<b>Shekhar Gupta: </b>A case for dehyphenated liberalism

Liberal on society and economy, rigid on security. Downside: will be trolled by both, Left and Right

Canada’s young prime minister and global liberal star, Justin Trudeau, first made the term “hyphenated liberal” popular, even if he was using it in a limited way to rally together his party men, divided among many factions, each linked to a leader whose ideas it followed, notably Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. I am, therefore, claiming authorship, at least in our domestic context, to the idea of dehyphenated liberalism. If liberalism means viewing ideas, issues, people with an open mind, can it survive being qualified with a hyphenated allegiance?
 
Left and Right will only be the two broadest choices,