability to distinguish truth from untruth) while performing the personal duties OR dharma.

1. Dharma is understanding that one plays different roles in life such as self, parent, son/daughter, spouse, lover, friend, neighbour, worker, colleague, citizen of country, city, state, follower of particular ideology for pursuits of Moksha, fellow citizens, society, community, environment and ecology so on and so forth.

2. Dharma is understanding to prioritize the need for fulfilment of one role over other in given space-time and situation.

3. Dharma is fulfilling the duties related to those particular role with sense (Vivek) and righteousness in given space and time.

4. Dharma also refers to an inherent swadharma (basic nature) of an entity (living or non-living). Based on its swadharma, the responses and choices towards self and other non-self entities are modelled.

Dharma is nothing but prioritizing one's duties and performing them righteously. Thus, Dharma inherently stands for sensibility, efficiency and sustainability of prioritization and performance of duties.

The epithet of "personal" when attached to the system of Dharma does not make it individualistic. Perhaps, more appropriate title would be "Dharma with Ego" or as we say in Indic language "Swa-Dharma". The "swatva (I-ness)" here refers to various levels of ego, a sane human being recognizes. If we add up all the levels of ego (aatman) in Indic system we start from Brahman (or Shunyata) -aatman (Ahamkaar) - Buddhi (intellect) - Maanas (mind) - Indriyas (organs - sensory and motor) - Sharira (Body) - immediate family - joint family - caste (with all its internal stratifications) - society - Raashtra - Sanskriti - Humanity - Universe (which is again same as Brahman)

Thus, in thus cyclical energy levels of "I", lie all possible egos which are recognized by all the Moksha-shastras of Indic origin, all the artha-shastras of Indic origin, all the kaama-shastras of Indic origin and all the Dharma-shastras of Indic origin. All these egos contribute towards "Swa-dharma". While performing different roles, a sane Indic human being is in different levels of this cyclical levels of egos and prioritizes his duties accordingly on the basis of his viveka-buddhi. All those duties are segregated from each other to various degrees. Most importantly, all those levels of duties are recognized and addressed in Indic systems.

Reiterating my point of emphasis, the Indic system has the inherent design to peacefully and efficiently segregate the social-economic-political pursuits of life from personal ones. Indic system goes one step ahead in segregating the spiritual pursuits from other personal pursuits arising out of material desires and thereby influencing socio-economic-political and Moral aspects of life.

The Dharma is governed by Dharma-Shaastra (Understanding/science of Dharma/righteousness) - The understanding OR the Shaastra of defining righteousness changes from time to time, and this constant evolution is allowed in Indic system. The Manu-Smriti, for example, was one of the many social codes (dharma-shastras) prevalent in India in different times and which is no longer followed. Today, constitution of India is the Dharma-Shaastra according to Indic understanding of Dharma because in social-political-economic domains of life, the dictats of constitution plays a key role in determining whether a "karma" was righteous or not. In other words, whether Karma was Dharmic OR not.


Deracination - In past 100 years, we have been taught that Dharma = Religion onlee, which is totally and utterly false. Spiritual pursuits of life are governed by numerous Moksha-Shaastras available in Indic and Non-Indic domains. In Indic system, whatever the choice of moksha-shastra is, it is Dharmic as long as it remains personal. The social damage owing to mistranslation of key-words by British is enormous, which we must understand. This is exactly what most of the Indians subconsciously mean, when they use the term Dharma. It is hardly anything to do with religion OR Indianism OR Hindutva. It is more to do about knowledge that righteous performance of one's duty is more important than belief in god OR otherwise. 

The Abrahamic Moksha-Shaastra (spiritual part of abrahamic religions) does not segregate itself from other Social-Political-Economic-Moral aspects of human society. This system was forced upon Indian memes during Islamic and British times. And Indics were too overwhelmed owing to confident propaganda of abrahamics in ignorant medieval times. Abrahamic memes, at least in India, strive and propagate on lack of Shaastra among Indics and Indians. Dharma is one factor which runs vitally common in all the religions of Indian origin. Hence, relearning of this vital concept is extremely important for India.

Genesis of Pseudo-Secularism in India

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Pseudo secularism is one of the hall-marks of internal politics of Republic of India. Although it started from Khilafat movement of 1917, it achieved progressively greater practitioners and admirers in post-independence era. What is pseudo-secularism? What makes this particular meme and idea so popular in Indian socio-politics? Here is an attempt to analyse...

The Term -

Pseudo - False

Secularism - a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship. This is the actual definition of the term.

In India, however, this terms is used to mean Sarva-Pantha-Samabhaav (सर्व पंथ समभाव ) which means equanimity towards all religions.

Pre-Independence factors

After unsuccessful first war of independence in 1857, India was formally inducted in to British Empire and placed directly under the rule of British throne in London. The people who were born in subsequent times were educated by British in order to assist them in running this otherwise giant territory.

Indians are very heterogeneous groups which can be broadly categorized into Indics (people following the religions of Indian origin); Abrahmics (Muslims, Jews and Christians) and others (Zoroastrians, Bahai and others). Out of these, Muslims showed very less inclination towards learning English language and assimilating into the newly changed system. Large sections of Indics however, started the adapting rather rapidly. Here lies the origin of pseudo-secularism in India.

It is a synonym for sycophancy OR appeasement of some opinion OR social group for immediate social and political gains. Be it votes OR temporary peace.

This also arises out of necessity of Indics in British times to share power with different social groups across India. M K Gandhi first used pseudo-secularism as a tool to gain political mileage in 1917 during Khilafat movement when Muslims in India were protesting against British for their war against Turkey. It was further exacerbated by Gandhi and many other leaders of Indian National Congress in subsequent years of freedom struggle.

Post Partition and Independence Scenario

India was divided to give a separate nation for Muslims of subcontinent since Hindus and Muslims, according to Jinnah and Muslim league, could not co-exist peacefully. Hence, those Muslims who chose to stay in India should not have been privy to appeasement politics in coming years. But this was not the case. Why?

It again has its roots in great game for control of Central Asia and Indian Ocean simultaneously. Partition was facilitated by British to maintain their strategic presence in NWFP region for their hold on Central Asia and Middle east.

The elite of Pakistan, which fled from UP of India, was subservient to the west (Liaqat Ali Khan's three month stay in Washington,1950), and their only job was to keep ordinary Pakistani people frightened of impending Hindu invasion from east and subsequent danger that Islam will be in. Pakistan was based on one religion and prided itself as first Islamic republic. This was further helped by technological, political and economic perks from the west and Saudi Arabia.

With cold war raging, Pakistan grew more and more important. The creation of Pakistan had created confusion in the minds of Muslims in Indian subcontinent about their allegiance. This is less true for younger generations, but not for the generation which saw partition. They had witnessed the "Islam in danger" propaganda at its zenith. In case of Hindu-Muslim alienation, it would have been impossible to throw each and every muslim out of India, as they are quite dispersed.

India was not privy to defence and economic perks that Pakistani elite received from west when India invested heavily in development of educational, industrial infrastructure and implemented land-reforms. This was one reason for INC to endorse pseudo-secularism initially. Later on, when they discovered the voting pattern of Muslims, INC grew exceedingly sycophant. Hindu - votes are divided, Muslims, being an aggressive minority, vote in one block. This was further exacerbated by establishment of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty's rule in India as it became a necessity.

The catch was that Muslims had to be appeased just enough that they would consider owing allegiance to India more profitable than owing allegiance to Pakistan. It was the political compulsion of Power-Monger INC to suck up to minorities so that the two-nation theory which they opposed throughout and accepted at the last moment, emerges irrelevant.

The Road Ahead

Indian muslims were thoroughly fooled by these pseudo-secular historians and politicians. Pseudo-secularism was propagated in pre-independence era to suck up to masters. In post independence era, it was patronized and propagated to fool Indian Muslims.

Now that Pakistan is in deep shit, the need of pseudo-secularism is decreasing. The younger generation of Hindus who learn the real history not in text-books but from their families and internet and other sources, help towards this process. Thus, anguish against pseudo-secularists is slowly on rise. Pseudo-secularists have harmed Muslims much more than anybody else. The Sachchar commission report is testimony to this fact that inspite of Muslim-appeasement, their condition, by and large, is dire in Republic of Indian subcontinent. This is true for rest of Indian subcontinent as well.

India invested first 44 years in creating a sense of national integration, discipline for democracy and reinforced the identity of India and allegiance of all Hindus (non-abrahmics) towards India. It is a very great achievement on the part of India that every Indian today identifies himself as an Indian. This is particularly true about Indic people and considerably true about younger Indian Muslims born two-three decades after partition.

Furthermore, the geostrategic constraints have changed. USSR is no more, the value of Pakistan for US and UK dropped suddenly from important non-NATO ally to that of an international migraine and pain in world's ass. Thus all perks they received were stopped. This is where it started hurting them the most. They did nothing in those 50 years to build an identity apart from an "Anti-Hindu Identity".

India, which was derided as elephant with "Hindu Growth Rate of 3%" suddenly started growing economically at very high rates after 1990. The new Hindu generations started learning about the real history and started asserting their angst. I won't comment on the morality of incident, but the destruction of Babri-structure was evidence of aggressive assertion of Hindu-culture which was not seen after demise of Sikh empire. This was not a reaction, this was something more subtle.

The latest evidence of decreasing pseudo-secularism is Muslims voting for Narendra Modi in Gujarat assembly elections. There are millions of Muslims, who now realize that they were fooled in the name of religion. In spite of the Godhra controversy, the developmental projects of Modi were undeniably true and honest. And Modi builds roads and destroys everything illegal that stands in path of good road - be it Mosque or Temple or tree.

Today, all Indian Muslims can see for themselves what deep shit Pakistan is in, thereby it should progressively make their choice easier and easier about allegiance towards India. However, it will be too early to comment on that as long as the strangle-hold of Mullah-Qazi power structure is strong on minds of poor Muslims in India. But I hope and think that relevance and need of pseudo-secularism will go on decreasing with time in India.