Like any genuine student of history who is familiar with the facts, I am not going to even talk about the historical perspective here. Coincidentally Mr. Gautier is also not doing that - talk about history that is, so that makes my job easier.
But what is worthy of comment is 'our' reaction to what Gautier has to say.
One thing that%u2019s very apparent from Gautier%u2019s diatribe is his conviction that %u2018In India, nothing divides like religion%u2019. And he%u2019s so right. All that Gautier had to do was to fish out one controversy from our past and we are all at each other%u2019s throats. I can almost hear a chuckle from Gautier. Advantage him. The agent provocateur rubs his hands in glee. He is glad to report to his sponsors that Indians still respond to the tried and tested trigger of %u2018divide & weaken%u2019 that saw the country being ruled by foreigners for a few hundred years and go through a heart-wrenching partition in %u201847.
Is the news all bad? Thankfully, a lot of us have learnt to stop and think before letting it fly. Sadly, some of us still let people like Gautier win.
