For the past few years, the festival of Ram Navami has been marred by a series of scuffles and violence in many parts of the country. What used to be a peaceful religious celebration has taken a sharp political turn with ominous communal contours. Last year, clashes broke out across six states including Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat. At least two people were killed and many others were injured. Similar incidents took place the year before that. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has come full circle for the BJP after nearly 40 years with the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, where celebrations of Ram Navami are expected to be bigger this year. With Lok Sabha elections just days away, authorities are also anticipating tensions and have amped up security measures in sensitive areas that have witnessed clashes in the past.
In Hyderabad, a mosque was covered with a cloth as a precautionary measure on police orders. More mosques and dargahs in Hyderabad and other cities are also expected to be covered in a similar fashion. However, experts have questioned the need to do so, especially when similar steps are not taken to cover temples during Eid. The violence witnessed during the processions for the past several years with sections of India바카라s population facing not only marginalisation but also invisibilisation.
Meanwhile, politics also erupted ahead of Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal where Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the ruling Trinamool Congress, accusing it of having 바카라tried its best to stop Ram Navami celebrations바카라. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, slammed the BJP for interfering in officials바카라 transfers and said the saffron party would be responsible if any riots broke out.
Experts have linked the rising intolerance on religious occasions such as Ram Navami, which often coincides with Ramadan, with the growing conquest for Hindutva in the country. Communal tensions have been on the rise in India, as several human rights watchdogs have pointed out. 2023 saw increased violence against minorities, particularly Muslims, with government critics facing a pervasive environment of fear, according to Human Rights Watch바카라s World Report 2024.
While Outlook바카라s recent issue titled 바카라In The Name Of Ram바카라 explored many stories about the city of Ayodhya, in a story titled 'Sheher-e-Paighambar', Rakhi Bose wrote how Muslims in Ayodhya witnessed the Ram Mandir inauguration 31 years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid while their only wish was to be allowed to live in peace. As Sanjay Nirupam, when he was still with Congress, writes in another story, 바카라Whether good, bad or ugly, the fact is that 바카라Ramaisation바카라 of Indian politics seems to be at its peak. Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Lord Ram바카라s idol in Ayodhya has completely transformed BJP into a Ram bhakta party.바카라
Outlook바카라s previous issues titled 바카라The Many Ramayanas바카라 and 바카라Recasting Shiva바카라 looked at how deities like Ram and Shiva continue to play important roles as political actors in India today. Ram is the most common name in India, of people and places바카라even occurring as prefixes and suffixes. The cover story, 바카라Who is Ram바카라, looked at 바카라Ramayana as a story of struggle against society바카라s imposed morality, of kings and queens who are products of their circumstances and choices바카라.
While the polarisation of festivals as sites of religious and political contestation is not a new phenomenon, traditions like the Bohra Diwali or the case of a Muslim family in Jharkhand celebrating Ram Navami for the past 40 years are soon becoming fading fragments of a secular tradition that not only celebrates diversity but also inclusion. In author Anand Neelekantan바카라s words, Hinduism is now going through a tectonic change, becoming more Abrahamic in its nature, invoking God바카라s name as an aggressive slogan, insisting on one holy place and the supremacy of one expression of God바카라.
