Two disturbing incidents last week speak loudly of where we, as a society, are heading. In the first incident in Pangaon town in the Latur district, a Muslim policeman Yusuf Sheikh was assaulted by a mob of 200 and paraded along with a saffron flag after the police force stopped them from hoisting the flag at the spot because it was communally sensitive.

In the second incident in Thane, Shiv Sena worker Shashikant Kalgude, an ex-shakha pramukh, attacked a woman traffic constable who asked for his driving licence because he had violated traffic rules. The Sena has disowned Kalgude, a history-sheeter.