The current regime deeply understands the power of political symbolism, which it uses to push its ideological agenda. For Hindutva, the spectre represents the 'ancient' civilisational values while the constitution is a banal and borrowed document, alien to Indian civilisation.
The installation of a replica of a Chola-era sceptre in the new parliament building has sparked an interesting debate because it has inscribed a cultural artefact with immense political meaning by resignifying it as a symbol of sovereignty. The narrative being conjured to legitimise its installation is one of ‘civilisational recuperation’, which basically states that the sceptre is a symbol of the civilisational roots of our nation-state, and by its installation, the current regime is reigniting the civilisational consciousness and pride which was sought to be extinguished under the Nehruvian consensus.
21/06/2023