Last week we observed two painful anniversaries of communal violence: 20 years of the carnage in Gujarat in 2002 and two years of the same in North-east Delhi. These cause us to reflect on the differences between the situation in the period following Partition and the accompanying communalization of society and the one prevailing now. The national leadership at that time went all out to counter communal polarisation and restate the ideals of the freedom struggle whereas now we witness the opposite. Jawaharlal Nehru, on whose shoulders the task fell especially after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the death of Sardar Patel, converted the first general elections into a virtual referendum on the issue of secularism vs communalism and delivered a resounding defeat to the communal forces. We bring to you this week extracts from one of his many speeches during the election campaign in which he criss-crossed the country.—- “… For thousands of years now, there have been different religions in India and yet we are all Indians. The majority of us are Hindus, and Muslims are in great numbers, as also are Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and many others. This has been going on for thousands of years. All these religions have made India their home. India does not belong to any one of them alone. There has never been a question of one religion trying to suppress the others. If anyone tries to do it now, he will be very foolish and will cause great damage to the country.India can progress in only one way and that is when all Indians, irrespective of their professions, province or religion, live in harmony with one another and march together. They may hold different views and opinions, but they must not live in compartments politically or otherwise.You have gathered here in great numbers and perhaps most of you live in Amritsar. Almost all of you must be Punjabis. But you are not merely the citizens of Amristar or of the Punjab– you are first and foremost the citizens of India….
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