Sectarian antagonisms in India

The murders of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons Philip, 10, and Tim, 6, in rural India are a reminder of the hazards missionaries face in many places. But their deaths were not the result of sheer chance. They occurred in a climate of sectarian hatred in India. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) encouraged this climate for its political advantage and, in power, has allowed the hatred to grow when a responsible national government would have acted long ago to curb it.

One interpretation of the increased boldness of the criminal associates of Hindu extremists is that it reflects the extremists' frustration with the failure of the BJP, after 10 months in power, to deliver on promises of economic nationalism and the cultural promotion of Hindutva or "Hinduness". That may explain the increasing violence, but it cannot excuse it.

-- The Sydney Morning Herald