“The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests.”

- Jawaharlal Nehru

COMMENT | Last year, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador issued a stark – is there any other kind? – warning to racial and religious provocateurs that the state security apparatus would come down hard on anyone who incites racial issues.

In this country where race and religion are not mutually exclusive, especially for the majority, this “no warning” warning was supposed to deescalate the heated online rhetoric that was spilling into the real world.

Hamid (above) was specific in his rejoinder, saying: "I will not hesitate to arrest them (those inciting racial issues). I have instructed my men to investigate cases classified as involving religious and ethnic sensitivities. 

"Don't wait, investigate and arrest. I repeat, no more warnings."

Warning the public not to be fooled by...