What I normally write sinks without a trace or, to be precise, is quickly trashed and forgotten. But a recent essay on the existential threat to the nation posed by Mohan Bhagwat and his burgeoning army of bigots was read, an assumption I make on the basis that it figured briefly in The Wire's 'most read' section and provoked a flurry of comments from friends and foes alike, which I shall parse along the way. If nothing else, the fact that it was noticed and commented on is definitive evidence that people recognise in the Sangh Parivar the most formidable socio-political force that will determine the kind of nation we will be. And it is up to no good!

Let's first recapitulate my main argument in the piece titled "The Wolf in Khaki Trousers." I hold the view that Mohan Bhagwat and his goons are hell-bent on "dismantling the idea of an inclusive, secular India and substitute a society of overarching Hinduness." Bhagwat's brute majoritarian demand that Muslims hand over Mathura's Shahi Eidgah and Varanasi's Gyan Vapi mosque to the Hindus in the interests of brotherhood is a clear call to war. It portends a future of endless socio-religious strife. They are presently holding their fire, but all hell will break loose when the BJP loses power at the Centre.

There is a relentless method in the madness. The inexorable march to a fascist Hindu Rashtra is laden with markers of muscular triumph – the construction of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir atop the rubble of the demolished Babri Masjid; the abrogation of Article 370 and end to Kashmir's constitutional autonomy; the enactment of the Citizen Amendment Act in 2019; the kick-starting of the Uniform Civil Code with its enactment by the Uttarakhand government in 2024.

That blood-soaked path is strewn with lynchings, bulldozers and communal targeting of Muslim food, love, attire and land. There is the exponential growth of Shakhas, Navyug schools and the menacing Kanwariya crusaders – the breeding ground for the storm troopers. Not to forget that the RSS has been conferred official status in the bureaucracy. It is preparation for war by all means!

A bizarre hypothesis being propounded by some experts, beguiled by Mohan Bhagwat's double-speak, is that the Hindu Rashtra project aims to take everyone on board, the only caveat being that they accept that their forefathers were Hindu, the implication being that all religions can coexist in such a 'deep nation.' That's B. S.! Let's get one thing clear: the foundational basis of Hindutva is that only those whose 'Punyabhumi (holy land)' is India have a claim to being integral to the nation, a fiat that consigns Muslims and Christians to eternal second-class citizenship. The lifeblood of Hindutva is perpetual strife and division. It is meaningless without its antagonism toward Muslims and Christians!

My apprehensions of a fraught future in a majoritarian state have triggered a bellwether of views from a section of the country's older opinion-makers – ordinary middle- and working-class citizens - who are neither politicians nor andh bhakts. Having analysed their guarded, in some cases ostrich-like, responses, I cannot help but conclude that Bhagwat, Modi and gang need not fear a Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or Nepal kind of insurrection happening in India, despite a decade-old unabating assault on justice, liberty and fraternity, apart from spiralling unemployment, price rise and inequality. And vote chori! Underpinning this dismal situation is a society riven with division that has been actively promoted by the party in power for its own dark purposes.

My two closest buddies reacted to my dire warning with a dismissive "You've got to be joking!" Unwilling to confront any difficult situation that might threaten their tranquil world, they have brushed aside my fears with glib one-liners that nikkarwalas are cowards who would buckle under when confronted by any kind of pushback, especially official power. Remember the petition-fixated Savarkar and, more recently, Vajpayee during the Emergency? What these guys overlook is that the main instrument of mass violence is the mob, which is essentially a collective of cowards. And the Sangh has at its command a uniformed, disciplined mob squad!

Some advise patience and fortitude as "democratic values and a democratic ethos are not a quick growth plant." They feel that time will overwhelm the evil forces. Their faith in distant self-correcting outcomes suits the tyrants but provides no solace to the millions suffering today. As Maynard Keynes wryly commented: "In the long run we are all dead!"

By far, the most distressing response has been from what I call the "closet bhakts" – a sizeable number - who are covert supporters of Modi but with a liberal veneer. Their standard line is that the present regime is bad, but the alternative – the Congress – is much worse. This time, though, some have bluntly asked: "Let alone Islamic self-assertion, if Western countries can claim to be Christian nations and if Trump can flaunt Christian nationalism as his nation's governing code, why can't India be a Hindu Rashtra?"

On the face of it, that's a checkmate of an argument. But apart from the predictable riposte that two wrongs do not make a right, there is a huge difference in the societal impact of Trump's erratic sponsorship of white supremacy and the meticulously crafted and single-minded pursuit of the Hindu Rashtra by the Sangh Parivar. We are the ones who need to worry!

Trump is leveraging his charisma and the authority of his office to advance the cause, but this tenuous arrangement will collapse the moment he leaves office. That's because the American institutional framework is still largely democratic, and the liberal opposition is putting up an almighty fight. Imagine! A wonderful stand-up comedian, with the active support of millions of ordinary American citizens, recently rubbed Trump's nose in the dust. In contrast, almost every institution here has been taken over by the Sanghis while we bury our heads in the sand!

Even as I am accused of needlessly crying wolf, there are a few fellow travellers who are even more alarmed than I am. They feel that we are already too far down the road to perdition to be able to pull back. One member of an excellent 'Lunch and liberty' enclave of which I am a member asked plaintively: "Will the winter chill of Islamophobia, Hindu communalism and fascism ever end?"

In our twilight, all that we can do, to quote my poet friend, is give a timely warning! However, we also know that such interventions are like many straws against the wind.