MADRAS, India -- Indian secularism is in danger. Last spring the western state of Gujarat, perhaps the most economically prosperous region in the country, was the site of the nation's worst communal carnage since the days of partition in 1947 when the British divided the subcontinent into India and Pakistan.
The majority Hindu population in Gujarat systematically butchered hundreds of Muslims in what was ironically once considered a land of peace by Mahatma Gandhi, who used principles of nonviolence to win India its independence from British rule.
The most horrific brutality recently took place in Ahmedabad, where Gandhi's ashram still stands. In one incident a Hindu mob captured an eight-month-pregnant Muslim woman, ripped open her abdomen, scooped out her fetus and threw it into a fire!