Constructing collective memory and identity for mobilisation. The role of the Hindu-nationalist BJP in the Ayodhya Dispute.

Abstract

How could the BJP and affiliated Sangh Parivar organisations successfully mobilise the mobs that caused the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya by making muse of Hindu nationalist discourse, while this mainly served the political interests of the BJP-elite? Collective action theory and identity construction processes are linked to create an analytical framework to show how political figures from the Hindu-nationalist movement in India not only exploited, but also actively and purposefully constructed a collective identity, and instrumentalist a specific Hindu-nationalist discourse to create a rationale to mobilise their followers for action.