India under extremist threat

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The world needs to take notice and India should start to worry. A number of recent unpleasant incidents have involved the members of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or the RSS. They were aimed at humbling the Muslim minority in the country. These events seem to indicate that the country now faces an extremist challenge. It would be tempting to compare the developing Indian situation with the one Pakistan faces. However, it would be a mistake to equate the two situations. To begin with, Pakistan has, in the form of the National Action Plan, a better understanding of the problem and how it might be resolved. The same recognition has as yet to lead to the formulation of an appropriate public policy response in New Delhi.