During a recent trip to India, the heretical thought took hold that ardent nationalists can be de facto anti-nationals.
The coalition government of India is dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Its policy preferences are held hostage not just by minor coalition partners, but also by the purists within the party. Religious nationalists embarrass the government by attacking Christians for being un-Indian; economic nationalists challenge market opening policies. Ironically, their combined efforts damage the national interest.
A group of militants has been determined to prove that Hindus can match the Taliban in discrediting a great religion. The greater worry is that the campaign against Christians may represent a calculated ploy by the BJP, which is committed to refashioning the Indian polity in the image of "Hinduness."