000			01075pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b1998 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aGould, Harold A.
245			_aThe Babri Masjid and the secular contract
260			_c1998
300			_ap.507-26
362			_aJul-Dec
520			_aThis study examines the social-historical roots of the politicisation of the Babri Masjid. It suggests that the contemporary symbolic manipulation of this historic structure, culminating in its physical destruction by the Sangh Parivar in 1992, for the purpose of legitimising the propagation of a Hindu ethno-religion state, constitutes a fanciful reformation of traditional Indian statecraft. It also suggests that the process of `de-secularisation' of the Indian state has been aided and abetted through the years by the ostensibly secular Congress Party's periodical willingness to play the communal card whenever this suited its tactical interests. - Reproduced
650			_aReligion
650			_aSecularism
773			_aContributions to Indian Sociology
909			_a40698
999			_c40698 _d40698