Two sets of developments have become quite visible over the last fewyears. While scores of activists belonging to Hindu organisations havebeen killed by radical Islamists; there Is also a growing clamour within a sectionof Indian Muslims to assert their religious identity aggressively and display itexplicitly.

There are some crucial aspects of radicalisation of Muslims in India thatneed to be understood. First, unlike the western world, radicalisation in India ishappening not only in urban areas but also in far flung as well as remote ruralareas. The population in rural India needs to be watched and monitored moreclosely in this regard. Second, radicalisation in India has been ‘legitimised’ in thename of ‘protecting minority rights’ by many political parties for garneringMuslim votes. Their regressive stand on issues like hijab and silence on thekilling of Hindu activists by radical Islamists further perpetuates radicalisation.Third, as a society we are refusing to learn lessons from the past. Radicalisationof Muslims led to partition of India in 1947. It is time not to be like that pigeonwho closes eyes thinking the cat doesn't exist and ends getting eaten up.

Author
Arun Anand is an author, speaker and a journalist. He has written, edited and translated more than a dozen books. He is also the author of bestseller ‘Know About RSS’ that has been translated into Hindi and Marathi. He lives in New Delhi and can be reached at epatrakar@gmail.com. His twitter handle is @ArunAnandlive