Ramachandra Guha: Remembering Rajmohan Gandhi’s warning about the ‘new Hindu separatism’

I have admired the historian and biographer, Rajmohan Gandhi, for many years, both for his books and for his abiding commitment to democracy and pluralism. During the Emergency, the weekly he edited, Himmat, stood out as one of the few periodicals brave enough to challenge the prevailing atmosphere of fear. In the decades since, Rajmohan has produced a series of rigorously researched studies on modern India, including the definitive biographies of Vallabhbhai Patel and C Rajagopalachari. Even while writing these weighty works of scholarship, he has continued to contribute to public debate through columns in the press that are always rich in detail and considered in argument.

I had, I thought, a fairly immersive understanding of Rajmohan Gandhi’s oeuvre, but recently a learned friend brought to my attention a speech by Rajmohan that I had not read before. It was made in September 1991, when he served a brief term in the Rajya Sabha. Rajmohan’s remarks here are highly pertinent to where the Republic of India finds itself today.

Rajmohan was speaking in a debate on the Places of Worship Bill. That Bill sought to “prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place...

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