The national movement from early. days was committed to the ideal of secularism. The two visions of secularism one of co-existence of different religious groups and two of separation of state from religion debated each other to give form to a healthy respect for pluralism and diversity in our national movement. The national movement had met its major limitation in addressing questions of communalism. As historians point out whenever the mass popular national movement receded into the background communal tendencies used to gain ground. Inherent identities are cited as reasons for lack of social and economic growth. This has created a situation in which the legacy of secularism comes under daily attack. Post Independence India too has witnessed horrendous communal riots in places like Bhiwandi etc., where old and new antagonisms combined to distort the legacy of secularism creating an ugly social divide.