In India, the Hindu temple which serves the political interests of Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing to rub salt into a 500-year-old religious wound for partly electoral reasons.

He will inaugurate with great fanfare a Hindu temple in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, on Monday January 22.

But not just any, since it is the Ram Mandir, which Hindu nationalists have been demanding for decades – to the great dismay of the Muslim minority in this region.

The Ram Mandir was, in fact, built in the city of Ayodhya precisely on the spot where the Babri mosque stood.

The story of the destruction of this Muslim place of worship and the construction of the Hindu temple represents a summary of the religious tensions that cross India and illustrates the way in which Narendra Modi and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in benefit. 

Birthplace of King Rama

Even more so in this election year, because the inauguration of the temple by the Prime Minister is considered "as the cornerstone of his campaign for the legislative elections [in April-May, Editor's note]", assures Sumantra Bose, Indian political scientist.

The erection of the Ram Mandir temple had been awaited since the 1990s by Hindu nationalists, who form the electoral base of the BJP.

At that time, and since 1529, it was the Babri mosque which was located in Ayodhya, but it was in the crosshairs of the most fervent supporters of the BJP movement.

Graphic studio France Media World

Hindu fundamentalists claim that the mosque was built on the birthplace of King Rama, one of the central figures of Hinduism.

“He represents the wise and benevolent king par excellence,” sums up Sumantra Bose.

“It is very important especially in Uttar Pradesh and in part of the Hindi belt [which includes nine states in the north and central India where Hindi is the official language, Editor’s note],” adds Amalendu Misra , a political scientist at Lancaster University who has written about the battle over the construction of the Ram Mandir temple.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist paramilitary group of which the BJP is a political offshoot, has made the recovery of this site “a central element of its mobilization effort”, specifies Sumantra Bose.

A campaign which culminated on December 6, 1992 with the destruction of the mosque, stormed by a crowd of Hindu fanatics, fed on RSS propaganda. 

Sectarian violence then broke out and led to the deaths of around 2,000 people, mainly Muslims.

For some historians, this episode "represents a turning point in the history of relations between Muslims and Hindus in India", as Amalendu Misra writes, in his contribution to the site The Conversation.

A politically important temple

The BJP, for its part, benefited greatly from the destruction of the mosque.

The party, until then almost non-existent on the Indian electoral map, made an impressive breakthrough during the general elections of the 1990s, going from two elected representatives in 1984 to more than 160 in 1996. 

But still no temple to the glory of Rama in sight.

It will take more than twenty years for Indian justice to resolve the dispute between Muslims and Hindus in favor of the latter.

“The Supreme Court gave Narendra Modi quite a gift in 2019,” underlines Sumantra Bose.

She, in fact, recognized that the destruction of the mosque was illegal, but nevertheless granted Hindus the right to build a temple there.

Then begins what Amalendu Misra calls a "national cause" promoted by the government which has set up a fund for the construction of the temple "largely funded by the Indian diaspora", underlines this expert.

All of Narendra Modi's talent will have been "to take control of the project and to pass himself off as its main architect when that is not the case", affirms Amalendu Misra.

The Indian Prime Minister has set up a whole propaganda machine around this inauguration to make it a sort of great moment of national gathering "with his usual sense of spectacle and staging", recognizes Sumantra Bose.

The primary aim is to win the hearts of voters in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

It is a crucial region for the next election: “It sends more than 80 elected officials to Parliament, which means that nearly 15% of deputies come from Uttar Pradesh,” summarizes Sumantra Bose.

Narendra Modi's BJP hopes to win more than 60 seats in this state... Thanks in particular to the staging around the new temple.

Second Hindu Republic?

The emphasis placed on this inauguration is also due to the fact that the outgoing Prime Minister does not have much else to sell to voters.

"In terms of narrative to mobilize his voters, he can hardly count on the economy, which has not improved much, while on the anti-poverty policy front there have been some emblematic measures, but the general standard of living has not seen any major change,” notes Amalendu Misra. 

This is also why he needed to inaugurate the temple as quickly as possible, while the construction will not be completely completed... until 2027. Far too late to help the outgoing Prime Minister win the general elections this year.

This sumptuous ceremony – some regions have even made January 22 a public holiday, such as the state of Goa – “also has a political meaning which goes beyond the simple electoral framework”, assures Sumantra Bose.

It is no coincidence that Narendra Modi wants to be associated with a mythical king like Rama.

“He seeks to distill the message that he would be a sort of 21st century version of this good and just leader,” analyzes Sumantra Bose. 

In addition, the country is also fast approaching the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Indian republic, which dates back to January 25, 1950. The inauguration of the Ram Mandir temple "should allow Narendra Modi to give substance to the idea that he established a second nationalist and Hindu republic", estimates Sumantra Bose.

But this inauguration is not only to the glory of Rama and Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister took care to include Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and a very radical Hindu monk.

“This event reinforces the idea that Yogi Adityanath represents the designated heir apparent of Narendra Modi,” notes Sumantre Bose.

Muslims, big losers

It is also a “trap for the opposition”, assures the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera.

The Congress Party, the main opposition force, was very discreet about this inauguration, simply refusing to attend.

“It is impossible for them to criticize this ceremony too strongly, otherwise they will be accused of anti-Hindu sentiment and a party that only cares about the interests of Muslims,” explains Sumantra Bose.

The latter are also the big losers in this affair.

The Supreme Court granted them a piece of land outside the city of Ayodhya in 2019.

But “it’s a location near a small village that no one has ever heard of,” summarizes the Indian political scientist.

Furthermore, Indian Muslims have still failed to raise the funds to begin construction of the new mosque. 

It remains to be seen whether all this staging “will have the desired effect for Narendra Modi”, wonders Amalendu Misra.

Indeed, the vast majority of Hindus in 2024 no longer have much in common with the generation of the 1990s. "The demand for the construction of a new temple for Rama was in part a way for Hindus to express their feelings that the interests of their community were not taken into account by those in power", underlines the political scientist from Lancaster University. 

Ten years after the arrival of Narendra Modi, this is clearly no longer the case.

There are always radical Hindus, "but for most young people, the inauguration of a new temple is not of great importance", concludes Amalendu Misra.

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application