The Somnath temple is where it all began. In 1026, Islamic zealotry erupted upon the Indian subcontinent in the form of Mahmud of Ghazni. The marauder’s intent was unambiguous: to desecrate Hindu sacred space and assert religious supremacy. That first act of cultural destruction did not remain an isolated episode. It set in motion a long arc of civilisational trauma that assumed different forms across centuries.

At Independence, that impulse resurfaced in a subtler but no less damaging form. In free India, Marxist historiography cast any legitimate appreciation of Hindu civilisation as inherently “communal" or anti-secular. Author Gurcharan Das once remarked that inquiring into India’s Hindu roots could risk earning an individual the moniker of a Sanghi.

So........

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