The Binary Vision: 30 Years of Religion and Politics in India

The communal fissures in India go beyond Partition, beyond Anand Math, almost beyond history, as Manu Pillai’s recent book Guns, Gods and Missionaries points out. But they took clear political colours in the last few years, since the Shah Bano case, the Rath Yatra, and the Babri Masjid demolition, to name a few milestones in the narrative. The last 30 years certainly consolidated the Hindu Rashtra building, first with a full-term Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004 and then in a far more robust form in the last decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The idea of India, from a socialist and secular country, has morphed into a majority-religion nation in these years. As one state election after another proves, this juggernaut is showing no sign of losing steam. If anything, the future may see only more strident nationalism, with the central Opposition as well as the strong regional parties scratching their heads to find ways to derail it. But all waves have ebb and flow and it will be interesting to observe the Hindutva tidal power in the near future.

100 Years: In our special issue on 100 years of the RSS, we traced the journey of the RSS, factors that helped in its survival and what the future holds for an organisation that has changed immensely over the years, although without any visible change on the ground

Ethical Cleansing: Deepa Mehta’s film Water sparked major protests in Varanasi in 2000, led by Hindu nationalist groups who claimed the script denigrated Hinduism, leading to destroyed sets, death threats and the project’s temporary halt, forcing her to film it a few years later

Ayodhya Files

It has been a full circle—from the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 to the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in 2024—in a little over thirty years. The rise of the Hindutva forces has also gone hand in hand with the Narendra Modi government being sworn in for a third time, albeit with not so much gusto as expected. Outlook has been a witness to the mandir politics, recording its impact on India’s polity and people.

Disputed Site: This was an Outlook exclusive. Our reporters got into the heavily-guarded and prohibited excavation site at Ayodhya to find clues to its confusing past. In the process, they unearthed startling truths

Judgement Day: The controversial Ayodhya verdict legitimised the Janmabhoomi movement and put the onus of peace on Muslims

The Temple Panchang: This issue explored how the Ayodhya verdict put a legal seal on the goal of the Rath Yatra that led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and what it meant for the future of BJP-RSS and of Indian democracy

Sacred Games: The relationship between Hindu nationalism and archaeology has strengthened since the rise of right-wing politics. In our ‘What Lies Beneath’ issue, Outlook explored how history is as deep as one digs or as big as one builds

Politics & Religion: After the Ayodhya dispute was settled in favour of the Hindu side, Outlook shifted its focus back to the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which threatened to open a Pandora’s box

A Faith Besieged: It was a time when Hinduism, touted as one of the world's most liberal religions, was perceived to be in danger of being perverted. It was seized upon as a means to political power. The siege was from within

Fangs and Fury: There was a time when, feeling betrayed by the BJP, the Sangh had upped its vicious ante and was holding governance to ransom. In this issue, Outlook explored the new, extra-constitutional world of India’s loony right. The figureheads were well known. Their rabble-rousing rhetoric was there in print and on TV for everyone to see

Shifting Politics: By the early 2000s, from lip-service to Nehruvian idealism to card-holding Hinduism, the wheel came half-circle for the Congress. Outlook’s February 17, 2003, issue explored the political confusion of the party

Poll Meter: In 2003, Savarkar, a controversial icon from the past, came to haunt the politics of the day when a member of the Savarkar-Nathuram Godse family announced a plan to contest elections against the BJP in Pune. The controversy threatened to influence the outcome of the 2004 Maharashtra elections

Holy Cow: In 2003, the Indian political class was again on the horns of a dilemma over the holy cow. The debate would have been downright ridiculous were it not so deadly serious. An animal whose slaughter was banned in most parts of India became the symbol of a competitive ‘I’m-a-better-Hindu-than-you’ politics of the BJP and the Congress

Us Vs Them: This issue, published during the 2024 General Elections, explored how we are now living in a time of ‘us versus them’ where the willingness to even engage with anything that does not echo our sentiments makes us more complicit in the erosion of democratic values

Under Fire: On January 23, 1999, Graham Staines, an Australian Christian missionary, was burnt to death along with his two sons. Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh was convicted of leading the murderers and was sentenced to life in prison. After the incident, the BJP faced fire from all quarters on the rising attacks on Christians

High Time: After the Ayodhya verdict, religious flashbacks were common practice. This issue of Outlook took a wide-angle look and through ground reports and expert columns explored whether it was high time for the judiciary or legislature to step in and contain the heightened religion emotions

Sense of a Riot: As per reports, 62 people died in the Hindu-Muslim clashes that erupted on September 7, 2013, in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes. The riots had political implications. Uttar Pradesh, once again, became the battleground for the competitive politics of the Samajwadi Party and the BJP

This article appeared as The Binary Vision in Outlook’s January 01, 2026, issue '30 years of Irreverence' which commemorates the magazine's 30 years of journalism. From its earliest days of irreverence to its present-day transformation, the magazine has weathered controversy, crisis, and change.