Ayodhya 2.0 in Banaras? Judicial discourses and rituals of place in the making of Hindu majoritarianism

Abstract

Indian news channels and headlines meticulously cover ongoing legal suits seeking the ‘restitution’ of the Gyanvapi mosque in Banaras (Varanasi) to Hindus, with the site dubbed ‘Ayodhya 2.0’ by several commentators. The recent construction of the monumental Kashi Vishvanath Corridor next to the contested Gyanvapi mosque and the 2019 Supreme Court verdict in favour of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya seem to be the main developments prompting an escalation towards Ayodhya 2.0. This article, however, complicates the above reading by showing that the current ‘unmaking’ of Gyanvapi as mosque does not result straightforwardly and solely from these recent judicial and spatial developments. By combining analysis of legal proceedings with a longitudinal ethnography of the site, I unpack the longstanding cross-fertilisation of judicial discourses and rituals of place in representations of the site and point to the progressive co-option of both spheres in the pursuit of Hindu majoritarian claims. The article expands scholarship on the subtle but relentless entrenchment of Hindu majoritarianism by illuminating ways in which petty disputes, situated understandings of place and religious practices not necessarily related to, or aligned with, the majoritarian ideology may be co-opted by and finish up nurturing it.