Modi's bulldozers in the holy city of Varanasi
At Manikarnika Ghat, an important cremation site in the holy city, a structure linked to the Hindu Queen Ahilyabai Holkar has been demolished, part of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project. Meanwhile, the environmental problems of the Ganges and the poverty of many residents remain unresolved. The project has left the Gyanvapi Mosque exposed, paving the way for fresh sectarian tensions.
Varanasi (AsiaNews) – On 10 January, bulldozers entered Manikarnika Ghat, one of the holiest cremation grounds in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), as part of a broader and controversial renovation project.
Without any warning or official notice, municipal authorities launched a vast demolition operation, involving old structures associated with Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, an 18th-century Maratha queen known for financing the reconstruction of several Hindu temples that had been destroyed during the Mughal period.
Her descendants and the Khasgi Trust, which manages properties formerly under the Holkar State, were outraged, noting that the demolished structure was one of the very few where the queen had placed effigies in her own image as a sign of devotion to Mother Ganga.
Descendants of the Holkar royal family noted that Devi Ahilayabai herself had renovated the Manikarnika Ghat in 1791, turning it into the main cremation site where devotees believe they can achieve liberation from the cycle of rebirth.
In addition to Varanasi, protests erupted in Indore (the capital of the ancient kingdom before the arrival of the British), led by the Samajwadi Party and the Pal community, who venerate Ahilyabai as an important ancestor.
Indian National Congress state leader K.K. Mishra called the demolition a "heinous religious crime”, raising questions as to how such destruction could occur in the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who in 2014 had solemnly declared that Mother Ganga had called him to Kashi, another name for Varanasi (from the Sanskrit root kaś-, to shine), which is why the city is also called "the city of light”.
While local authorities claim the idols were moved to "safe” locations for later reinstallation, videos circulating online show acts of desecration and historic statues abandoned among the debris.
The demolition work at Manikarnika Ghat is part of a much broader redevelopment plan promoted by Modi, whose government is backed by Hindu ultranationalist groups.
Specifically, the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor (or Vishwanath Dham) is meant to transform Varanasi's ancient and congested alleys into a wide pathway covering more than 45,000 square feet (4,200 square metres) that would connect the Ganges River to the Hindu temple.
In 2019, Modi presented the work as an act of "liberation" for Shiva, who was allegedly held “captive" by the surrounding buildings.
The project includes the creation of a temple plaza, historic libraries, and performance spaces, to accommodate millions of pilgrims.
To clear the area, the government has already demolished some 300 homes and displaced 600 families, permanently altering the city's traditional character.
Beyond the human cost, the city faces serious challenges; for example, millions of litres of untreated wastewater still flow into the Ganges every day, and the groundwater is dangerously depleted.
Like in many other Indian cities, rapid urbanisation has led to alarming levels of air pollution.
More importantly, according to 2011 government data, nearly 34 per cent of the city's population lives in slums that lack sanitation and drinking water.
The government has been criticised from many quarters, for destroying the heritage it claims to defend.
A former Mahant (chief priest), Rajendra Tiwari, said that the government had ruined Kashi’s character, and that the needs of devotees could have been met without destroying its historic fabric.
The operation appears to be a calculated political move. Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Modi’s ultranationalist Hindu party, which is in power in the state, of being “loyal to no one except money”. In his view, the demolitions favour businessmen close to the party rather than residents.
The Kashi Vishwanath corridor also risks fuelling sectarian tensions. During the clearing operations around the temple, the nearby Gyanvapi mosque was left exposed and unmarked on the official project maps.
Some observers fear that the government is setting the stage for another Babri-like incident, using the corridor to gather large crowds of outsiders to instigate an occupation of the mosque.
In 1992, the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was attacked and destroyed by hundreds of thousands of Hindu extremists who claimed that a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Rama laid beneath its foundations.
With the construction of the Ayodhya temple, the issue is now over, but several parallels raise fears that a similar tragedy could happen again in Varanasi.
In 2019, for example, some residents were discovered burying a statue of a deity near the Gyanvapi mosque, an incident that also occurred in Babri in 1949.
Now that the Ayodhya dispute has been legally resolved, many fear that the government is preparing the ground to capitalise on new tensions. The idea of protecting Hinduism seems less a matter of faith than a strategy to maintain a platform for political mobilisation.
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12/09/2022 18:34
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