The fact is that intermarriage and interdining are not necessary factors in friendship and unity though they are often emblems thereof. But insistence on either the one or the other can easily
become and is to-day a bar to Hindu-Mahomedan Unity. If we make ourselves believe that
Hindus and Mahomedans cannot be che unless they interdine or intermarry, we would be
creating an artificial barrier between us which it might be almost impossible to remove. And it
would seriously interfere with the flowing unity between Hindus and Mahomedans if, for
example, Mahomedan youths consider it lawful to court Hindu girls. The Hindu parents will not,
even if they suspected any such thing, freely admit Mahomedans to their homes as they have
begun to do now. In my opinion it is necessary for Hindu and Mahomedan young men to
recognise this limitation.
I hold it to be utterly impossible for Hindus and Mahomedans to intermarry and yet retain intact
each other's religion. And the true beauty of Hindu-Mahomedan Unity lies in each remaining
true to his own religion and yet being true to each other. For, we are thinking of Hindus and
Mahomedans even of the most orthodox type being able to regard one another as natural
friends instead of regarding one another as natural enemies as they have done hitherto.
2
Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.
What does the excerpt say?