Hockey India (HI)’s procedurally incorrect announcement to replace the traditional blue jersey with saffron, weeks ahead of the FIH Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, cannot be viewed as a routine administrative or technically-driven decision with the endorsement of unnamed current and former players, and coaches.
Instead, the move should be contextualised within the framework of the broader ‘saffronisation and cultural rebranding agenda’ being pursued by the Union government, state governments run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the party itself, along with cohorts.
For more than a decade we have been witness to graded ideological alignment of India’s academic, cultural and sports institutions and even constitutional institutions like parliament, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP (RSS-BJP) ecosystem which reflects a systematic strategy of projecting ‘cultural nationalism’ (Sanskritik Rashtravad), the ideological credo of the Sangh Parivar, as the sole framework to view the Indian nation and our nationhood.
by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay
04/08/2027