New Delhi, Nov. 27 -- The Indian armed forces have long occupied a rare space of public trust in a democracy otherwise marked by fractious contestation. Their institutional self-image as professional, apolitical, and secular has historically been shaped by what sociologist Rajni Kothari described as India's "centrist consensus," in which the military remained outside partisan currents even as politics churned. Yet recent developments, highlighted by reports of growing Hindu nationalist symbolism and political proximity at senior levels, suggest a troubling drift. If true, the phenomenon often described as the "saffronization" of India's military marks a departure of profound consequence.

At the heart of the concern is not the presence of...