(EDITORIAL) Present-day India is in a formative stage. Many latest controversies that have remained hidden through the decades preceding the attainment of freedom are coming to the surface... .

. . Saner elements in India`s political life recognise that a healthy democratic society can only be based on a complete elimination of communalism, narrow-mindedness, and discrimination against minority communities and religious groups. There are indications that go to show that the progress made by India in this respect has been far from satisfactory. Although less of open political activity is now being conducted by rabid communal organisations like the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS, it will be ... wrong to suppose that they have liquidated themselves. Their present organisational weakness should not be taken to mean that they have lost the capacity to provoke communal strife whenever and wherever possible.

There are ... powerful elements inside the Congress itself which, though ostensibly wedded to a non-communal outlook, do not lag behind the most rabid communalists in spreading the virus of communalism.