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AnalysisRepublic of Ram: India’s Modi lays foundation for Hindu state with grand temple
- Grand religious project at disputed site in Ayodhya marks the makeover of a secular democracy into a majoritarian order
- Country’s inclusive constitution helpless before the ruling party’s might as courts look the other way
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Indian news channels had buzzed with anticipation since Wednesday morning. Within hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to arrive at the ancient temple town of Ayodhya to lay the foundation stone for a grand temple to Hindu warrior-god Ram. Talking heads analysed the significance of the day. Reporters on the ground relayed the mood across the nation. News anchors provided constant updates on the prime minister’s journey from the capital New Delhi to Ayodhya. As the countdown began for his arrival, one anchor broke into devotional songs in praise of the lord. Other channels had priests and sadhus reading out holy scriptures. Even as the audience waited for Modi’s touchdown, a new Hindu order seemed to have already arrived.
The breathless media coverage of a religious programme by the leader of a multi-religious, secular state marked the apogee of a calibrated blurring of the line between faith and governance in Modi’s India. The much-celebrated launch of the Ram temple capped an ongoing process of establishing Hindu primacy through political messaging, propaganda, government policy, brute force, legislation, popular culture, rewritten history, compliant media and an acquiescent judiciary.
The venue – the site of a Muslim place of worship whose violent erasure paved the way for the grand Hindu temple – invested the day with the additional symbolism of triumph of militant majoritarianism over secularism and rule of law. Modi compared it with India’s Independence Day, no less.
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