Religion and Nationalism in India: Ram the God of the Hindu Nation

In: The round table: the Commonwealth journal of international affairs, Heft 357, S. 593-605

Abstract

Hindu nationalism emerged as a major political force on the Indian political scene in the mid-1980s. It is their vigorous espousal of the cause of building a Ram Temple at the site of the Babri masque in Ayodhya, Ram's birthplace that catapulted the Hindu nationalists to the center stage of Indian politics. Yet a pan-Hindu nationalism built on or garbed in Hindu religious & cultural symbols does not appeal to all Hindus. The enormous diversity of the Hindu religion & the larger diversity of the Indian civilization militate against the rise of an all embracing Hindu nationalism. The convincing creation of a modern Indian nation eludes its ideologues. India's staggering diversity is a formidable obstacle to it becoming a nation-state, a form of political organization the Indian nationalists most desire. Are there other forms better suited to its diversity? Adapted from the source document.