India, July 14 -- It has been a consistent strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological fountainhead, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to periodically denigrate the concept of secularism to polarise the Hindu majority. Veteran BJP leader LK Advani frequently used the term "pseudo-secularism" to accuse the Congress and other secular parties of appeasing Muslims for vote-bank politics. BJP leaders often portray secularism as a tool used by opposition parties to favour Muslims, thereby justifying their own repeated attacks on the term.

The latest occasion for the BJP to revive this issue was the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Dattatreya Hosabale, a senior RSS funct...