Where the experience of the present century is no guide, we may turn to history. If the Hindus in this country have given proof of narrow mindedness, bigotry, persecution of minorities, then, certainly we shall be justified in entertaining some sort of fear about our future. What does a study of history reveal? So far as I know, there has been no occasion in the history of India when the Hindus have persecuted a minority. They have turned themselves from a minority into a majority on one occasion. When Buddhism was reigning supreme in this country, when the Hindus were in a minority, they gradually saw to it that from a minority they converted themselves into a majority. But as against the Buddhists there were the Jains who were a minority. There were the Syrian Christians, the Parsis, and many others. Indeed, India has given asylum and protection to a number of minorities, and the only example I can think of, the only unhappy episode in the history of India was the fate which Buddhism met in the land of its own birth, but it can hardly be called persecution of a minority. The present generation, I suppose is atoning for that, and we are now going back to Buddhist symbols and in our flag, in our national emblems we are giving a place of honour to something from which we ran away, something which we did not sufficiently honour at that time. So, whether in the light of history or in the light of the immediate experience of the present generation, I feel that the minorities have no grounds to fear that they will not get goodwill, friendliness and fair-mindedness on the part of the majority community.
