Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent a strong warning to radical elements in the Sangh Parivar asking them to uphold the religious freedom of Indian citizens and has declared that he has the skills to muzzle those who went against it. He had been under attack from the Opposition as well as foreign leaders for his silence on communal comments made by some of his ministers and MPs. He had a few days ago strongly criticized the attack on Christian churches and schools in Delhi and also the policy of reconversion. This time he has been more scathing. He has said that unnecessary comments based on religion would be punished. He also quoted from Guru Nanak to underscore communal harmony. The battle was against poverty. It was the job of the Prime Minister to run his government in accordance with the Constitution of India. He affirmed that the government had only one religion which was India and only one holy book which was the Constitution. It is secularism of the highest order.
Modi has a gory past—the Gujarat riots of 2002 during his chief ministership of the state. In view of that, the Opposition is likely to treat his utterances as empty heroics. But his visits to foreign countries and evident commitment to the economic development of the country do create the impression that his outlook has changed and that he has even set his face against the Hindutva of the RSS which nurtured him. However, he has also the Supreme Court to contend with. The apex court has ruled that a person who reconverts from Christianity to Hinduism will be entitled to reservation benefits if his forefathers belonged to a Scheduled Caste. But such reconversion should be voluntary. Who will be the judge of that—the Supreme Court?
