Secularism comes in two editions: the first is your garden variety, vanilla flavour; and let's call the other critical secularism or sustainable secularism. If you are told that there were riots in some city and before condemning the violence if you need to know which community was at the receiving or which party is in power there, then you are an advocate of the simplified version, a darling of our media as of all those who get their opinions in ready-to-serve packets. The other version can better be illustrated by looking at what's happening in Kerala.

A college lecturer prepared a question paper that allegedly insulted the Prophet. Many would condemn this, but an extremist organisation called Popular Front of India (PFI) went a step ahead. The teacher's right hand was chopped off, allegedly by PFI activists, this month. The state government of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) seems intent to book the culprits.

Though you might not have expected this from CPI-M, but chief minister V S Achuthanandan has been making a series of statements against the “communal forces”. For example he said in the national capital in the weekend that communal and divisive forces were working towards turning Kerala into a Muslim-majority state, and that even inter-religious marriages (aka love jihad) were being undertaken towards this end.

When the Congress, leading the opposition United Democratic Front, as well as a number of Muslim organisations criticised him, VS clarified in the assembly on Monday that he was referring not to the whole Muslim community in the state but to extremist organisations like PFI. “It is an organisation that works to destroy peace and communal amity in Kerala by inciting communal passions. It doesn't represent the Muslim community,” VS told the assembly.
When was the last time we heard such frank talk – from comrades or others? More surprisingly, VS's bete noir within the party, Pinnarayi Vijayan, has also come out in his support and the coalition ally Forward Bloc has even demanded a ban on PFI.

The Left possibly has its own reasons in real politic as PFI has supported the Congress in the last Lok Sabha elections. But the matters have come to such a pass that the Left is being accused of eying a “Hindu vote bank”.

But this matter serves the purpose of illustrating the the second school of secularism. And before L K Advani comes and says this is precisely what he had in mind when he coined the term pseudo-secularism as opposed to real secularism, let us clarify that under no version of this misused concept can the Gujarat violence be justified. And calling it a bloat or aberration can do little beyond earning you praise for your vocabulary.

It is very much in the interest of those who believe in 'equal respect for all religions' that they do not allow petty politicians to hijack the concept and use it in electioneering – on a par with cash and free booze on the eve of voting. Islamic extremism is as much a reality as Hindutva terrorism.

If there will be a manifesto of 'sustainable secularism', its preamble will say that the two sides at battle are not Hindus and Muslims, nor the “fringe elements” of the two communities, nor the BJP et al and Congress plus. The two sides at battle are those who believe in (communal) violence as a political tool and those who don't.