News about India protesting to Pakistan, in a written demarche, the destruction of a temple in Teri village of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elicited some public interest. But my tweet went viral when I posed the obvious question:

“What kind of unilateralism is this? India questions mob’s destruction of temple in Pakistan. In fact Pakistani authorities promptly arrested culprits. But when mob destroys/damages mosque in India any nation asking questions violates Indian sovereignty. Can’t have it both ways.”

People on both sides of the India-Pakistan border shared my tweet, confirming that healthy interest in both nations survives in civilised discussion of their dilemmas, despite frozen bilateral relations.

The simple point is that if India can speak about the danger to freedom of religion in Pakistan, why can’t other nations raise questions about the treatment of minorities, especially Muslims, in India? Successive Indian governments, but particularly the present one, go berserk when questioned on that count.