Ten days ago, millions of Indians watched Prime Minister Narendra Modi preside over the bhumi pujan for the construction of the Ram mandir. The seating arrangement was a message in itself. The sants and spiritual leaders got a place in the audience, the RSS chief, UP governor and CM sat a few inches back forming a square. The pride of place was reserved for Modi.
Modi that day was the king conducting ashwamedha.
His critics were appalled to see the absence of Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, they were upset to see the line between the State and religion converge. They called Modi the publicity hunter who stole the whole occasion for his sole benefit – the man who won't share the limelight with anyone.
I differ.
If Modi wasn't there, there wouldn't be a show to talk of.
Do you think people will switch on TV to watch Mahant Nithya Gopal Das and Mohan Bhagwat, or for that matter Advani, do the puja? Nah.
Did you see any buildup to the bhumi pujan off the TV screens. Many RWAs asked people to light up diyas and celebrate Diwali in advance. I feared I would be blacklisted if I didn't do it. But to my surprise in an apartment complex of 1,000 flats, hardly 10 to 20 households celebrated Diwali that day.
Do you see anyone rushing to donate money to build the temple?
Do you see anyone quitting jobs to do kar seva in Ayodhya, though you may argue enough jobs will be lost to coronavirus pandemic and there will be enough jobless people do the honours when the time comes.
Even when the Supreme Court gave its verdict, gifting the land to Ram Lalla, viewers switched off television sets once the ruling was read out.
The mandir movement died long ago. To be precise: on December 6, 1992. Narasimha Rao, knowingly or unknowingly, finished the agitation. Once the Babri Masjid was gone, the Hindus didn't feel the emotional connect anymore. It didn't win anyone votes in all the elections that followed over three decades that even saw 10 years of Manmohan Singh rule.
Half of India's current population was born after 1992, says an Indian Express report. None of them saw the rath ratra or the riots it triggered.
The excitement about the mandir is limited to TV, with much of its audience above 40 – the generation that actually saw or took part in the movement. The rest are on Netflix or Amazon or YouTube or any of the hundreds of OTTs.
That is not to say Hindutva is dead. Hindutva is alive and kicking. It has metamorphosed into Moditva, which is essentially Hindutva raised to the power of two. Mandir is only a small subset.
It is safe to say the mandir needs Modi more than Modi needs the mandir.
