What is a slogan, and how does it find meaning: Does the meaning of words like Jai Shri Ram change with the way they are used?
“Jai Shri Ram,” which translates to “Victory to Lord Ram,” has been a common greeting in Hindi-speaking regions for over a century. The slogan got a popularity boost in the late 1980s, thanks in part to Arun Govil-starrer TV adaptation of the Ramayan. In the show, “Jai Shri Ram” was used as a rallying cry by Hanuman and others during Ram's war against Raavan, the king of Lanka who had kidnapped Sita, Ram’s consort.
However, once a simple expression of devotion, it has transformed into an ominous and aggressive chant. In its new avatar as a Hindu nationalist slogan, it is being used as a tool of intimidation.
The political weaponisation of this slogan finds its roots in the Ram temple movement of 1990-92, spearheaded by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Lord Ram, considered an avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born in Ayodhya. The Ramjanmabhoomi movement sought to reclaim Ayodhya as the birthplace of Lord Ram. As the movement gained traction, the Babri Masjid, allegedly constructed on the ruins of a temple became a flashpoint for Hindu nationalist sentiment. The calls grew to “restore” Ram’s honour by rebuilding the temple here. Over the next few decades, Ram emerged as a central figure in India's most significant religious divide.
While Ramjanmabhoomi was absent from the BJP's 1984 manifesto, its first document as a political party, in its 1989 manifesto, the BJP expressed concern that “by not allowing the rebuilding of the Ram Janma Mandir in Ayodhya, on the lines of the Somnath Mandir built by the Government of India in 1948, it has allowed tensions to rise and gravely strained social harmony.”
Senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani famously embarked on a Rath Yatra in 1990, demanding the temple's construction. During the 1991 elections, the construction of the Ram temple became a key agenda. The tone grew more assertive in the 1991 manifesto, where the party sought “the restoration of Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya only by way of a symbolic righting of historic wrongs, so that the old unhappy chapter of acrimony could be ended, and a Grand National Reconciliation effected.”
This temple push coincided with the announcement of 27 per cent Other Backward Class (OBC) reservations recommended by the Mandal Commission report, a move that threatened to consolidate OBC support for parties advocating social justice. The “Kamandal” movement, as the temple initiative was termed, sought to counter the Mandal politics aimed at uniting the socially oppressed.
In the aftermath of the Babri Mosque demolition in 1992, the BJP recalibrated its approach for the 1996 elections, promising in its manifesto, “On coming to power, the BJP Government will facilitate the construction of a magnificent Shri Ram Mandir at Janmasthan in Ayodhya, which will be a tribute to Bharat Mata.”
The general elections in 2014 saw the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan take centre stage in the BJP’s campaign, with the then Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, frequently encouraging crowds with it.
The post-Ayodhya generation of BJP leadership, particularly under PM Modi and Amit Shah, has become a dominant force across India. However, the foundation was laid entirely by the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
On November 9, 2019, 27 years after the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple on 2.77 acres of disputed land in Ayodhya. In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court allocated the contentious Ayodhya land to the Ramjanmabhoomi Trust, marking the end of a long and tumultuous campaign led by the BJP and RSS for the temple's construction.
The Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the newly built Ayodhya temple at an event led by Prime Minister Modi in January this year.
Despite the temple’s construction, the instrumentalisation of the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan continues. Opposition parties and secular activists view it as a deliberate attempt to sow division among communities and undermine India's secular ethos.
Over the years, numerous individuals have faced violence for refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. In the 2019 general elections, several BJP members chanted “Jai Shri Ram” during the swearing-in ceremony of a Muslim opposition member. While some interpreted the chant as an assertion of their religious identity, critics argued it was an act of intimidation aimed at marginalising the Muslim parliamentarian.