Nilanjana S Roy's column "Where they burn books" (Speaking Volumes, October 14) on the comments made by Subramanian Swamy was spot on. Sometimes, I wonder how he and people like him can live with themselves.
At the same time, liberal thought has always been challenged and constantly survived. This fight will continue and it is up to a few good people to sustain the spirit. However, I've always wondered if we are not doing enough. The extremists ideas are, for all its callous talk, tempting for the common man. They are being expressed at stages for the common man. What are we doing? Ours is reactionary. We wait for the opposition to strike and respond to it on a platform that does not reach the common people.
As much as we hate to see the extremists win, we are not taking the fight to them. Our reactions are not strong enough, I feel. The time to act is here.
Harikrishnan Nair New Delhi
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