Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist Book

India has always been a land of contrasts. From the physical majesty of the northern Himalayas, to the exotic beaches of the Goan coast, its landscape is simply breath-taking. It is not simply a land of physical contrasts however, but one divided by many religions, identities that splinter the country and cause fault lines that crack like earthquakes and can leave many dead. The religions are multiple in India, but the core four are: Christianity, Hindu, Islam and Sikh. Edna Fernandes' aim is simple in Holy Warriors: A Journey into the Heart of Indian Fundamentalism, and that is to spend a little time with key figures in each faith and show the reader a little of each life.

Fernandes' tone is simple. She presents her key figure with broad brushstrokes, allowing their voices to come through, and this makes Holy Warriors less of a history lesson and more of a conversation. Much of the book is taken up with these conversations with figures such as KP Gill, the Butcher of the Punjab and Bal Thackeray, the Indian politician who founded the Shiv Sena and a man with much influence in Mumbai. During these conversations, Fernandes gently probes her interviewees, pushing them on certain points, but ultimately allowing their points of view to remain unchallenged. This might sound like a failure on Fernandes' part, but it is not: the point is not to judge any of these religions - they are real and true and the correct path for those who follow them - or to question the validity of their place in Indian society. The point is to allow them room to breathe, to express themselves, and to allow us a space in which to consider their points of view logically and without prejudice.

Throughout the book, Fernandes also allows a number of small, personal recollections to filter in. She speaks warmly of her upbringing in London, of the family gatherings, and the adherence paid by her family to traditional ways that might easily have become lost to them many thousands of miles away from India. These little insights allow a different colour to shade her narrative, and provide a moment's relief from the many horrors contained in her book that have been perpetrated in the name of faith.

Ultimately, and especially so for a book just over 300 pages, it is difficult to fully summarise these religious fault lines, and consequently Holy Warriors comes across more as a primer on these religious lines than any in-depth consideration. This is again not a criticism - 300 pages on just one of these religions alone would bring one no closer to full understanding - but for anybody with some knowledge of these issues, it will provide very little new.

Holy Warriors, then, is a fascinating insight into a major problem facing a growing nation - facing the world even - of how society lives with contradictory religious belief. Fernandes does not seek to provide a solution, but this is a fine starting point from which to consider the issue.