Introduction

Religious rhetoric and nationalist discourses have increasingly dominated the public debate in India and elsewhere. In response to rapidly changing socio-economic and political realities, discourses of religion, tradition and the nation have been used by political leaders to unite otherwise diverse groups. Various processes of globalization, migration and multicultural policies have impacted on the extent to which religious nationalism has become a predominant means of identification in societies all over the world. Discourses related to ‘the war on terror’, following September 11, have furthermore served to intensify this occurrence and we see an increasing tendency among political and religious leaders to accentuate religion and nationalism as common denominators for large groups of people. In this sense, September 11 and its aftermath continue to play a defining role in world politics.