India, Jan. 6 -- I openedShadow Armies: Fringe Organizations and Foot Soldiers of Hindutvaexpecting rigor-cold facts, verifiable linkages, evidence that survives cross-examination. What I found instead was prosecution without a courtroom. The book doesn't investigate; it indicates. It doesn't interrogate assumptions; it sermonises. From page one, it's clear the author isn't searching for truth but assembling a case-brick by selective brick-against Hindutva and, by convenient extension, against theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghand theBharatiya Janata Party.

The intellectual backbone of this narrative rests on a reckless shortcut:ideological proximity equals operational control. That isn't courage-it's laziness dressed up as bravery. Every fr...