For Tuesday's readings, the main theme in our readings is the idea of using religious figures in order to make political ends meet. A shockingly recent and prevalent example of this comes in the attempt by the Indian Government and the RSS to tie Hindu religious text and historical fact together culturally. Since the story of Rama is so well-known and is very prevalent to millions of people, it is easy to divide people when you put their religious text on a political pedestal. This idea is so problematic because it casts aside the idea of multiculturalism, or the respect of different belief systems regardless of national identity. The RSS simply “wants Muslims to live in India as second-class citizens.” This type of political and religious polarization in a nation that is already suffering greatly from large economic divides is going to cause lasting damage to the overall well-being of the nation, I am certain.
For Thursday, the political narrative of "first-class Hindu citizenship" is disrupted by writings about the major contributions that Muslims have made to the academic community of the Ramayana. There are examples such as Tamil Nadu, who, despite being a Muslim, is well respected for his work in scholarship for the Ramayana. It is said that “Hindu communities in the diaspora as well have honored Ismail” (279). This is a direct contradiction to the climate that the RSS wishes to create within India. Besides trying to prove the cultural superiority of their beliefs, it is clear that discord among religious communities is expected and Nadu breaks that expectation.