![]() ![]() 22 ceremony “is a reflection of India’s not only diversity, but also patience.” What impact is this expected to have on India’s upcoming election?Ģ024 stands to be a consequential election year for countries around the world, and India is no exception. “There is rule of law in India, there is a vibrant political and judicial presence in India, and there’s also a very strong media in India, so any citizen who knows that the four pillars of democracy are functional and independent of each other has no reason for concern,” she told TIME during an interview last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, noting that the Jan. Smriti Irani, India’s minister of minority affairs, dismissed such concerns in the days leading up to the ceremony. Read More: The Message the Ram Temple Sends Muslims Like Me “But it will be a tense moment for many, and especially Indian Muslims, despite New Delhi’s projection of the event as an opportunity for the nation to come together to celebrate.” “The government will be prepared and will pull out all the stops to have as much security as possible,” says Kugelman. While authorities are expected to be on high-alert on the day of the consecration, some observers fear that the moment could spark unrest. Nearly three decades later, Modi oversaw the groundbreaking of the temple, likening it to “ the day India gained independence.” In January 1992, less than a year before the mosque was destroyed, Modi pledged not to return to Ayodhya until a temple dedicated to Lord Ram was completed. In 1990, as a local BJP leader in his native Gujarat, Modi helped organize a religious rally that aimed to gin up support for the construction of a temple to Lord Ram on the site of the Babri Mosque. The Ram Mandir movement has been a throughline of Modi’s career, says Rana Ayyub, one of India’s most famous journalists and a renowned thorn in the side of Modi’s BJP. Fajlehussain Manusiya stacks a wooden replica of Ayodhya's Ram temple at his workshop in Ahmedabad on January 18, 2024. It also cements his legacy as one of the country’s most consequential leaders-in particular, one who is helping to transform India from a secular democracy into an avowedly Hindu nation. What is the significance of the Ayodhya site for Modi?įor Modi, the construction of the Ram Temple represents more than just the honoring of a decades-long Hindu nationalist pledge (rebuilding the temple, which was greenlit by India’s Supreme Court in 2019, has been a core project of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party). Here’s what to know about the temple and its significance. “The temple consecration is papering over incredibly traumatic and heavily contested events in India’s history.” “The Ram Mandir revolves around some of the most divisive issues for religion and society in contemporary India,” Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, tells TIME in an email. 22 consecration as a celebratory occasion of immense national and religious importance, observers fear that the event could signify yet another nail in the coffin of India’s secular ethos. While the Indian government, and indeed many Hindus, regard the Jan. It’s for this reason that leaders of the opposition Congress Party opted to skip the ceremony, which they describe as nothing more than “a political project … obviously brought forward for electoral gain.” Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva along with Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi and others at a bike rally on Januin New Delhi, India. ![]() But it also signifies the unofficial start of his campaign to win a third consecutive term when Indians go to the polls in the spring for national elections. ![]() Saffron-colored flags and pennants, a symbol of Hindu nationalism, were raised across the country.įor Modi, whose Hindu-natioanlist government has overseen a steady rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities, the consecration represents the fulfillment of a decade-long pledge to rebuild the temple (the construction of which isn’t due to be completed until December). Several parts of the country declared the day a public holiday, with some even going so far as to restrict the sale of alcohol and non-vegetarian food. This fraught history barely featured in the jubilant celebrations surrounding the ceremony, which was viewed by millions of people. ![]()
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