Dehradun, April 15 -- If anybody cares about the Constitution, they should, on Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's Jayanti, focus on how the constitutional order has collapsed in West Bengal. India has been plagued by communal riots ever since the British Raj. Partition took place primarily to bring an end to the hostility between Hindus and Muslims. However, it did not solve the problem because creation of an inclusive Indian identity has been prevented by the obsession with vote politics. Politicians have cynically exploited, even encouraged, insecurities to corral voters as votebanks.
This does not mean, however, that the Indian state has not, by reason of its very existence, reduced considerably the extent of damage that can be done by rioters. In m...