Inauguration of Ram Mandir: more than just Politicking!

• Main Author: Mohamed Zacky, Mohamed Fouz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: CENTRIS 2024
• Subjects: JA Political science (General)
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/113104/13/113104_%20Inauguration%20of%20Ram%20Mandir.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/113104/; https://www.iium.edu.my/my/centre/centris/centris-e-bulletin
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the controversial Ram Mandir Temple in Ayodhya, located in Northern India, on January 22nd, 2024. The Temple was constructed in the very place of 500-year-old Babari Masjid, that manifested the history of Muslims in India. The site had been under severe legal battle for the last several decades between Muslims and Hindutva nationalists. Through a controversial judgment, the Indian high court allowed the building of the Temple over the Masjid in 2019 and allocated a separate land for the Masjid. Despite no substantial evidence, Hindu nationalists claimed that Mogul king Babar built the mosque over the ruins of a historical temple, which happened to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. Thus, they campaigned that they want to rebuild the Temple at any cost in their sacred space. As a result, the Hindutva forces launched a countrywide movement calling for the demolition of the Masjid and rebuilding of the Temple in 1984. Throughout its activism, those movements involved in mainstreaming communalism and instigated well-planned communal riots against Muslims in various parts of the country that radicalized as well as mobilized the millions of Hindu populations for this course. For that matter, the lavish opening ceremony of Ram Mandir is the culmination of four decades of bloodshed, communal disharmony, and alienation of minorities in the country. Many of us might think that Prime Minster Modi, seeking his third term in the upcoming general elections, has effectively launched his election campaign by opening a Temple, which is still under construction. Hence, temple opening is just the electoral strategy of Modi, a figure famous for political marketing. In a sense, the timing of the opening ceremony is very much related to the upcoming general elections in 2024. Nevertheless, the building a Temple over the historical Masjid symbolizes India's changing nature and saffornization of world’s largest democracy.