While the BJP-RSS project of merging politics with religion obtained its most advanced result on January 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram Temple, a secular dissent to the Hindutva project was expected from Kerala, a land widely considered the most reliable ally of secularism in the country.
And there, indeed, was resistance. The leaders of the two major fronts - the CPM and the Congress - fumed at the Prime Minister's presence at the sanctum sanctorum. But what makes the opposition of both these parties to the Ayodhya event more significant is the dissimilar strains of secularism they have thrown up. In all likelihood, Kerala's politics will henceforth be defined by the struggle between these two rival themes of secularism.
One of them adheres to the Nehruvian ideal of keeping a safe distance from all faiths. And this idea is championed not by the Congress, but by the CPM. And the Congress, in turn, wants to demonstrate its unabashed love for Ram, is eager to emphasise its Hindu-ness.
Obstinately irreligious
It was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who acted as the CPM's spokesperson. In a video address released on January 22, but hours before the 'pran pratishta', the Chief Minister, who is also a CPM politburo member, invoked the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and declared: "Indian secularism means the separation of religion and state".
He went on. "We even have a strong tradition of maintaining that separation. However, of late, the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be getting thinner and thinner. This is a major departure from the times when our constitutional office-bearers have been cautioned from taking part in religious events, as it would cast aspersions on our credentials as a secular state."
The CPM, through the Kerala Chief Minister, has unequivocally stated that the state should stubbornly keep away from religion. A manifestation is the aggressive support of SFI and DYFI for groups screening Anant Patwardhan’s ‘Ram Ke Naam’, a 1991 documentary that exposed the bigotry that powered the Ayodhya temple movement.
Ayodhya temple vs Birla house
The Congress in Kerala, on the other hand, is fine with mixing religion and politics. In fact, it wants to compete with the BJP to claim ownership of Ram.
On the face of it, Congress leaders in Kerala are miffed with Modi for attempting to exploit Ram for electoral gains, for undermining democracy. But this resentment hardly veils their hypocrisy.
Take for instance, opposition leader V D Satheesan's comments on January 22. Satheesan said that the BJP was devaluing the Constitution and democracy by trying to couple faith and politics and, through this, reap electoral dividends. But in the same breath he says: "Ram resides in the corridor of the Birla House where Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead". In simple terms, what Satheesan meant was: "Ram is not with you, but with us."
Jai Shri Ram vs Siyavar Ramchandra Ki Jai
After Ayodhya, it also looks like the Congress does not want to be apologetic about its Hindu-ness. Its leaders seem more keen to flaunt their faith like a tattoo. On January 22, when Modi was laying flowers at the feet of Ram lalla, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to visit Assam's Batadrava Than, the shrine and birthpalce of Vashnavite saint Srimanta Shankaradeva.
In Kerala, such a strategy was best articulated by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. On January 22, Tharoor uploaded the picture of the bejewelled Ram Lalla idol on his X (Twitter) page with a caption in Hindi: "Siyavar Ramchandra Ki Jai".
When this created a backlash from the Left in Kerala, Tharoor said: "I didn't say 'Jai Shri Ram' because that phrase has been made into a political slogan by certain people."
And then he laid down the Congress's post-Nehruvian worshipper's idea of secularism. "Why should I surrender to the BJP my God to whom I pray everyday. The BJP might want all Ram bhakths to vote for it. But is every person praying to Ram a BJP supporter?," he said. "There are many Ram bhakts in Congress. We also have our claim to our God," he added.
What's more, Tharoor gave his one-liner in X ("Siyavar Ramchandra Ki Jai") a gender twist. "Now, there is a tendency among people with an anti-woman mindset to ignore Sita and just say Jai Shri Ram. In north Indian dialect, 'Siya' means Sita. So my greeting not just conveys my devotion to Ram but also my equal respect for Sita," Tharoor said.
In a way, he sought to position the greeting "Siyavar Ramchandra Ki Jai" as a gender-sensitive alternative to the chauvinist 'Jai Shri Ram'.
When the bugle call is made for the 2024 general elections, it will be these two approaches to secularism that will be put to test in Kerala.
