NEW DELHI, Dec. 19 -- In Mary Shelley's novel by that name, Frankenstein created a monster in a laboratory over a two-year period, based on an abstruse but deadly effective scientific principle, and this bogeyman (always a 'man') went on to wreak death and destruction wherever he went. I was reminded of this macabre tale as the results of the Gujarat Assembly elections were trumpeted across the country last week.

More than two decades ago during Vajpayee's reign, the country first witnessed planned, targeted violence against minorities, with Gujarat as the epicentre. The now forgotten VHP leader, Praveen Togadia then proudly proclaimed Gujarat as the laboratory of Hindutva -- the gospel of majoritarianism. That was the time when there we...