Lord 'Rama' and the Hindutva Politics in India

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 4 Issue 4, June 2020 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD31120 | Volume – 4 | Issue – 4 | May-June 2020 Page 574

Lord ‘Rama’ and the Hindutva Politics in India

Sufal Bepari

M.A., Department of Political Science, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

ABSTRACT

The ideology of ‘Hindutva’ is an integral part of Indian politics. Discussion of

the ‘Hindu nationalist politics’ in India has become more prevalent in recent

times, focusing on different issues. Many new aspects of Hindutva politics has

emerged. Especially, after the establishment of the Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of India in 2014,

the Hindutva politics gained new stimulation. Lord Rama is very crucial in

Hindutva politics. Different right-wing Hindu nationalist political parties and

organizations have repeatedly used Lord Rama as their political weapon to

incite Hindu-sentiment and to maintain their vote-bank. Initially, ‘Ram

Janmabhoomi Movement,’ ‘Ram Rath Yatra,’ and ‘Demolition of the Babri

Masjid,’ these three events were discussed to understand how Lord Rama is

being used in the first phase of Hindu nationalist politics. However, the latter

part of this topic focuses on two significant phenomena of recent Hindutva

politics. Firstly, it has been discussed how a religious slogan like ‘Jai Shri Ram’

becomes an important political slogan. Secondly, it has been highlighted how

the Rama Navami centric ‘Festival Politics’ has emerged in recent times. In this

case, for the detailed analysis of these two issues, special attention has been

given to the latest developments in the politics of West Bengal. Thus,

throughout the discussion, it becomes clear that Lord Rama is intimately

connected with the Hindu nationalist politics of India.

KEYWORDS: Hindutva Politics, Ram Janmabhoomi Movement, Ram Rath Yatra,

Babri Masjid Demolition, Jai Shri Ram, Festival Politics

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‘Rama’ and the Hindutva Politics in India"

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1. INTRODUCTION

The exploration of Indian politics is impossible without a

review of Hindutva politics. In the same way, the context of

Hindu deity Rama is inevitable when discussing the politics

of Hindutva. Lord Rama has been used very efficiently in the

Hindu nationalist politics of India. In that case, Rama has a

special contribution behind the successful rise of many right-

wing Hindu nationalist organizations and political parties.

Over time, Lord Rama became one of the weapons of their

vote-bank politics.

Before entering into a detailed discussion of the topic, it is

necessary to know briefly about Lord Rama. Rama or Ram,

also known as Ramachandra, is one of the major deities of

Hinduism. He is considered as the seventh incarnation of

another Hindu God Vishnu. Rama was born to Kaushalya and

Dasharatha in Ayodhya. Lord Rama is the central character of

the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana composed by Valmiki.

There are many versions of Ramayana available in India, but

Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’ is the most popular one. On the

occasion of the birth of Lord Rama, Rama Navami festival is

celebrated in various parts of India. Festivals like Diwali and

Dussehra are also observed in India, focusing on several

incidents related to the story of ‘Ramayana.’

Before the advent of Lord Rama in the post-independence

Indian politics, his active presence can be noticed in the

Indian political thought. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the

pioneers of India’s independence movement, expressed his

idea of ‘Ram Rajya’ (Rule of Rama) while expressing his

political views. However, Gandhi’s concept of ‘Ram Rajya’

and present-day Hindutva politics are entirely different.

According to M.K. Gandhi, ‘Ram Rajya’ does not mean Hindu

rule, but it is a kind of ‘Divine Raj’ (Kingdom of God). To him,

‘Ram’ and ‘Rahim’ were one. In his ideal state, genuine

democracy would prevail where everyone would have equal

rights, and everybody would find justice easily.

After the independence of India, several political parties and

organizations emerged in the name of Lord Rama. Akhil

Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Ramayana

Mahasabha, Sri Ram Sena, were some of the examples in this

regard. Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad (RRP, ‘All India

Council of Rama’s Kingdom) was a right-wing-Hindu political

party founded by Swami Karpatri in 1948. The RRP won

three Lok Sabha seats in the 1952 Parliamentary elections

and two in 1962. In 1952, 1957 and 1962, it won several

dozen Vidhan Sabha seats, all in the Hindi belt, mostly in

Rajasthan. Later, the party eventually merged into the Jana

Sangh, the precursor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The

Sri Ram Sena (literally, ‘The Army of Lord Rama’), or Sri Ram

Sene, is a right-wing Hindu group. It was founded in the late

1960s by Kalki Maharaj. Recently, it has received media

attention for its acts of moral policing. However, some major

right-wing Hindutva groups and political parties like Vishva

Hindu Parishad (VHP) and BJP have played a leading role in

bringing Lord Rama into the mainstream electoral politics of

India.

2. Review of Literature

Kapur (2014) [15] found that the conflict between ‘Hindu

majoritarianism’ and the ‘right to religious liberty’ has

intensified in the wake of the Ayodhya problem. The ‘Hindu

IJTSRD31120

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD) @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470


right’ has enacted some undemocratic and politically

dangerous encroachments on secularism and the right to

religious freedom. For this reason, a re-democratized

revision of freedom of religion is strongly required.

Kaul (2017) [16] states that a very powerful ‘Political Right’

has emerged in India, especially after the establishment of

the BJP led NDA government of India in 2014. A mixture of

‘Hindutva’ and ‘Development’ occurred in India in time of

Modi-government, and has being continuing mainly because

of a ‘Modi myth.’

Mehta (2015) [18] argued that the Ayodhya dispute was

one of the most important events that brought about a

significant change in Indian politics. The matter of Ayodhya

was mainly located at the crossroads of the secular and

religious culture of India. Before the demolition, judicial

accounts referred to the site as the ‘Ayodhya dispute,’ but

after the destruction, this literature named the disputed area

as the ‘Babri Masjid.’ In this case, Lord Rama constituted in

law as a ‘jural person.’

Srinivasan, et al. (2018) [27] showed how the Babri Masjid

demolition triggered a long-lasting conflict between Hindus

and Muslims of India. This demolition destroyed the

maintenance of peace in a democratic country and respect

for all religions. So, the role of the Supreme Court of India is

especially important in this regard.

3. Ram Janmabhoomi Movement [Beginning of Lord

Rama’s Journey in Indian Politics]

The powerful journey of Lord Rama in Indian politics began

with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. There is a long

historical debate over the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama.

According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, the birthplace of

Lord Rama was Ayodhya. In present-day India, the city called

Ayodhya belongs to the state of Uttar Pradesh. Some local

Hindus believe that the now-demolished Babri Mosque site

in Ayodhya is the exact birthplace of Rama. They believe that

the Mughal rulers of India demolished a Hindu shrine and

built a mosque at this place. On the other hand, some

opposed this theory and state that such claims arose only in

the 18th century, and there is no concrete evidence that a

mosque was built there by destroying a Hindu temple.

Historian R. S. Sharma states that Ayodhya emerged as a

Hindu pilgrimage only in medieval times since ancient texts

do not mention it as a pilgrim centre. However, the history

and location of the Babri Mosque, and whether a previous

temple was demolished to create it or not, has led to a wide

range of political, historical and socio-religious debates,

which is known as ‘Ayodhya dispute.’

During the colonial rule, conflict erupted in India over this

disputed place in Ayodhya. The colonial rulers adopted

various administrative measures at different times in this

regard. Between 1853 and 1855, there was a controversy

over the ownership of the Babri Masjid site and the conduct

of religious activities there. For the first time in 1883, the

local Hindus demanded the construction of a temple at the

disputed area. Although, that time, the demand did not turn

into a movement in the real sense. In 1946, an offshoot of the

Hindu Mahasabha called Akhil Bharatiya Ramayana

Mahasabha started an agitation for the possession of the site.

In 1949 some Hindu activists broke into the mosque and

placed idols of Rama and Sita inside. People started to

believe that the idols had miraculously appeared inside the

mosque. The idols remained inside, and the mosque had

converted into a de facto temple. Later, the land was

declared to be under dispute, and the gates remained locked.

In the 1980s, the VHP, belonging to the mainstream Hindu

nationalist family Sangh Parivar, launched a new movement

to reclaim the site for Hindus and to build a temple there. It

can be said that almost with this, Lord Rama made a strong

appearance in Indian politics. After the formation of BJP as a

political party in 1980, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became its first

president. In his leadership, BJP initially moderated the

Hindu nationalist stance to gain a broader appeal,

emphasizing its link to the Janata Party and the ideology of

Gandhian Socialism. But in the BJP, the Vajpayee model

completely failed. In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP

won only two seats. This led to a shift in the ideology of the

party towards a more hard-line Hindu nationalist policy. In

1984, Lal Krishna Advani was appointed as president of the

party, and under him, BJP became the political voice of the

Ram Janmabhoomi movement. The BJP made extensive use

of this movement in his election campaign. This strategy of

BJP led by Advani was a huge success. BJP won 88 seats in

the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, which made its support crucial

to the National Front government of V.P. Singh. In this way,

the BJP made a strong debut in national politics by using the

Ram Janmabhoomi movement as a strong weapon.

4. Ram Rath Yatra [A Masterstroke in the form of

‘Yatra Politics’]

From the above discussion, it is clear that BJP already

enriched its vote-bank by using the Ram Janmabhoomi

movement as their political tool. Further, to implement their

strategy more largely, BJP’s masterstroke move was the Ram

Rath Yatra. The BJP built a strong base in Indian politics

through its new type of ‘Yatra Politics.’

In 1990, the government of India, led by V. P. Singh, decided

to implement some of the Mandal Commission

recommendations and announced that twenty-seven percent

of government jobs would be reserved for people from

lower-caste backgrounds. This announcement threatened

the electoral constituency of the BJP. The core constituency

of the BJP were people from upper-castes. Historically, the

upper-castes enjoyed a monopoly over the social, political,

and economic spheres of India. Thus, the new policy fed

resentment among the upper-castes and raised inter-caste

tensions in some parts of the country. After that, the BJP

decided to use the ‘Ayodhya dispute’ to unite the Hindu vote

by mobilizing anti-Muslim sentiment. To implement this

plan, the BJP announced a Rath Yatra or ‘chariot journey’

across the country to Ayodhya. This effort tied in well with

the philosophy of the Sangh Parivar, which also believed in

the unity of the highly fragmented Hindu population. Since

its founding in 1925, support for the RSS (Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh) had restricted to the people of upper-

castes. Thus, almost all Hindutva-based organizations,

mostly affiliates of Sangh Parivar, was mutually participated

in this rally and made it successful.



Fig.1. L.K. Advani during Ram rath yatra. Also present,

Narendra Modi, then an RSS pracharak, now prime

minister. (Photo: Reuters)

The Ram Rath Yatra was a political and religious rally that

lasted from September to October 1990. It was organized by

the BJP and its Hindu nationalist affiliates and led by the then

president of the BJP, L. K. Advani. The yatra began at the

Hindu holy city of Somnath on 12 September 1990 and, was

planned to go through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra,

Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar, before

reaching the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Participants in

the procession had two main slogans; ‘Jai Shri Ram’ (Glory to

Lord Rama) and ‘Garv se kaho, ham Hindu hein!’ (Say with

pride that we are Hindus!). Historian Ramchandra Guha

stated that the imagery of the yatra was ‘religious, allusive,

militant, masculine, and anti-Muslim.’

That yatra brought out militant sentiments in the cadre of

the BJP, VHP, and Bajrang Dal, and there were several violent

clashes. These clashes intensified many-fold after Advani’s

arrest on 23 October. Riots targeting Muslims occurred in

Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Hyderabad, and a few

other places. Several hundred people died in these riots.

Militant sentiments were visible throughout the rally, as L. K.

Advani portrayed the Ayodhya dispute as a fight between

Rama and the Mughal emperor Babur. Despite Advani’s

arrest, many kar sevaks or activists reached Ayodhya and

attempted to storm the mosque, resulting in a pitched battle

with security forces, which led to the death of 20 VHP

volunteers. Following these incidents, the BJP withdrew its

support from the Union government.

The BJP’s positive electoral result indicates that Ram Rath

Yatra was successful. The BJP made the Ayodhya agitation a

large part of its campaign in the 1991 parliamentary

elections. Relative to the 1989 general election, the BJP

doubled its percentage of votes nationwide and made its

gains in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the

South and Assam in the North-east. It emerged as the

second-largest party in the Lok Sabha after the Indian

National Congress. It captured a majority of the Lok Sabha

seats in Uttar Pradesh, where it also won a majority in the

state legislative assembly and formed the government. The

BJP was also able to win a majority of seats in the state

legislatures of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal

Pradesh, and made gains in several other states.

5. Demolition of the ‘Babri Masjid’ [A Noon and a New

Chapter in Indian Politics]

The demolition of the Babri Masjid was illegally done by a

large group of activists of the VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad)

and its allied organizations in relation to the ‘Ayodhya

dispute.’ On 6 December 1992, the VHP and the BJP

organized a rally at the disputed site of Ayodhya involving

150,000 volunteers, known as ‘kar sevaks.’ The rally turned

violent, and the crowd overwhelmed security forces and tore

down the mosque. There is no exaggeration to say that this

incident marked the beginning of a new chapter in Indian

politics.

The Demolition of the Babri Mosque sparked Muslim outrage

across the country. This resulted in several months of inter-

communal riots in which Hindus and Muslims attacked one

another, burning and looting homes, shops, and places of

worship. More than 2000 people were killed, mainly

Muslims. There are different opinions behind the incident of

demolition. According to some, the pro-Hindu activists

spontaneously caused this nasty incident. On the other hand,

some think that this is not just a spontaneous act but a pre-

planned event. However, in the case of Babri Mosque

demolition, whatever the truth is, it must be acknowledged

that this event greatly benefited the BJP and other affiliated

organizations. In the parliamentary elections in 1996, the

BJP capitalized on the communal polarisation that followed

the demolition to win 161 Lok Sabha seats, making it the

largest party in the parliament. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was

sworn in as Prime Minister but was unable to attain a

majority in the Lok Sabha, forcing the government to resign

after 13 days.

Fig.2. Demolition of the Babri Masjid in December

1992. (Photo: Getty Images)

The final judgment in the ‘Ayodhya dispute’ was declared by

the Supreme Court of India (SC) on 9th of November 2019.

The SC ordered the disputed land to be handed over to a

trust (to be created by the Government of India) to build the

Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. The court also ordered the

government to give an alternate 5 acres of land in another

place to the Sunni Waqf Board to build a mosque. Many

review petitions were filed against this judgment. However,

on 12 December 2019, the Supreme Court of India dismissed

all these petitions. Thus, this judgment ended a long-

standing controversial problem.

6. Jai Shri Ram [Rise of a Vigorous Political Slogan]

‘Jai Shri Ram’ (Glory to Lord Rama) is a Hindi-language

religious expression. It is primarily used for informal

greetings and as a symbol of adhering to the Hindu faith.

Although it is a religious slogan, its widespread entry into

Indian politics has turned it into a political slogan. The

Slogan is a weapon that can easily penetrate the psyche of a

large part of the people. So not only in the case of political

movement or propaganda but also in any kind of rally or

procession, the slogan has a significant role. Indian politics is

no exception to this. Many famous slogans have appeared in

Indian politics at various times. Former Prime Minister of

India Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan “Jai Jawaan, Jai

Kisaan” (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer) and another Ex-

PM of India Indira Gandhi’s “Garibi Hatao” (Remove



poverty), were some notable examples in this regard. But the

significance of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as a political slogan is entirely

different from these. Firstly, it is an altogether religious

slogan that has become a political slogan over time, and

secondly, it is completely different in nature and purpose.

The spread of any slogan on such a large scale in Indian

politics is, of course, the first and the most noteworthy.

Therefore, this can be discussed from various perspectives.

In the late 1980s, this slogan was popularized by Ramanand

Sagar's television series Ramayan. However, the BJP, VHP,

and its other Hindu nationalist affiliates collectively

popularized this slogan. The ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan began to be

used widely as a tool of increasing the visibility of Hinduism

in public spaces and went on to use it as a war-cry for the

perpetuation of communal atrocities against the people of

other faiths. The BJP has used this slogan in various political

campaigns, rallies and election speeches at different times.

Especially, after the establishment of the BJP led NDA

government of India in 2014, this slogan re-emerged

strongly.

The ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan has mainly become a tool of

communal violence in India in recent times. Religious

violence has taken place in different parts of India, especially

against the people of the Muslim community, centering this

slogan. In almost all cases, Muslims have been forced to

chant the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan, and if they refused to do so,

they were subjected to violence. Thus a new type of Mob

lynching was born, the trend of which is terrifying. Such

numerous incidents took place between 2014 and 2019. The

slogan has also been introduced as a debatable matter in

educational institutions mainly by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi

Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing all India student organization

affiliated to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh (RSS). This slogan is also very relevant in the case of

the Delhi riots, which took place in February 2020. The main

target of the rioters was the people of the Muslim

community. One of the slogans of the rioters was ‘Jai Shri

Ram.’ It gained more political significance when the rioters

were shouting, “Hindustan me rehna hoga, Jai Shri Ram kehna

hoga” (if you want to stay in India, you will have to chant Jai

Shri Ram).

Fig.3. Some people with the flag of ‘Jai Shri Ram.’

(Photo: Reuters)

In this context, the discussion of West Bengal politics is very

much important. West Bengal politics became heated by the

‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan in the years between 2017 and 2019.

The BJP has never been in a strong position in WB politics.

However, the BJP has made a spectacular rise in WB politics

in recent times through extreme religious polarization.

There has been a new ‘Saffron Wave’ that occurred in Bengal.

As a result, along with the BJP, a strong appearance of ‘Jai

Shri Ram’ as a political slogan has inevitably come into WB

politics. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC or TMC), the

ruling party of the WB, had political clashes with the BJP at

different times over this slogan. The TMC has alleged that the

BJP has turned a religious slogan into a political slogan only

for their political interest. As usual, they were trying to

divide people by mixing religion with politics. Thus, slowly

this slogan has become a ‘Political Identification.’ The central

theme of this ‘Identification’ is those who utter this slogan

are against the ruling party. There have been several clashes

between BJP and TMC workers over the chanting of ‘Jai Shri

Ram.’ In May 2019, seven people were arrested in WB for

shouting this slogan. The ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan has also raised

the cultural question of Bengal in a new way. The TMC party

has repeatedly accused that this slogan stands outside the

Bengali culture. Even, to counter the BJP’s ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ a

slogan like ‘Jai Bangla’ has also emerged. This resulted in a

‘political tussle of slogans’ between the two sides.

This ‘political tussle of slogans’ has also entered into the

Indian parliament. After the general election of 2019, the

oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected Lok Sabha members

turned into a battlefield of slogans. BJP members raised

slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Maa Kali,’ some MP’s from

the TMC ended their oaths with ‘Jai Maa Durga.’ Even

religious slogans like ‘Bismillah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim,’ and

‘Allahu Akbar’ were also raised. Such incidents are almost

unprecedented in the history of the Indian parliament. This

raises the question of how reasonable it is to chant religious

slogans in the parliament, which is known as the temple of

democracy. So, there is much debate about what kind of

message the legislature of the world’s largest democracy is

conveying.

Some issues come up from the above discussion. ‘Jai Shri

Ram’ has achieved considerable success as a political slogan.

This is an excellent example of how a religious slogan can be

used for religious polarization in politics. The way this

slogan is being used as one of the weapons of violence

against people of other religions is a cause for considerable

concern. Moreover, this slogan has become a cause not only

of religious violence but also of political violence. Many

political clashes and political murder have taken place over

this issue. Among the popular slogans in Indian politics,

there is a hidden message of development. But this is not

applicable in the case of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ because it has no

purpose other than to provoke religious sentiments.

7. Festival Politics [An Extraordinary Strategy of

Hindutva]

Recently, ‘Festival Politics’ has emerged as a new strategy of

Hindutva politics. Discussion of this topic revolves around

the Rama Navami festival, dedicated to Lord Rama. Rama

Navami is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of

Lord Rama. The festival is a part of the spring Navratri and

falls on the ninth day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) in the

Hindu calendar month of Chaitra. It typically occurs in the

Gregorian months of March or April every year. Rama

Navami is an optional government holiday in India. It mostly

celebrated in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

However, in recent times, the celebration of the Rama

Navami festival has started on a large scale in West Bengal.

There is an enormous political motive behind this. The Rama

Navami festival has served as one of the strategies behind



the BJP’s strong debut in the field of WB politics through

religious polarization. However, the process of using

festivals as a strategy is not new in India. During the colonial

period, Bal Gangadhar Tilak started the Ganesha festival and

the Shivaji Jayanti festival in Maharashtra. But there was no

narrow political interest behind such initiatives. Tilak

introduced these festivals to revive and increase the

nationalist consciousness among the Indians against British

rule. However, in the case of Rama Navami centric ‘Festival

Politics,’ it has emerged to serve the ‘Hindutva’ agenda.

Historically, there are many incidents of Hindu-Muslim

conflicts in West Bengal at different times. But the powerful

influence of ‘Pure Hindutva Politics,’ based on Hindi-Hindu-

Hindustan, has never been seen in the politics of West

Bengal. Since the formation of the BJP-led NDA government

of India in 2014, the BJP has started formulating its strategy

for empowerment in WB. One of these strategies is the

celebration of Rama Navami. The BJP has achieved great

success in WB by adopting such tools of religious

polarization. In the parliamentary election of 2019, the BJP

won 18 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 from WB, which is one of

the witnesses to this success.

In 2017, the Rama Navami festival was celebrated on a large

scale in West Bengal for the first time. Through this, the BJP

initiated its own style of Hindutva politics in WB. A large

number of people took part in these processions of Rama

Navami. Many critics claimed that the BJP had increased the

size of these rallies by bringing many people from other

states. This claim is not wholly baseless. Despite these

criticisms, it must be admitted that a large number of

Bengali-Hindus of this state took part in these processions.

Through these rallies, the BJP tried to demonstrate its

strength on the one hand and sought to exert a deep

psychological influence on the other. Besides, in WB politics,

the BJP was gradually able to establish itself as an alternative

opponent. In 2018, the Rama Navami festival was again

celebrated extensively. At that time, there were Panchayat

elections ahead in WB. That year, TMC, the ruling party of

WB, also started celebrating its own Rama Navami. So the

issue became even more significant and debatable.

Fig.4. Rama Navami procession in West Bengal, 2018.

(Photo: News18)

In 2019, the Rama Navami festival celebrated in various

states of India, as well as in West Bengal. The saffron brigade

organized more than 700 Rama Navami rallies, over two

days, across the state and increased its presence in districts

where BJP has seen a support surge. The TMC, on the other

hand, took out big rallies with cabinet ministers leading

them. VHP, Hindu Jagaran Manch, and Bajrang Dal took out

approx 500 rallies in districts. The BJP and the RSS organized

other rallies. This means that the celebration of Rama

Navami is not only a spontaneous event but has a specific

plan and intention behind it. Most of the participants in these

rallies joined in this religious glee with bows and arrows,

swords, and even spades in hand. There was a political and

religious controversy over this issue of armed Rama Navami

rallies. The political battle between the BJP and TMC took

religious color when the TMC started celebrating Rama

Navami to counter the BJP. During the Rama Navami, both

parties organized many processions, bike rallies, and small-

scale chariot journey. According to the Bengal-BJP officials,

one of the goals of these rallies' was to unite the Hindus of

West Bengal. On the other hand, the TMC claims that the BJP

is trying to create religious division among the people of

West Bengal.

Two issues became very important regarding the

widespread celebrations of Rama Navami. The first is the

appearance of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as a political slogan into WB

politics. And the second issue is the question of ‘Bengali

Culture.’ The significance of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has been discussed

in detail above. So how the cultural question of Bengal

became important at that time can be addressed now.

According to the TMC, the ruling party of WB, the Rama

Navami festival, is not a part of Bengali culture. Even they

claimed that the practice of worshipping Lord Rama is not

very popular among Bengalis. It has been identified as an

attempt to impose Hindi-based culture in Bengal. As a result,

a ‘Linguistic debate’ has also started between Hindi and

Bengali. Basically, the BJP has been trying to turn ‘Bengali-

Hindus’ to ‘Hindutva-Hindus’ by replacing Bengal’s cultural

fabric. For this reason, the BJP has chosen Rama Navami as

its strategy and has started a new kind of ‘Festival Politics.’

There have also been communal clashes in West Bengal over

the Rama Navami celebration. During the Rama Navami

festival of 2018, several communal clashes occurred in

different parts of West Bengal. Communal violence broke out

in areas of Asansol, Murshidabad, Paschim Medinipur, and

North 24 Parganas. Three people were killed, and many

others injured in these religious conflicts. In 2019, scattered

communal tensions were also witnessed in WB on the day of

Rama Navami.

For all these reasons, a new ‘Identity Politics’ has been born

in West Bengal. It started with the ‘linguistic debate’

between ‘Hindi’ and ‘Bengali’ in recent times. It needs to be

discussed here about a ‘flex campaign,’ which took place in

October 2019 in Kolkata, West Bengal. All these flexes

written in Bengali started appearing all over Kolkata and its

suburbs, with the tagline “bhalo bhasha” (good language)

and “nijer bhasha nijer thak” (let your language be yours).

“Parota is better than Paratha,” “Bengal is better than Bangal

(the way non-Bengalis pronounce Bengal)” or “Swachh

Bharater theke poricchono Bharat bhalo, Bolteo, Shunteo”

(Clean Bharat is better than Swachh Bharat, be it in saying,

or hearing), were some of the lines of those flexes. From this,

it can be understood that a new ‘language consciousness’ is

awakening in Bengal. Organization like ‘Bangla Pokkho’ has

helped further to increase such ‘Bengali consciousness.’ It is

a non-profit and apolitical organization dedicated to

promoting the interest of Bengalis. The battle between

‘Religious identity’ versus ‘Ethnic identity,’ and even struggle

between the ‘Hindutva-Bengali, ‘Hindu-Bengali’ and ‘Muslim-

Bengali’ has also started.



Fig.5. An image of the ‘Flex Campaign’ in Kolkata -

October 2019. The message here is, “Saying Parota, is

better than saying Paratha!” [13]

8. Conclusion

It is quite difficult to conclude the most recent character of

Hindutva politics. Earlier, Hindu nationalist politics had a

definite shape and purpose. But in recent times it has

changed a lot. At present, Hindutva politics has become more

aggressive and versatile than ever. New ways of propagating

certain ideas into a larger section of the people have

emerged. Jai Shri Ram’s significance as a political slogan and

Rama Navami centric ‘Festival Politics’ were some of the

shining examples in this regard. The new kind of communal

violence that has recently emerged in the wake of the Jai Shri

Ram slogan is terrific. These events may seem trivial to

some, but it is not true at all. In the 21st century, Indian

society has undergone many changes. Globalization is

happening all over the world. Inevitably, the Internet-Era has

emerged. In addition to the print and broadcast media, news

of such violent activities spread quickly on social media

(Bepari, 2020). A large part of the young generation uses

social media, so these violent incidents have a profound

impact on the youth’s mindset. As a result, religious divisions

are occurring very easily. Even many highly educated youths

are straying. Thus, if the youth society is to be divided under

the intoxication of communalism, it will bring the

destruction of the whole country. Also, Jai Shri Ram, as a

newly discovered political slogan, has started a new political

struggle, which is not desirable at all. Therefore, appropriate

measures are required to be taken to prevent such issues. On

the other hand, politicizing a religious festival like Rama

Navami can be a strategy of a particular political party. But if

it causes communal tension, then it will become a matter of

great concern. So overall, it can be said that the changing

character of Hindutva politics needs to be understood more

carefully.

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