Modi’s India

India’s descent into religious majoritarianism is a tragedy. The country whose constitution declares it to be a secular state is now ensnared in the BJP’s saffron politics – promoted by a political party whose members and supporters prefer to operate like a militia instead of a political force of a diverse country. On January 22, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ayodhya temple, which is being built on the ruins of Babri Masjid which was razed down by a Hindu mob in 1992. The inauguration was done without any concern for Indian Muslims – the country’s largest minority community. In fact, a week before the inauguration, Indian Muslims exercised caution; personal events were postponed, and friends and families were advised to avoid train travel. Media personnel who visited the site for the coverage also looked for visible Muslims to take their ‘opinion’ on the current development. The glee in the voices of the few said a lot about the collapse of much-celebrated secular India.

And while the usual suspects are always expected to act in a certain way, the biggest disappointment was the group of A-list Bollywood actors (an industry whose most popular actor is a Muslim) who smiled for the cameras with no acknowledgment of the site’s horrific past. India’s celebrated principles of not mixing religion and state have taken a back seat, and fundamentalists have occupied centre stage. India’s hate-filled attitude towards Muslims is primarily due to its rigid foreign policy towards Pakistan. And this animosity with its neighbour has now been defined on religious lines, urging people in the Hindu-majority state to embrace its Hindutva ideology with pride. The BJP has routinely used anti-Pakistan sentiments to cement its popularity. In 2019, it used the Balakot strike against Pakistan to portray itself as the preferred choice of the people. And now, the timing of the inauguration of the temple (a few months before the 2024 elections) has once again raised doubts over Modi’s political ambitions.

Some of the stray critical Muslim voices have also switched sides and are now toeing the official line, gaslighting progressive voices and labelling dissent as a roadblock to India’s economic success. The temple is also being used as a test for citizens – a visit to the temple is seen as an endorsement of the government and loyalty to the country. But in this political circus, the Modi government is leaving behind its own people – Indian Muslims who have always identified as Indian first. When the BJP government rose to power in 2014, many political observers had thought that the party would fix its past mistakes – the Gujarat pogrom is still its unforgivable sin. But the party has done just the opposite, insisting on aligning India’s identity to Hinduism. India used to be a much-celebrated diverse and secular state with its communities enjoying the ownership of their home. But over the last decade, India has lost its commendable credentials. And while we can hope the country to once again embrace its principles of respecting diversity, it seems that the time for any reconciliation has long gone. India is now all set to become a majoritarian country where only Hindutva ideology will reign supreme.