Secularism under threat today: Nayantara

Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal, who recently returned her ‘Sahitya Akademi’ Award over the Dadri lynching case, on Thursday said secularism is under threat like never before and that individual freedom and rights have to be protected even these are guaranteed in the Constitution. Sahgal, the niece of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru, underlined that secularism is part of Indian culture “because for centuries we have had inputs from other cultures and all these have combined to what is India”. She said: “Secularism is under threat today as it has never been before. Because today, there is a move, we cannot yet call it policy because when Narendra Modi made his campaign speeches (before 2014 LS polls) they were all about development.”