After Ram Mandir

Extremist rhetoric continues to be reliable vote-getter across India

Although Hindutva extremists have been chipping away at public spaces for Muslims from the day Narendra Modi took charge as Prime Minister of India, the recent inauguration of the controversial Ram Mandir at the site where the Babri Masjid once stood in Ayodhya has further emboldened them to seek out new targets. The fact that it is also an election year means that the extremists have also been getting vocal support from the BJP, including outright illegal support from elected officials. BJP leaders hope that further attacks on Muslims and their places of worship will keep the momentum generated by the Ram Mandir inauguration going. Surveys and news reports show that many moderate Hindus who disapproved of the razing of Babri Masjid were still pleased with the construction of the temple. The BJP hopes that by taking full credit for building the temple while downplaying its role in razing the mosque, it can woo these otherwise moderate voters.

But for the most rabid extremists, the temple inauguration is already old news. For them, new targets are needed, and it seems Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Haji Malang shrine near Mumbai are the latest targets. But while the dispute over Gyanvapi Mosque is well established, Haji Malang is a different story. The small shrine — almost unknown outside the state — in a hilltop fort called Malang Gad is almost universally acknowledged to be a Muslim site where no other religious structure previously existed. The only reason to raise the issue is to activate the bigot vote in Maharashtra, which is exactly why the state’s chief minister Eknath Shinde raised the issue. Shinde became CM after heading a leadership coup in Shiv Sena, which had left its far-right roots to become more centre-right under previous leader Uddhav Thackeray. Shinde has also realigned his party with the BJP, which would explain the need for a Muslim bogeyman.

The most concerning aspect of this all, however, is that the extremist rhetoric continues to be a reliable vote-getter across India.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2024.

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