Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Goodbye, lenin” (March 8). The clash of civilisations is a phrase familiar to us in the context of geo-politics. We have heard of it too often.
Interestingly, the dismantling of statues is equated with the demolition of ideologies, embodied and espoused by our leaders. It is, therefore, more of ‘the clash of ideologies’. This new triumphalist phenomenon needs to be stopped forthwith lest it marks the beginning of the return to the dark past.
India has the space to accommodate the statues of all leaders, be they progressive or reactionary. After all, whether a person is a progressive, a reactionary, a freedom fighter or a terrorist is a matter of perception and opinion that varies.
India has been so tolerant a country that it can boast of the statues of Bhagat Singh and Godse. But the problem with the Right is that it is driven by the goal of a Hindu Rashtra and is not comfortable with India’s composite culture. It is futile to seek to banish pluralism from a country composed of disparate communities and sub-nationalities with their distinct identities.
However, much as zealots wish to believe otherwise, India is a mix of races and religions with myriad strands for them to superimpose their skewed religious nationalism on all the substructures.