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When I told my family today that I was seeing Modi in the stadium, they instantly said to me, "If you ever get to meet him, you must touch his feet because he's believed in my family um that he is like a reincarnation of God." So, thank you for being here this evening and please join with me in welcoming my friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Well, the atmosphere here is absolutely electric. Tens of thousands of people HAVE PACKED OUT GOTLAND STADIUM. It could be A TAYLOR SWIFT OR COLDPLAY CONCERT, but they're not here to see a pop star. They're here to see the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the most powerful and polarizing leaders in modern India and for all young Australians. He's just always been an inspiration for us and
I'm really grateful to that he's shown us this one. He's like Uncle Modi to us. He will be on the TV in the background. It's almost like we're having chai with him. So, he's part of the family. Yeah. Hinduism is now the fastest growing religion in Australia. In India, it's been highly politicized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His nationalistic brand of Hinduism is called Hindutwa and its influence is being felt here in Australia. The face of Hinduism has changed and it has become increasingly polarized into people wearing religiosity on their sleeves. It's become more and more muscular, more and more masculine and it is oppressive to everyone else. So what
is it about Narendra Modi? Why does he command this kind of devotion? Well, for his supporters, he's become a symbol of Hindu pride and national identity. But in India, religion has become a powerful political force, one that divides communities at home and abroad. Entering the temple, we washing the feet and hands as well. Across many Australian suburbs, Hinduism shapes life and identity for families still practicing centuries old traditions. And both the hands, I'm reciting the mantra. Bavika, Trishul and their three children are visiting the temple in Sydney's west. It's quite shallow up until where those surfers are, but then after that it drops deep. And now lives on the central coast in New South Wales where he works as a GP.
On your marks, get set, go. His spiritual beliefs are strongly rooted in Hinduism. It's a path. It's a path to wonders. And I still follow Hindu practices but I've taken things like yoga, tantra, adveeta, the systems within Hinduism to help me develop as a person to help me reach oneness which is my unique journey. Bavika is a trained microbiologist and hair and makeup artist. She was raised in a deeply religious household in London and continues to follow those traditions in Australia. I still remember like on a Sunday morning very early you could I used to wake up the sound of the bell ringing u my mom would um you know like the diva you can hear the bell you can smell the incense sticks and that's how I
would wake up on a Sunday morning to the sound of that and my mom kind of singing the holy song or the arti ba and's family come from Gujarat the hometown of Narendra Modi. Like many, they believe he's helped elevate India's standing on the world stage. He has implemented some amazing infrastructure. He has, you know, um, cleaned up, he's really cleaned up India. So, I think there's a lot of love there for him and religion I feel like is just incorporated in that. We want to make it as inclusive as possible. Yeah. So we have like a seek speaker, we have Christians, we have Muslims and they all but not all Indian Australians support Prime Minister Modi's version of Hinduism or Hindutwa.
Nandan Maha is a writer and poet and an advocate with Hindus for human rights. Hinduism is being sort of reframed as Hindutwa and that has become sort of the mainstay of the political party that's in power. Hindutwa I feel is closer to a political sort of ideology and there's a road map and there's a sort of particular way of looking at the world which places certain people on top of a hierarchy and places certain people outside of that. If your practices are different, if for instance your political leanings are different, if you want to live life in a different way, you're antiational or you're anti-Hindu or you know you're you're outside.
Hi Arti, how are you? It's so good. Really nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming. I've come to the art gallery of New South Wales where they're currently showing avatar forms of Vishnu. These Indian deities have captivated people for centuries, shaping one of the world's richest cultural traditions. This is one of my favorite pieces and that's Ram and that's Ravena and that's Laxshman L. So it's from one of the most famous and well-loved mythological stories in India, the Ramayana. Rama of course is an avatar of Vishnu. Vishnu is the god that this whole exhibition is in celebration of.
Rama is one of the journalist Arti Betigetti has also been tracking the rise of the Indian diaspora in Australia. So Vishnu descends to earth in times of chaos to kind of you know clean up messes smooth things out and that's what Rama is doing here. I think uh Lord Ram is one of the most beloved avatars of Vishnu, right? But also I think um one of the characters that I guess Prime Minister Modi also sees himself in, right? They see him as like a god reincarnate at the moment. 100%. Prime Minister Modi has styled himself as a godlike figure in the um Avatar I suppose of Rama. One of the reasons for that is that he styled himself as a kind of a god man.
Indians love their gods. People really rever Modi. They might have a photograph or an image of him in their family shrine. There might be photos of him garlanded on the streets, but they absolutely love the fact that they can worship him as a god-like figure. Modi takes all opportunities to align himself with Lord Ram as seen here in this lavish festival promoted by his government. Many feared it would exacerbate historic tension between Muslims and Hindus over the Aayodhya temple. Is what Mecca is to Muslims, what Bethlehem is to you know Christians. Uh Aayodhya is like that to Hindus. So uh Hindus naturally are going to be um
wanting to connect with Lord Rama in any way they can you know and they get very possessive um over that area. Yes. To the Hindus this is the birthplace of their god Ram. To build their shrine they must first destroy a 400year-old mosque which stands on the site. This religious conflict between Muslims and Hindus grew until the Barbi Mazjid was finally torn down in 1992, leading to deadly riots across the country. Thousands were slaughtered, mainly Muslims. In 2024, the Prime Minister's Office of India widely publicized the completion of a Hindu temple on the same site with an extravagant celebration. Seen by some as a symbol of the new Hindu nation. But given the timing just before the election, it was met
with fear and apprehension by Muslims. The impact of that was that it served as probably the most potent symbol of Hindu primacy, Hindu supremacy in India. And it also did establish him for once and for all as a god-like figure as a Ram who' come to earth. These gatherings of support for Narendra Modi show a growing Hindu nationalism in which the Hindu religion dominates all others. During Modi's campaign in 2014, I was living in New Delhi and I noticed a shift in the way that other religions are spoken about and in particular Muslims. People who normally would never speak ill of Muslims suddenly felt they had a license to I think Modi is
synonymous with a rising wave of Islamophobia that has been uh buried under the surface if you will in India and now it's it now it's quite out there and almost in a way that's accepted and acceptable. Modi allows you to be anti-Muslim because Muslims are being killed on the street and nobody raises an eyebrow. So say you were brought up in secular India where you were supposed to you know be tolerant and accepting of everybody including Muslims, Christians, Dalits, whatever. But you've always had an anti-Muslim part. He allows us to feel comfortable about prejudices. India is one of the world's largest Muslim countries. I think there's something like 200 million Muslims. Of course, Hindus are the majority. 80% of
India is Hindu. But it's still a very significant Muslim nation. And you can't shy away from that. Today, Melbourne is gripped by Modi mania. Are you excited about seeing Shri Narendra Modi? Yeah. And the Durji family have traveled from Sydney to be a part of it all. You got to look smart for the prime minister of India. Hi Pabika, how are you? Thank you. How are you? It's lovely to meet you. I'm always fascinated cuz like you're quite young but still feeling this kind of connection to a political
leader. It's quite rare, isn't it? Absolutely. For me especially, he's so inspirational. Not just because he's upped the game for Hindu nationalism in India, but more so for his focus on governance. I think we can all relate to him because he comes from such humble background. You know, his family, they were selling tea in a railway station. And from a very young age, he was politically inclined. He knew he had a vision. He knew what he wanted to do. He had those leadership qualities and he built that and he worked his way up through the ranks. Okay, guys. Moody meets Melbourne. Here we come.
Ready? Let's go. However, the visit is also reigniting tensions within the Indian diaspora. Like some in the sick community, we are demonstrating the visit of Modi to Australia. Seeks for justice. Here stands the Kalistthan movement seceding from India for their homeland, sovereign homeland, Kalistan. I'd like him to sign a deal at the United Nations and give Kalistthan to the Seikhs. I think religion and politics are two different things. Whilst I admire that Narendra Modi is a devout Hindu, I understand that someone who has that degree of power and influence is naturally going to attract some degree of negativity. You know, people have
different opinions and different perspectives and that diversity is our strength. Trish, I get what you're saying. Religion, politics, different things, but the Hindu pride, the Hindu identity has become the real core of the BJP and and Narendra Modi's politics. What do you make though of some minorities that feel that they're excluded from that kind of inclusivity? You know, I think um Hinduism as a religion doesn't exclude and um you know, it's very respectful for all religions and the Hindu way isn't the only way. And I think uh whilst Narendra Modi is a devout Hindu, I think he does embrace other cultures and other traditions and he's very accepting of them.
What would your message be to some of the people today? We've got six separatists here. We've got people here from the Indian Muslim community who feel that our prime minister, Australian prime minister should be questioning the Indian prime minister on that human uh rights record. Do you think it's a fair criticism? I think it's a fair criticism. I think everybody should be entitled to their own perspectives and I feel politicians and people of power should be asked these difficult questions and these hard questions and given the opportunity to demonstrate what they believe in and to exert their influence. Yeah. But do you want Yes, I would love a cup of tea.
Back in Sydney, Deina Kosh is preparing for Holi, the festival of color with her good friend Nandini Maha for them. Modi is a divisive leader tea house and they sell their own rules. Like as a country, we're finding our place in the world, right? the old world is crumbling right before our eyes. A new world is yet to be born, right? Is it the time for monsters? Perhaps it is. Um the thing though is that when you're trying to find an identity, it's very easy to sort of come around this image of a strong man. This image of oh India is now finally being respected. But there is broad agreement that Mi has achieved a newfound confidence and pride in being Indian. There was for a long time in India a real colonial hangover.
Understand that it's a very young country. It's only 80 years old. For a long time it was really finding its feet as a country as a society. Who are we? What's our purpose? What's our reason for being? Are we still in the thr of the British Raj? Are we now looking to the US? But I think what Modi inculcated within Indians was a pride in being Indian itself of being from South Asia. We can also actually ask Manir no if he can do like from a seek perspective because Holi such a big festival for them. These women believe Modi's version of Hindutwa has made India more conservative and one which no longer treats all religions equally.
They worry that those prejudices are making inroads into Australia. Unlike India, what has happened is because the diaspora that has moved here has been basically a traditionalist and conservative one, they have tried to present the diaspora as being quite monolithically Hindu in a particular way without acknowledging all of the various traditions u that exist in um Hinduism. that the ideology has carried over into Australian society is absolutely of no surprise to me. It's just the way that diaspora groups operate. You know, the larger the group, the more chance you have to only socialize within that same group. And that means that you're only going to talk about the things that connect you that bind you. Whether that
is being South Asian, whether it's cricket, whether it is having this ideology of Hindutva. I hope that in the second generation it will die out. As more and more Indians choose to migrate to Australia, it's changing the way Hinduism is practiced here. happy. Well, I came to Australia like 20 years ago and I remember back in those times not many Hindu people around me but now I have seen coming from Canbor I have seen there are about four Hindu temples so you can tell that the community is definitely growing is hosting today's celebration in Western Sydney. I've grown up in England as a Hindu and my father would take me to Holly. Krishna deposited um dark skin and his beautiful wife rather had very fair skin. So he would playfully kind of color her with all these
different watercolors and it was just to show kind of love and unity and that's where kind of Holly comes in. So it's celebrated now based on rather than Krishna's relationship with those colors. Interestingly, they weren't actually married. Krishna's wife is Rrookmani, not Rada. But what that represents, there's deep meaning to that. So Krishna and Rada are they are lovers and it represents a divine love, a love that isn't held by bondage, by signatures, by you know, it's a freedom. It's it's how love should be, you know. So it's what it represents, not just what it is. However, Hindutwa has sought to redefine Hinduism, traditionally known for its diversity and pluralism, into a more insular and strident model. When you
have a religion whose religious book starts with saying we don't know, it opens up enormous spaces for thinking and imagination and collaboration and all kinds of things right which is being constricted by Hindutwa which says ironically that you have to be like all the other religions which have a holy book, Bible or Quran which have one God and which have only one way you know one path. Whereas the thing with Hinduism is that it always was many parts, you know, many rivers to the sea sort of thing. And also the validation of monotheism over polytheism, which seemed normal to Europeans because for whatever reason they decided that one god was somehow more acceptable than a variety of gods.
Modi's recent visit to Australia has fostered even closer ties between the two countries economic and political for Arti Betigeri that is a positive aspect of Modi's leadership. I think all politicians who know how to harness the Indian diaspora will be successful in their relevant electorates. India is really positioning itself as a future global leader. It recognizes that the world is in a state of flux now with a few different powers competing for hegeimon status. It sees itself as a contender for the crown and it has now recognized that the way to do that is to gain solid relationships with a range of other countries and Australia has been knocking on India's door for
decades. India has only ever opened it up a crack. about seven or eight years ago that changed and I think India recognized oh we really need to build up our other relationships because we see China as this massive looming threat there's there's so much to be gained economically people-to-people relations do you think that is part of the reason often our politicians don't really question Prime Minister Miy and the Indian government on its human rights record I think the Australian government sees more value in cultivating India as is a really profound friend and partner and sometimes that means making difficult decisions about what you raise and what you don't raise.
Some worry about what messages Australian politicians are perhaps unwittingly sending. I would appeal to the politician is to actually learn about Hinduism and not take the easy way out of one particular group who may be a bit noisier than the others and take their sort of version of Hinduism for the you know whole version but listen talk to other people you know get more views and that's the problem with the lack of education they don't try to find out more you know all of these things it's it's documented it's available for anyone who wants to see so there You know, they say you can't wake up someone who's pretending to be asleep.
The fear for me is that it's very easy to weaponize the faith when you're living in a world of vast inequality, when you can't solve people's problems, their day-to-day existential problems, when you cannot give them housing, when when their job prospects are not that good. You can get them to feel good about themselves by saying, "Hey, but look at your faith. You know, we're world leaders in Hinduism." Right? So that becomes a rallying sort of force that almost subdues your other sort of existential problems. Uh I'm just pinning her sari here so that it stays put. All of this stays so it's all connected so everything stays in place. You have to be able to hold and tuck it in here this
way like it must come. After getting dressed for their own holy event, Devina and Nandani are joined by Shanti Raman. That holy in a strange way typifies what we represent because it is about bringing diverse people together. Yes. Because I think we don't need to preach to anyone. In Hinduism, most ceremonial events begin with a worship ritual like this one in a puja. What I have found is that face of Hinduism has changed and it has become increasingly polar polarized into people wearing religiosity on their sleeves. And I think their stamp on Hinduism as the way to be has become more and more
muscular, more and more masculine. And it is oppressive to everyone else. The Hindus for human rights holy event brings together people from different religions, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. So today, as we smear color on one another, let us also smear color on the concepts of the world. So what is the future of Hinduism in Australia? I actually think that a matter for hope is a lot of the young people from the subcontinent are actually quite progressive because of or in spite of their generation and I think we should hope that they will you know keep taking carrying that forward.
The hope again is that every generation I think comes with its own clarity in the way they think and they come with their own solutions. Ludy, I mean, we can't ignore what Modi's achieved. You he's brought divided people together, you know, so he's done a lot of good work and I was really pleased to see that the country that I'm living in welcomes him uh with open arms, you know, that um they respect the good work that he's done, the commitment that he has always shown to Hinduism and to India. But for most Hindus, it's not the political that's important. It's their personal commitment to faith.
It's all about just being true to yourself and finding yourself, finding your inner divine soul. And I just believe that overall that is what's probably more important for me personally. It's to sort of approach life with an inquiring mind because that's one of the things that attracts me to the faith itself that there are so many interpretations and there isn't one way to actually be a Hindu.
