by Sarav Desai (’24) | February 2nd, 2024

Let’s talk about Ayodhya.

Ayodhya, for those unaware, is regarded as the birthplace of Ram, an immensely important figure in Hinduism and the famous protagonist of the Ramayana, an epic poem which is foundational to the religion. 

It’s generally believed that a Hindu temple used to exist on the premises of Ayodhya. After its conquest by the Mughals during the early 1500s, the temple was supposedly destroyed and replaced by a mosque known as the Babri Masjid. Ever since then, the debate over the site’s history has been tumultuous to say the least. There have been multiple riots and court cases as people dispute about worship on the premises. In addition, there have been multiple archeological expeditions about whether there was actually a temple at this religious site originally, but none of these discoveries have completely survived scrutiny.

This conflict culminated in the 1992 Incident, where over 120,000 Hindu nationalists destroyed the Babri Masjid with improvised tools and their bare hands. The Indian government failed in its assurances that the mosque would not be harmed. The demolition occurred during a political rally organized by an assortment of nationalist right-wing forces, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). There was a lengthy court battle in the aftermath of the mosque’s destruction, resulting in the land being handed over to Hindus, and land allocated for the construction of a new mosque around twenty-five miles away from the original mosque’s location.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been one of the world’s most polarizing figures over the last decade. His and the BJP’s dominance over Indian politics has resulted in an increased Indian presence on the world stage, and Modi has presided over a period of remarkable economic growth. Unfortunately, Modi has been riding a wave of Hindu nationalism, and both local and state governments have been taking discriminatory action against Muslims. This nationalist fervor has resulted in the undermining of the secularism that the world’s largest democracy was built upon. 

Modi’s rapid rise to power and his party’s assent to near total control of the country’s politics has often been compared to the MAGA, America-First, nativist turn that the Republican party has taken ever since the creation of the Tea Party during the Obama administration. I think this comparison is quite accurate. While Trump faced rigid opposition and only served four years as President, Modi, on the other hand, has essentially won. His main opponents, namely the Indian National Congress, are in tatters. Once the preeminent force in Indian politics, India’s Congress had controlled the country for much of its early history and steered it into a path of secularism and democracy. Now, this Congress has been reduced to a fringe party. Although Congress is famous for its corruption in both American and Indian politics, India’s party has been painted as a pro-Muslim force which supposedly stagnated India’s growth. Congress’ decline correlates with the increasingly ubiquitous sentiment that India is a country for Hindus.

With an understanding of the history of Ayodhya, and contemporary Indian politics, we can finally tackle the main event. Modi, on January 22, personally opened the new Ram temple constructed in Ayodhya. The problem with this is that India is a secular country, and has operated as such since its independence. Having the Prime Minister open a Hindu temple on the premises of a historically controversial site is concerning, and this action is symbolic of the Hindu nationalist backsliding the country has suffered during the Modi years. The government has been overly involved in the entire affair, and for a country that has upheld secularism for nearly eighty years, I’m scared this might be the end of it. 

For my fellow Hindus, I want to clarify that while Modi’s reign has coincided with the ascent of India globally, India has already steadily improved throughout its entire history before Modi. Don’t get me wrong, Modi has improved India economically, but at what point do we stop overlooking the brazen nationalism and discrimination? Most of us are critical of Trump and his nativist rhetoric, but so many of us overlook Modi’s similar tendencies. We cannot let pride and nationalism take precedence over what is right.