Ever since the Narendra Modi government stormed to power in 2014, a few key words have hit public consciousness.
One of them is Hindu Rashtra.
It is supposed to be a rule wherein the Hindutva school of thought reins supreme and India’s prime minister Narendra Modi is believed to be the emperor (Samrat).
It has been drawing many similarities to the Nazi rule propagated by Hitler’s Germany.
One of the main planks on which the government came to power was Ram Mandir, which cleared all the legal hassles and is being built by L&T, India’s premier infrastructure company.
L&T was in the news recently after it built poor quality foundation for the temple. That is a conversation for another day.
Coming to temples and Hindu Rashtra, we can draw a few parallels in India’s history.
When the Muslim invaders went on a rampage, some rulers thought it would be great idea to build massive temples and galvanize people against the invading rulers.
This game of building huge religious structures as a symbol of who was more powerful may have been relevant in the past.
However, it has lost its relevance in the present age.
The rulers who are in power now seem to think the age old symbols of power are still relevant.
While India and its rulers are obsessed with mandirs, mosques, statues, Central Vista, our neighbours are investing heavily in technology and other relevant areas that will hold their economies in good stead in the future.
It’s about time now that India’s political class came out of its time warp to see that the times are changing