Ten years ago, on 6 December 1992, a fascist spectacle was on show in northern India. In the small town of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, a well-organised band of Hindutva activists demolished a 16th century mosque erected by Mir Baqi. Soon thereafter, blood flowed from the outskirts of Delhi to the centre of Bombay. The Hindutva forces' contempt for law and order matched the disregard for the Indian constitution shown by Indira Gandhi and the Congress party in the mid-1970s. Neither cared for the rules or for peace; both were interested in the exercise of power.
When asked why they thought the site of the mosque was the site of the Ram Janmabhoomi (translated, the birthplace of the Hindu god, Ram), some Hindutva cadre told the filmmaker Anand Patwardhan that they were "just sure" that it was. Patwardhan then asked them what century Ram had been born in, but they had no answer. The need for empiricism tends to muddy the certainties; besides, the excitement of religious activism far outweighs the basic protocols of historical method.
Ayodhya propelled the Hindutva agenda to the centre of Indian politics and, even as the religious right remained a minority force it was elevated to the controls of the nation-state. Influential Non-resident Indians (NRIs) recognised the trend before many and decided to swim with the tide. A group called 'Concerned NRIs' took out full-page advertisements in the Indian- American and Indian press, lauding the acts of the fascist band, enthusiastic that this display would energise India towards that ineffable process called 'progress'. Failing that, at least their advertisements and their cringing servility would, they hoped, earn them a few contracts and investment deals when Hindutva began the 'privatisation' fire-sale of India's public sector assets.
Many of us across the NRI world, distressed by the tone of Hindutva and its disregard for human dignity, formed secular and democratic organisations. Along the Atlantic seaboard, there were dozens of such groups, meeting each week, planning events, bringing speakers from India, trying desperately to counter the Hindutva juggernaut that was rolling through the overseas landscape.