The rise of Hindu nationalism, especially following the election of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) in 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has put a sharper
focus on the long-standing struggle over the nature of India’s political and cultural identity.
Within the Hindu nationalist frame, any part of India’s culture or history associated with its non-
Hindu minorities, especially the Muslim community, is viewed as antithetical to Indian identity.
This has politicized many aspects of daily life, turning even food and the consumption of meat
into a deadly battlefield on which this political struggle is now taking place.