Excerpts: Most gravely, the likes of Pramod Muthalik, who are self-appointed custodians of Hindu culture as well as morals and morality, have the tacit support of the votaries of Hindutva who dominate the principal Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). There can be no other explanation for the fact that L.K. Advani, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, hasn't uttered a word of condemnation so far about Valentine's Day incidents.
Whatever the names of various senas, all of them are members of the extended Sangh Parivar, presided over by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Bajrang Dal members, who were hyperactive on Valentine's Day, have been the Hindtuva camp's storm-troopers since before Mr Advani's rath yatra and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Let there be no mistake that the looming peril is great and the stakes in defeating it are high. The message of the "custodians" of Hindu religion and culture amounts to a wail that Hinduism would be destroyed if some girls drink beer at a pub or if a boy and girl walk hand-in-hand or if a young man presents roses or chocolates to his wife or girlfriend on February 14. What is the remedy prescribed by these paranoid backwoodsmen? To "semitise" the Hindu religion, in the words of historian Romila Thapar, by imposing a strict and uniform code on every Hindu, just as the Wahabbis did in Saudi Arabia in the past and the Taliban are doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan now. The Indian state and civil society must learn from what has happened in Pakistan. President Asif Ali Zardari has candidly admitted that the Taliban could "take over" the country. Earlier, in an article in Newsline titled "The Saudi-isation of Pakistan", the highly respected Pakistani academic Pervez Hoodbhoy had warned: "It is a matter of time before the fighting (in the wild areas…) shifts to Peshawar and Islamabad (which has already been a witness to the Lal Masjid episode) and engulfs Lahore and Karachi as well". He also explained why. Instead of resisting the religious extremism, "the (Pakistani) state used religion as an instrument of policy". A stage has now been reached where "every incumbent government (is) fearful of taking on powerful religious forces". Let this country not say later that it wasn't forewarned. http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/opinion/ram-sene-not-fringe,-it%E2%80%99s-coloured-saffron-.aspx