Communalism resulted not only in the division of the country, which inflicted a deep wound in the heart of the people which will take a long time to heal if it ever heals but also assassination of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

Coimbatore public speech, June 3, 1948, Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, second series, vol. 6, p. 25. Quoted in Mridula Mukherjee. “Sectional President’s Address: COMMUNAL THREAT AND SECULAR RESISTANCE.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 71, (2010-2011). Also in "After Gandhi's Assassination, Nehru Saw the Hindu Right as a Threat to the Indian State", The Wire, Jan. 30, 2023.