The completion of 75 years of the resurrection of the Somnath Temple — on May 11 — was preceded by the swearing-in of West Bengal’s first BJP. The relation between the two isn’t symbolic. If the West Bengal verdict reflects demographic anxiety, the saga of Somnath’s resurrection serves as its antidote. To understand why demographic change causes anxiety, it is instructive to examine chapters of our history alongside experiments such as multiculturalism in Europe and Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) in the United States — all these offer cautionary lessons.

In West Bengal, demographic anxiety stems from the growing presence of illegal intruders from across the border and the implications this has for regional and national security. The border is porous, and families in districts along it have longstanding connections on the other side. But under the garb of this contiguity, the Left — for over three decades — and the Trinamool Congress thereafter, facilitated the absorption of illegal intruders. Whenever questions were raised, the issue was framed in communal terms — Hindus versus Muslims. This framing effectively granted a veto to illegal immigrants, who........

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