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  • Jun, 03, 2024 11:34:16 am

Beyond slogans: Understanding Hindu diversity in Kerala

Meenakshi Lekhi lost her cool the other day during a visit to Kozhikode. The Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture was enraged when the audience did not take up, with sufficient enthusiasm, her cry of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” at the conclusion of her address. She did not appear to have realised that she had run into a cultural, not a political barrier.

Lekhi could not have been confused about the political leanings of the organisers of the event. It was not staged by either the Left Democratic Front or the United Democratic Front. The two alliances that dominate Kerala politics are quite averse to providing platforms for BJP politicians except in connection with some national events. If minister Lekhi expected adherents of either Front to repeat the Hindutva slogan, her judgement would be even more open to question.