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In my last column I drew attention to the exemplary secular-humanist leadership furnished by Deepak Kumar, alias Mohammed Deepak, at Kotdwar in Uttarakhand in stepping up to challenge a brazenly communal demand made by a Bajrang Dal group on one Vakil Ahmed, cloth shop owner.

Vakil Ahmed was asked to remove the word “Baba” from his shop title, since in their view, he was cleverly appropriating an allegedly Sanatan appellation.

Not only does the word “Baba” have a Persian origin, it has been widely used in India to define Sufi saints and venerable elders of both communities across a historical spectrum.

Baba Farid’s teachings are inscribed in the Guru Granth Sahib, a scripture held sacred not just by Sikhs but also by Hindus.

Lauding Mohammed Deepak as just the vanguard the denominationally fraught nation needs, it was noted how many Hindus, including more than a dozen lawyers of the Supreme Court had volunteered to take membership of Deepak’s gym, following withdrawals by some earlier members.

Well now, the civil-secular initiative of supporting Deepak Kumar’s lead has happily resonated in two episodes of sectarian assault on citizen-minority rights.

There may be more than just two pushbacks that we do not yet know of.

The first of these comes from Kareda village in Tonk district of Rajasthan:

A former BJP member of parliament, Sukhbeer Singh Jaunpuria, conducting a blanket distribution event among indigent women, brazenly refused to give blankets to three Muslim women in the gathering.

In the video clip of the event, this public representative who had taken oath on the constitution as MP to desist from discriminating among citizens on the basis of religion, among other........

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