“Communalism is a fact of life, but so is secularism…”

The Indian Cultural Forum and NewsClick was at the launch of Pigeons on the Dome: Stories on Communalism, edited by Rakshanda Jalil. Jalil, the lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, and the CEO of Prasar Bharti, Jawhar Sircar, spoke about communalism. Jalil pointed out that communalism is not restricted to certain sections of society, and Akhtar added that communal riots, from the Jabalpur riots in the 60s to the present day, are not, as they are often described, “spontaneous”.