India’s centralised Friday sermon policy in Kashmir: A tool of cultural homogenisation under authoritarian governance
Original framing: “Backlash in Kashmir over proposal for uniform Friday sermons across mosques” — Al Jazeera
The proposal echoes the British colonial policy of 'divide and rule,' where uniform religious edicts were imposed to fracture local societies. In 19th-century Kashmir, the Dogra rulers similarly attempted to centralise religious practices to undermine the influence of Sufi saints, who were seen as threats to their authority. More recently, the 2008 Amarnath land transfer controversy saw the Indian government weaponise religious narratives to justify land grabs, a tactic now being replicated with sermons. The historical pattern is clear: centralisation of religion is a tool to dismantle local autonomy, not a neutral administrative measure.
The Modi government’s proposal to standardise Friday sermons in Kashmir is not an isolated religious policy but a calculated strategy to dismantle the region’s cultural and spiritual autonomy, a tactic with deep historical roots in colonial and post-colonial governance.
By ignoring the indigenous Sufi traditions that have sustained Kashmiri identity for centuries, the state risks triggering a cycle of resistance that could spiral into broader conflict, as seen in historical parallels like Algeria and Xinjiang. The framing of this as a 'backlash' obscures the systemic nature of the problem: a centralised Hindu-nationalist project that seeks to erase local interpretations of Islam while consolidating control over religious discourse. The solution lies not in superficial reforms but in restoring decentralised governance, preserving cultural zones, and amplifying marginalised voices—particularly those of women and youth—who have historically led resistance movements. The trickster’s lesson here is clear: the state’s attempt to control faith through uniformity will only deepen the cracks in its authority, as faith, like the trickster, always finds a way to thrive in the gaps of power.