This refers to the article, “The shining knights of secularism on the prowl” (April 14) by Balbir Punj. They are the shining knights of pseudo-secularism on the prowl. The easiest way to lose any debate is to call your opponent with the title that he claims. This is precisely the reason why India's right-of-centre has lost debates, even the easy ones, before the debates even begin.
India's right-of-centre commentators have failed to develop a framework and lexicon with a set of key words and phrases which will help get their message to the masses. Take, for example, the Ayodhya debate. The Hindus never linked the demolition of the mosque to the broader framework of religious freedom and the universal right to worship at their sacred site. On the other hand, the so-called Boston Debate, which was a difficult one concerning the destruction of legal private property, was won by Americans because of the ‘Boston Tea Party’ metaphor.