The Ayodhya case, freedom of religion, and the making of modernist ‘Hinduism’

Abstract

This article offers a close reading of the 2019 Supreme Court decision in the Ayodhya case supporting the construction of a temple dedicated to Rām, a central deity in the Hindu pantheon. It unpacks the implications of the ruling on the right to freedom of religion and the meaning of religion in juridical discourse. In awarding title over a disputed plot of land that had been the subject of decades of litigation to the ‘Hindu parties,’ the Court sanctioned the development of a narrow, nationalist and modernist understanding of the ‘Hindu’ faith to prevail. The analysis highlights the role of the court and juridical discourses in the formation of Hindu majoritarianism and the making of modernist ‘Hinduism’. The discussion is significant for understanding how Hindu nationalists have mobilized secular institutions, and quite specifically the right to freedom of religion, to pursue their own agenda of establishing India as a monolithic and homogenous Hindu state.

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