It is customary to claim that the Indian mind has been influenced by Modi's Hindutva, explaining why the average Indian views Pakistan as the enemy. But this puts the cart before the horse.

The Modi government enjoys unlimited power for an unprecedented tenure, largely due to a dark psychological secret. While the country hid behind fictions of secularism and socialism during its formative phase, modern India allowed its identity to be informed by a blistering, obsessive hatred of its western neighbour. Some dislike is earned, certainly, but most is deeply inculcated for no reason.

If you want to get to the roots of this hatred and see how deep it goes, just look at how the Indian state was adamant to deny a nascent Pakistani state its due share of financial resources. Its historians tell us that the decision to withhold the sums was a reaction to the first Kashmir war in 1947. But this is the usual sleight of hand. India and Pakistan won freedom on 14 August. The said war did not begin till 22 October. It was one excuse after the other. In truth, some of India's leaders hoped that Pakistan would succumb to its vulnerabilities and come crawling back.

The champion of this cause, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is now worshipped like no other. India built the tallest statue of the man and called it a statue of unity with little mainstream liberal pushback on this gigantic waste of resources. Those who protested did so because they thought his legacy was being appropriated, not why it was being appropriated. Mahatma Gandhi opposed the blocking of funds to Pakistan. For........

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