Current Politics - A corrosive force..

Nice Article in today's mumbai mirror.

Politics: A corrosive force

Political parties claiming to be secular, emphasise on the separate identity of the minorities and invoke religion and caste-based quotas - N. Vittal

Excerpts: - Politics is like a corrosive acid. The recent controversy over a survey by a PMO appointed committee under Justice Rajendra Sachar, to get specific details about the religious minorities in the armed services, highlights the danger of politicising secularism.

The government has beaten a tactical retreat, but the danger remains. Once an idea germinates, it cannot be undone. This is true of both good and bad ideas, like the current effort by the Rajendra Sachar Committee.

In a democracy, politics can weaken if not destroy many institutions, by its corrosive and adverse impact. As patriotic Indians, let us hope that the mischief to inject religious identity-based politics in the traditionally true and secular institutions will be nipped in the bud.

However, there is some hope. So far, there have been no reports of the Rajendar Sachar Committee asking the Ministry of I&B for religion-based break up in the Indian film industry or the Ministry of Sports for details regarding the Indian cricket team.