At Pilibhit, the oldest symbol of harmony faces decay

After Varun Gandhi’s speech, it is easy to clutch at these flutes as proof of the country’s secular fabric

In communally strained times, even the customary appears remarkable. For at least two centuries, Pilibhit’s proudest product has been the bamboo flute, inseparably associated with the Hindu god Krishna. And it has been handcrafted, almost wholly, by Muslim artisans.

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After Varun Gandhi’s inflammatory speech, it is easy to clutch at these flutes as heart-warming affirmations of India’s secular fabric, or as some form of marvellous syncretism. Pilibhit’s flute makers themselves find it utterly unremarkable. They would rather talk about the deep decay of a cottage industry that once produced, by a 1991 estimate, 95% of India’s flutes, instruments that were exported even to the US and Europe.