LOVE AND OTHER CONSPIRACIES

A visceral fear of the invader is alive and well in India. The image of the savage conqueror has evolved from a barbaric Genghis Khan thundering down the Central Asian steppe, or a Muhammad of Ghor descending from the rugged Hindu Kush to establish Muslim rule in India in the 12th century. A distorted history, moulded to suit current political expediency, casts Genghis Khan, Turks, Afghans, Mongols and Mughals as mere plunderers, erasing the fact that many of them settled down in the subcontinent and enriched its culture, economy and politics in countless ways.

The reviled alien has now taken the shape of a suave smooth-talking Muslim dude with alluring ways and the promise of love. A spurious notion of ‘love jihad’ or the supposed entrapment of Hindu girls by Muslim youth, forcing them to convert after