Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Respect all Religions' that was published in Newsband

Respect all Religions

Does just building shiny roads, airports and power stations mean building a ‘New India’? It is the citizens who should be empowered. The citizens should be allowed to make their own choices as long as these do not impinge on the freedom of others, instead of authorities making all their decisions for them.

‘Love Jihad’ is said to be popularised by the Sangh Parivar. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken up an alleged instance of ‘love jihad’ which in turn has persuaded an initially reluctant Supreme Court to order a probe. But there is possibility of terror and communal violence by ghettoizing and putting up walls between communities.

The worst thing is that there are many who blame PM Narendra Modi for anything that happens in this world these days. They just can’t stand him because he is not dancing to tunes of paid media. But honest people feel safer with Modi than they felt with Congress.

The thing is India should not be made like Saudi Arabia.  What the Love Jehadis are doing is exactly the same i.e. converting secular Indian to jehadis to face evils like triple talak etc. Girls, for whom Bharat is Mother India and cow is sacred animal, if converted to jehadis culture under the disguise of love will have to eat beef, remain within four walls, bear dozen of children and live with fear of triple talak. Love marriage doesn't mean that a girl should be deprived of her identity, her culture, her religion. We are heading for twenty second century not for fifteenth or sixteenth century where Hindus were Islamised under Government pressure. Try to create atmosphere of trust and understanding where everyone have respect for others’ religion.

Apart from the moral or the constitutional case for the state allowing citizens the maximum possible individual freedom and liberty, we must also recognise its limited enforcement capacity. The government should set its priorities in descending order and then focus on what its resources allow it to achieve. Nowhere more true than in the case of the police force.