Madhya Pradesh Court Rules Kamal Maula Mosque Site Is a Hindu Temple

On May 14, the high court in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh ruled that the centuries-old Kamal Maula mosque in the city of Dhar was actually a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess. Two days later, saffron flags associated with Hindu groups were displayed at the site, with supporters celebrating and filming rituals that were carried out.

The Kamal Maula mosque, also known as the Bhojshala complex, has been disputed for decades. Similar claims that a given mosque was built atop a temple have been made across the country. These claims have increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to power in 2014.

Hindutva is a right-wing political and nationalist ideology that defines the cultural and national identity of India based on a particular interpretation of Hindu values. India is a constitutionally secular state, but advocates of Hindutva want the country to adopt Hinduism as its state religion.

The term Hindutva consists of two linguistic parts: the word “Hindu”, whose origin likely traces back to the Sanskrit word “Sindhu”, and the Sanskrit suffix “-tva”, which indicates essence or being.

Hindu nationalism emerged in protest against British colonial notions of the religion. Indian freedom fighter and ideologue Vinayak Savarkar coined the term “Hindutva” in his 1923 pamphlet Essentials of Hindutva. By 1925, the early Hindutva ideologue Keshav Baliram Hedgewar had founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the mothership of the Hindu majoritarian political movement.

After India’s independence, the movement faced significant pressure following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Gandhi’s assassin was a former RSS member. Later, the movement shifted towards political action by establishing a party in 1951, which subsequently evolved into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980.

The party witnessed a remarkable surge in its political influence during the 1980s and 1990s by championing the construction of the Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya on the site of the Babri Mosque. In 1992, the demolition of the mosque by activists associated with the RSS and the BJP prompted a widespread wave of sectarian violence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which follows an ideology known as Hindutva.