At a seminar held at the Ethics and Public Policy Center on January 20, 2004, two experts on religious conflict in South Asia discussed the possible impact of increasing religious militancy -- both Hindu and Muslim -- on the Indian democratic state. The speakers were the Indian scholar and activist Asghar Ali Engineer and the American scholar of Indian politics Paul R. Brass. Their remarks in the edited transcript that follows lead to a lively discussion with other participants. Moderator Timothy Samuel Shah is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center specializing in South Asia. The seminar co-sponsor was INFEMIT, a network of Third World theologians and activists led by Vinay Samuel, and funding was generously provided by Fieldstead and Company.

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