Temple Diplomacy and the Blurred Lines of Power Last week's inauguration of the BAPS temple near Paris has sparked controversy, with Indian opposition leader Anish Gawande questioning whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attendance was an official state visit in disguise.
At first glance, this may seem like a trivial matter, but it is symptomatic of a more insidious issue: the increasingly blurred lines between private religious activity and state sanctioned power.
Gawande's concerns are rooted in Modi's long standing ties to BAPS, an organization with a history of controversy surrounding its social, labor, and political practices abroad.