This study examines the social-historical roots of the politicisation of the Babri Masjid. It suggests that the contemporary symbolic manipulation of this historic structure, culminating in its physical destruction by the Sangh Parivar in 1992, for the purpose of legitimising the propagation of a Hindu ethno-religious state, constitutes a fanciful reformulation of traditional Indian statecraft. It also sug gests that the process of 'de-secularisation' of the Indian state has been aided and abetted through the years by the ostensibly secular Congress Party's periodical willingness to play the communal card whenever this suited its tactical interests.
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