BJP's innovative attempts at forging a new national identity

Constructing a shared national identity is the typical challenge of pluralistic societies like India. However, the definition of Indianness is changing of late. The reintegration of Hinduism – both in its past glory and its "persecution" at the hands of "invaders" – as the defining feature of Indian identity has assumed a new salience. What was held in check by a secular state is now a matter of state propagation.