The enemies of the open society can conveniently ignore the breakdown of civic society, but any breach in their bastions is guarded zealously. So, Ms Swaraj was unmoved by the plight of Ruchika. The young girl was molested by a senior police officer, who went on to become the top cop in Haryana. Her brother was arrested half a dozen times on fabricated charges. The girl committed suicide. It was only when public indignation reached a crescendo that the guilty police officer was removed from his post. There is no telling if he will ever be thrown behind the bars for his misdeeds and misuse of office. In no civilised modern nation would this have been tolerated. Ms Swaraj was unconcerned, although her indignation was certainly aroused by an ad in which the legs of a female model were revealed.

Another glaring instance: a young woman is stalked by the son of a senior police officer for years. The young man rapes and then murders her; the allegedly-law-enforcing agencies shield him in a most blatant manner, thanks to the influence of the culprit's father; the magistrate mentions the misdemeanours of the officer and the agencies but has to acquit the culprit for lack of evidence. What does the government do? Nothing.

In the world of Ms Swaraj, Mr Singh and other like-minded worthies, these instances are not an affront to womanhood; they can be tolerated; but the telecast of Fashion TV cannot be tolerated. They would prescribe what a woman should wear and, more importantly, not wear. They would prescribe what sort of movies people should watch, what sites on the Net are good, and what should be avoided.

For the first time, the saffron enemies of the open society have tasted real power. In their stupidity, they can easily give the secularists a run for their money. For long, the secularists used all means at their disposal to disparage anything Hindu. As often happens, it is not reason that vanquishes stupidity; one kind of stupidity is replaced by another. It was a top Nazi who said, "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun". The way the enemies of the open society are trying to control culture, one hardly needs to be a Nazi to his lose temper at the mention of "culture".