Nope wasn't referring to the Taliban ! Have you ever seen lectures delivered by Zakir Naik and fellows like him ? How thousands if not well above a hundred thousand people flock there to listen to them ! And not once or twice but many times over ! Then there are people who are progressive, liberal and yet Islamist...people who look at (say!) the English Civil Law and then at the Shariah and think...hmmn..an alternative paradigm that could work ! Then there are the extremists and the truly secular ones who don't want religion to have any place in one's political life ! Unfortunately its not the Taliban who are calling the shots in Pakistan either...there is domestic demand for an 'Islamic State' ! I think sooner or later the Muslims in India too, when they find themselves in a position of greater leverage, demand similar things; it probably is going to start from some sort of government patronage to institutions of Islamic Finance to some of the more communal aspects of the Shariah being enforced later on ! Additionally when Muslims are told that India is the only country in the world that they're truly emancipated because of our laws, our traditions and our way of life; sooner or later they're going to say - Yeh kiyaa backwass hai what do our traditions, our laws and our way of life lack ? Have you forgotten that the time of the 4 Caliphs was the golden age of Islam or that not only Akbar was the only one worth mentioning...the others were pretty good too ! In short, they're going to snap back at the implied assertion 'We weren't treated all that well when Muslim Dynasties ruled parts of the India Subcontinent and you're laws were regressive and oppressive of us - the Non Muslim majority' but look how well we've treated you once we're in the driving seat ! Some day...thats going to invite a backlash !
I think the only way to avoid that is a) Islam is reduced to a mere cultural or quasi-religious thing in India instead of a separate organized religion on its own ! Or b) a much more syncretic Islam is developed in India...even more so that it is now ! A little like how Hinduism absorbed and incorporated Buddhism, Jainism and a few other such dharmic traditions in India ! Which is to say a truly India Islam embellished by some of the best local traditions of India is created !
Otherwise...I do fear for the worst and I say this without glee ! However much I support the Partition...no one can dispute the enormous blood shed and suffering the Indian Subcontinent went during it and in the years leading up to it ! Nip this in the bud and you should be fine and by this I mean the divide that compels either party to identify the 'other' as truly...'the other' !
