Today, religion has not only become integral to politics, but the flaunting of religious fervour has become de rigueur for any politician who wants to ‘make it’.
https://thewire.in/politics/delirium-over-ram-mandir-a-nation-consecrated-or-desecrated
To reductively brush off the buzz around the January 22 Ram Mandir inauguration as a gimmick for electoral purposes would be a complete misreading of a grim situation. The planned mass mobilisation of the majority community – the running of 1,000 trains to Ayodhya from various parts of the country, the ruling party’s arrangements to host 50,000 pilgrims every day, the invitation to 150 disparate groups cutting across caste lines and 4,000 holy men for the consecration ceremony, the installation of 5 lakh LED screens in temples, the prime minster’s injunction to celebrate January 22 as Diwali by lighting diyas at home – is nothing less than a carefully calibrated campaign of consolidation of Hindu society and a call to arms for furthering the “kamandal” project whose ultimate mission is the reclaiming of temples, implementation of the uniform civil code, ban on cow slaughter, halal meat, the hijab and a lot more.
by Mathew John
11/01/2024