The Sachar Committee and its report are typical of this approach. It recommends sops in the form of jobs in the police and administration which are unlikely to do more than help the Hindutva case. What also helps the Hindutva case is our ‘secular’ government’s reluctance to deal firmly with Islamist terrorism because it fears that this will further alienate a community that is already alienated.

This amounts to admitting that every Indian Muslim is secretly a jihadi in his heart. He is not. But the jihad has an allure that becomes irresistable to those who see India as a country in which there are one set of rules and one kind of justice for Hindus and another kind for Muslims. This perception exists and will only change when the Indian state proves that it does not take sides, not whether it is secular or communal. Both words have become meaningless with overuse. What is important is that we acknowledge that we have a Muslim problem and it is in India’s interest that we solve it.