CNN
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The consecration of a controversial Hindu temple symbolizes the seismic shift from India’s secular founding values, analysts say, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi disregards norms separating faith from state in his push to win a uncommon third time period this yr.

Modi presided over a lavish opening ceremony final month of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir within the sacred city of Ayodhya, fulfilling a longstanding promise to voters that helped propel him and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to energy in 2014.

“(Today) is the beginning of a new time cycle,” Modi stated on the new temple honoring Hindu deity Lord Ram. “After centuries of waiting, our Ram has arrived.”

Modi’s imaginative and prescient of a “divine India” is a far cry from the concepts of the trendy nation’s founding fathers. During almost a decade in energy, the prime minister has enveloped himself within the language of faith in pursuit of his Hindu nationalist agenda, isolating millions amongst India’s sizable non secular minorities.

“This moment is both a culmination of a political project that has been 100 years in the making, and a new departure for India, no longer a secular republic,” stated political scientist Gilles Verniers, a senior fellow on the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.

“India becomes a de facto Hindu nation, where the task of building national Hindu religious symbols falls to the state. And in which its leader officiates simultaneously as prime minister and head priest for the country.”

The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir stands on the location of the Babri Masjid, a sixteenth century mosque that was destroyed by hardline Hindus in 1992, setting off a wave of lethal sectarian violence not seen in India since its bloody 1947 partition.

The temple’s inauguration was attended by 1000’s of hand-picked friends – together with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani – and streamed reside to hundreds of thousands throughout the nation.

In Ayodhya, billboards celebrating the temple’s opening featured a picture of Hindu deity Ram alongside Modi’s face, with the chief of his BJP even dubbing the prime minister “The King of Gods.”

Modi fasted for 11 days in a purification ritual earlier than the occasion and visited temples throughout the nation, performing customs sacramental to India’s majority religion.

He publicly referred to as himself “an instrument” of Lord Ram, anointed by the divine to “represent all the people of India.”

At the consecration, Modi presided over the “Pran Pratishtha” – the disclosing of the much-anticipated Ram idol – taking over a job usually reserved for clergymen. The transfer was properly obtained in most quarters, along with his supporters praising the chief’s actions.

But for some Hindus, Modi’s actions characterize a betrayal of their faith for political capital.

“This is obviously an electoral stunt, it should not be happening in the name of my faith,” stated Indian American activist Sunita Viswanath and member of the US-based Hindus for Human Rights group in an announcement the day earlier than the temple opening.

“Modi is not a priest, so leading this ceremony for political gain is both technically and morally wrong. This weaponization of our religion tramples what’s left of India’s secular democratic values.”

Yet, in blurring the strains between state and faith, Modi has achieved what his predecessors have been unable to, analysts say.

“Much of this is about solidifying his image in India as someone who is devout, someone who delivers on his promises,” stated Foreign Policy editor-in-chief and former CNN New Delhi bureau chief, Ravi Agrawal.

“This is a very popular move, and while it’s being criticized… it remains popular in a country that is 80% Hindu.”

Modi rose to energy in 2014 with a pledge to reform India’s financial system and usher in a brand new period of growth – however he additionally closely pushed a Hindutva agenda, an ideology that believes India ought to grow to be a land for Hindus.

When he stood for reelection in 2019, Modi’s Hindutva insurance policies grew to become extra brazen, in line with analysts.

A number of months after profitable, he introduced he was stripping the statehood of India’s solely Muslim-majority territory, Jammu and Kashmir, and turning it into two union territories whereas bringing it underneath federal management. Later that yr, his authorities handed a controversial citizenship legislation thought of by many to be discriminatory in opposition to Muslims.

And he reiterated his occasion’s need to construct the Ram Temple on the contested holy web site.

Many Hindus consider the Babri Masjid was constructed on the ruins of a Hindu temple, allegedly destroyed in 1528 by Babar, the primary Mughal emperor of South Asia. For years, they rallied to tear down the mosque and make method for a temple.

The dispute reached its climax in 1992 when, spurred on by the BJP and right-wing teams, Hindu hardliners attacked the mosque, triggering widespread communal violence that killed greater than 2,000 folks nationwide.

In a victory for Modi and his supporters, India’s Supreme Court in 2019 granted Hindus permission to construct the temple, ending the decades-long dispute – however dealing a blow to hundreds of thousands of Muslims who concern that non secular divisions have gotten extra pronounced underneath Modi’s BJP authorities.

The Indian authorities denies it’s discriminating in opposition to minorities, however analysts say final week’s festivities have solely emboldened right-wing Hindus to behave with impunity in opposition to minorities.

Communal tensions rose in western Maharashtra state, with three reported altercations between Hindus and Muslims, in line with native police.

In a separate incident in central Madhya Pradesh state, a bunch of right-wing Hindus was seen inserting saffron flags on high of a Christian church. The colour is carefully related to Hinduism.

“India has become more majoritarian. India has become more nationalist. India has become more pro-Hindu,” Agrawal stated. “This is partly due to the government’s ability to point to India’s history and the wrongs they perceive India to have faced.”

Since assuming energy almost a decade in the past, Modi has positioned himself as a disrupter of India’s colonial legacy, typically in speeches marked by emotive language.

He has emphasized the necessity to “liberate (India) from the slavery mindset,” making steps to steer the nation away from what the federal government has referred to as the “vestiges of British rule.”

Similarly, Modi has additionally made feedback about India’s erstwhile Islamic rulers, the Mughals, who dominated a lot of the nation from 1526 to 1858. Many hardline Hindus consider the period was a interval of oppression underneath Muslim rule, a view that has additionally been echoed by some members of the BJP.

Hindu teams have for many years claimed the Mughals destroyed Hindu temples, constructing mosques and different monuments of their place. Many of those instances at the moment are being debated in courts throughout the nation, in a transfer Indian liberals concern might spark additional violence and disharmony.

Just this week, a court docket within the metropolis of Varanasi dominated that Hindus can pray contained in the disputed Gyanvapi mosque constructed by former Mughal ruler Aurangzeb – purportedly on the location of a destroyed Hindu temple – in one other main non secular dispute.

“Aurangzeb severed many heads, but he could not shake our faith,” Modi said in a 2022 speech, referring to the ruler who died greater than three centuries in the past.

As the nation heads towards a nationwide election anticipated to be held in April and May, the federal government “sees itself as addressing these injustices,” stated Foreign Policy’s Agrawal.

Gilles, the political scientist, stated final week’s show of Hindu nationalism on the Ram Temple reveals the power of the alliance between the BJP and India’s enterprise and cultural elites.

The temple’s inauguration was a “dark day for India’s religious minorities,” he stated.

“(They) have officially become second-class citizens.”