This is with reference to the article “Stinging rebuke to Modi” (Nov. 9) by Siraj Wahab. It is not just the writer who feels this way about communal politics in India. The majority of Indians strongly believe that the ongoing politics of hate will not bode well for the country. India’s strength lies in its cultural and religious diversity. It is the country of Gandhi, Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, who are known and respected for their pluralistic views and secular approach.

The saffron politics have no place in India, as is becoming evident with every passing day. Earlier, the BJP fared miserably in Delhi state assembly election and now met the same fate in Bihar polls. After the stunning victory in the election of 2014, the saffron brigade thought that Indians would endorse its communal politics and ideology. It was the weakness of the then Congress-led government that had paved the way for the BJP’s victory in the absence of any other viable option. People entrusted the BJP with this huge responsibility due to its development agenda not because of its right-wing policies.

These fanatics don’t realize that their myopic worldview is not in conformity with the needs of today’s world. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s eerie silence over the actions and statements of his allies is being taken as an endorsement of the views of the RSS and its likes. He is the prime minister of the country but he has been acting as only the leader of the BJP. The Bihar state assembly polls should be seen as a referendum on the Modi government. People’s verdict is out and now it is time for the government to mend its ways in the greater good of the country and its people.

Shahzad Jawwad

Jeddah