Zoologists all over the world are agog by the discovery of a species of chameleon which has the ability to change its colour from green to saffron, and back again, depending on the climate.

Chameleons – the word is derived from the Latin Chamaeleon, which in turn comes from the Greek khamaileon – belong to the Family Chamaeleonidae, Class Reptilia, Order Squamata, Suborder Iguania – are known for changing their colour so as to merge in with their surroundings.

However, what distinguishes this particular breed of chameleon from all others are two things. The first is that it restricts itself to only two colours, green and saffron. And the second thing is that its colour change is affected by climate change, which in this case refers not to a change in the environmental climate but in the political climate.

What seems to trigger the change in colouration are certain code words, or mantras, to which the breed is extremely sensitive. An early sighting of this was noted 34 years ago, in 1985, when it turned an extremely vivid – some might say virulent – shade of green when the magical mantra ‘Shah Bano’ was uttered.

But even as scientists were studying this strange phenomenon, the chameleon changed colour and adopted a vivid – some would say virulent – shade of saffron at the mention of the word ‘Mandir’.

The colour-changing capacity of the chameleon has improved over the years, and has been highlighted by recent events, centred around a geographical area known as Ayodhya, which have caused it to change colour with the rapidity and regularity of a traffic light, bringing it once again to the attention of zoologists and other members of the scientific community.

Researchers have advanced a theory that this constant changing of colour is caused by a biological process similar to that of photosynthesis in plants and which has provisionally been given the descriptive name of ‘sectularism’, a term which is an amalgam of ‘secularism’ and ‘sectarianism’.

As to what the chameleon in question is itself to be called, an increasing body of opinion is in favour of naming it Congress Indicus.