One can safely predict that these developments—consecration of Ram Mandir at Ayodha, persecution of Hindus in Bangldesh, The Kashmir Files movie, and the Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj—taken together, are bound to produce some major consequences in the future within a decade, although it is difficult to foresee what shape it might take. – Prof. Arvind Sharma
It seems to me that some developments have taken place in India over the past few years, which are going to have long-term consequences, especially for political Hinduism. I list four of them here. I might have expressed my views on some of them earlier, but the time might be ripe to make a consolidated assessment.
The first of these is the inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22, 2024. It made the news cycle in a big way at the time. However, when the BJP failed to win a key parliamentary seat in that area during the national elections of 2024, it began to be thought that the impact of the Ram Temple might have been exaggerated. Subsequent developments, however, seem to confirm its long-lasting influence. The electoral victory of the BJP, in a subsequent polls, however, might be a more solid indication of its impact. Moreover, if it is true that now more people are visiting the Ram Temple than the Taj Mahal, then this fact tells its own story.
The second is the developments in Bangladesh. It is true that the developments in Bangladesh are an internal matter for that country but the persistent accounts of the persecution of the Hindus in Bangladesh ever since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, are bound to have transnational impact. The divergent trajectories of the minority populations of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, where it has been diminishing over the years, and that of the Muslim minority in India, where it has been increasing, cannot remain unnoticed for long. The chief explanation of the decline of the Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh is most probably conversion, and that of the rise of Muslim minority in India is demographic growth. These distinctions, however, are likely to be lost in the face of the obvious contrast in the destinies of the minorities in these countries.
The third factor to consider is the blockbuster success of such movies as The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story. The display of Hindu suffering at the hands of the Muslims must have made some impression on the huge audiences which have viewed them. The recent success of the film Chhaava, which depicts in gruesome detail the torture of Sambhaji, son of Shivaji, at the hands of Aurangzeb, belongs to the same category. The reader might wish to recall that the political success of the DMK in Tamil Nadu is known to have been preceded by the cinematisation of its ideology.
Finally, the figures of attendance at the Kumbh Mela are staggering. According to the latest figure, about 660 million people are supposed to have participated in it. This means that one out of every two Hindus in India has been there. Lest this figure appear too sensational, let us recall that India’s current population is estimated to be around 1.4 billion out of which 200 million are Muslims. The Hindu population of India is estimated to be about 1.2 billion, half of which comes to 600 million. It might be helpful to recall that Mahatma Gandhi is supposed to have influenced one Indian in two hundred. All these developments are in some measure directly or indirectly related to Hindu identity and to its strengthening.
One can safely predict that these developments, taken together, are bound to produce some major consequences in the future within a decade, although it is difficult to foresee what shape it might take. The collective impact of these developments would be inescapable for good or ill. – News18, 23 March 2025
› Prof. Arvind Sharma, formerly in the IAS, is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
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