Guwahati, Jan. 19 -- Aviroop Gupta, Curtin University

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, famously opposed government interference in the rebuilding of the Somnath temple, a popular religious site for the Hindus in Gujarat, because he saw the project as a form of "Hindu revivalism".

In line with his idea of a secular India, Nehru wanted complete separation of state and religion.

There are no such qualms for the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Images of him were beamed live across the country in 2020 performing Hindu rituals during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram, a revered Hindu deity.

The half-completed temple, which will ...