IN the run-up to the electoral battle in Bihar, yet another calculated eruption of communal tensions and divisive rhetoric is being witnessed since early September in India. As Muslims celebrated Eid-i-Miladun Nabi, Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh became a flashpoint of religious fault lines over an illuminated ‘I love Muhammad [PBUH]’ signboard. The Hindu majority saw it as a ‘new tradition’, sparking hate-fuelled riots, police brutality, FIRs, arrests, internet blackouts and protests in UP, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Unexpectedly, the posters and graffiti proliferated on the roads and social media with support from secular........

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