102 "Presenting" the Past
Nahin; Bolo Jai Sri Ram" (Not hello; say Jai Sri Ram). The Hindutva mes-
sage was hammered home through all kinds of little things such as T-
shirts, bangles with "Sita-Ram" written on them, and even bindis (forehead
marks) with a lotus (the BJP election symbol) and Ram embossed on them.
The very image of Ram was changed in the VHP posters from a beatific
smile to a warlike image, with trident and bow at the ready. The slogans
too turned more militant, from " Bachcha-bachcha Ram ka, Janmabhoomi ke
kaam ka" (Every child belongs to Ram and for the work of Ramjanmab-
humi) to "Janmabhoomi ke kaam na aye, vo bekaar jawanee hai" (Youth that
does not serve Ramjanmabhumi is youth lived in vain).^112
The Hindutva political socialization is rather high-tech. The pub-
lic speeches of Hindutva figures are preserved in audiocassettes and
replayed all over the country. Like speech cassettes for masses, popular-
music cassettes are targeted at the youth. For instance, the cassette Ram ki
nam le makes Sita play a seductive damsel calling out to Ram in a popular
Hindi film tune to "come to me Ram with the golden deer." Then there
are videocassettes put out by the VHP on various topics with elements of
mass commercial entertainment "to both mobilize and keep alive a sense
of participation when the movement is not going through its dramatic
moments." In one of the election campaign videocassettes, called Ram
rajya ki ore chale, the BJP program was presented with small kits enacted
by some of the famous TV Ramayan serial stars. The ingenuity of these
productions is that they mask their call to violent confrontation with the
secular state when they seemingly give a different message. The video
called Ramji Ki Sena Chale opens with a human Hanuman (a monkey dis-
ciple of Ram) climbing the raised platform that overlooks the podium. The
soundtrack reproduces the wavering, bugle-like sound copied from the
signature tune of a popular TV serial, Tippu Sultan, that precedes the long
shot of Tipu and his army marching to battle. This militaristic reference,
given to the chant of "Ram rajya ayega" (Ramarajya is coming), presents
the mindset of the Hindutva scheme.^113
While the RSS and other Sangh Parivar organizations compensate the
role of schools, they have a concerted action program at the media front.
Their processes of indoctrination range from arousing speeches to agitat-
ing videos, or communal narratives to handbills, and they all engage in
one-way transaction with little room for dissension or dialogue. The Hin-
dutva forces have had institutions for the educated and insinuations for
the illiterate. There have been numerous educational institutions with a
different focus on diverse age-groups, such as the Saraswati Shishu-man-
dir, Vidya Bharati, Gurukula Ashram, Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, and so
forth. There have been specialized agencies such as the Samskar Bharati
to revive traditional skills, the BMS to organize labor, the BKS to orga-
nize the peasantry, and the ABVP to organize students. A whole range of
publications, which include Organiser, Panchajanya, Rashtra Dharma, and