Jai Shri Ram[a] (IAST:Jaya Śrī Rāma) is an expression inIndic languages, translating to "Glory to LordRama" or "Victory to Lord Rama".[6] The proclamation has been used by Hindus as a symbol of adhering to theHindu faith,[7] or for projection of varied faith-centered emotions.[8][9][10]
"JaiShri Ram" means "Hail Lord Ram" or "Victory to Lord Ram".[6] Ram (or Rama) is a major deity in Hinduism.[25]
Antecedents
Religious and social
"Jaya Sri Ram", along with "JayaSita Ram", "Jaya Ram" and "Sita Ram", were used as mutual salutations byRamanandi ascetics (calledBairagis).[26][27] "Ram Ram", "Jai Ram ji ki" and "Jai Siya Ram" have been noted as common salutations in the Hindi heartland (Sita or Siya is the name of Rama's consort).[28][6][29] TheAhmadnagarKaikadis used to tattoo "Sri Ram", "Jai-Ram", and "Jai-Jai-Ram", on their hands and feet.[30]
Photojournalist Prashant Panjiar wrote about how in the cityAyodhya female pilgrims always chant "Sita-Ram-Sita-Ram", while the older male pilgrims prefer not to use Rama's name at all. As per Panjiar, the traditional usage of "Jai" in a slogan was with "Siyavar Ramchandraji ki jai" ("Victory to Sita's husband Rama").[29]
Sukhdevlal's[who?] 1884 commentary ofTulsikrit Ramayana does, however, mention the slogan "Jai Ram Jai Shri Ram" being used.[31] Also, the phrase "Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram" was chanted inmantras and used inkirtan (religious stories),[32][33][34] while "Jai Shri Ram" has been used in thebhajan (devotional song) "Jai Shri Ram nabh Ghansham".[35]
Rama symbolism
The worship of Rama increased significantly in the 12th century, following the invasions of Muslim Turks.[22] TheRamayana became widely popular in the 16th century. It is argued that the story of Rama offers a "very powerful imaginative formulation of the divine king as the only being capable of combating evil".[36] The concept of Ramrajya, "the rule of Ram", was used byGandhi to describe the ideal country free from the British.[22][37]
The most widely known political use of Ram began withBaba Ram Chandra's peasant movement inAwadh in the 1920s. He encouraged the use of "Sita-Ram" as opposed to the then widely used "Salaam" as a greeting, since the latter implied social inferiority. "Sita-Ram" soon became a rallying cry.[38]
JournalistMrinal Pande states that slogans were often chanted for the duo of Sita and Rama, such asBol Siyavar orSiyapat Ramchandra ki jai [victory to Ram, Sita's husband], although growing up she never heard any about Ram as an individual, let alone a warrior.[22] But inMethodist Quarterly Review, Volume LXII.–1880., Rev. B. H. Badley has mentioned Indian soldiers cheering "Ram Rajah Ki Jai !" and "Ram Chandra Ki Jai !" ("Hurrah for King Ram Chandra— Victory to Ram !") while leaving the Bombay harbor for Malta.[39] And J. F. Fanthome, in his bookMariam: A Story of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 (1896), mentions Hindus using the war cry of "Jai Sri Ram Lachmanji ki" ("Victory to Lord Rama andLakshmana") against the British during theIndian Rebellion of 1857, whileMuhammadans yelled "Ek nara Haidari, ya Husein".[40]
1980s and forward
In the late 1980s, the slogan "Jai Shri Ram" was popularised byRamanand Sagar's television seriesRamayan, where it was used byHanuman and theVanara Sena (monkey army) as a war cry when they fought the demon army ofRavana in order to free Sita.[41] Sagar himself acknowledged his contribution, claiming, "College boys don't say 'Hi' any more, they say 'Jai Shri Ram ki' 'Long live Shri Ram'."[42]
Simultaneously the Rama pictography was changed to projecting a heroic, muscular, and angry Rama.[43][48][49] A muscular Rama, clad in saffron, was shown towering over an imaginary Ram temple in Ayodhya.[50] These images were labelled with the "Jai Shri Ram" slogan (written in theDevanagari script of Hindi).[51]
A 1995 essay published inManushi, a journal edited by academicMadhu Kishwar, described how the Sangh Parivar's usage of "Jai Shri Ram", as opposed to "Sita-Ram", lies in the fact that their violent ideas had "no use for a non-macho Ram."[22] This also mobilised more people politically, since it was patriarchal. Further, the movement was exclusively associated with Ram's birth, which had occurred many years before his marriage to Sita.[52]
It is a "Blut und Boden" (blood and soil) movement which aims to purify Bharat (the Motherland) from foreign elements.... The damage that the nation sustained is, to a significant extent, the consequence of the gentleness and indulgence that the people showed in the face of the repressive foreigners. The softness and femininity that came to be dominant in Hinduism, a change that was wrought by the cunning machinations of the enemy, now must make place for the original, masculine, powerful Hindu ethos. This explains the warlike, extremely aggressive character of the appeal for a national revival launched by the advocates of Hindutva. An interesting aside here is that the greeting "Jai Siya Ram" has been transformed into the battle cry "Jai Shri Ram" ("Long live Lord Ram"). The Hindu supreme god has assumed the form of a macho general. In the original meaning, "Siya Ram" had been a popular greeting of welcome in the countryside since time immemorial... The Hindu fanatics have now also banished her from the popular greeting by changing Siya to "Shri" (Lord), thereby suppressing the feminine element in favour of masculine virility and assertiveness.
— Jan Breman, "Ghettoization and Communal Politics: The Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion in the Hindutva Landscape",Institutions and Inequalities: Essays in Honour of Andre Beteille
An Indian political analyst decried the political use of the slogan in 2019, and said that "it now seems to have official sanction."[54] In December 2022,Congress leaderRahul Gandhi while giving a speech in Madhya Pradesh attackedBJP andRSS by raising the question "Why they always chants "Jai Shri Ram" and not "Jai Siya Ram".[55][56] Reacting to his question, a minister in Madhya Pradesh and a senior BJP leaderNarottam Mishra replied "I think Rahul Gandhi's knowledge is only limited to children's rhyme 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', the name of Ram is prefixed with 'Shri' which is also used for LordVishnu's wifeLakshmi and Sita Ji".[56] The BJP'sAmit Malviya also reacted to Rahul Gandhi's attack by posting a video in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his Ram Mandir ceremony speech with "Jai Siya Ram".[55][57]
The Wire said in 2023 that "We are yet to see any condemnation of the 'misuse' of the sacred name Ram by any religious leader or body."[58]
Usage
The BJP advocates usingJai Shri Ram andJai Siya Ram as a greeting.[59]
In 1992, during riots and thedemolition of the Babri Masjid, the same slogan was raised.[62][63] FormerBBC Bureau ChiefMark Tully, who was present at the site of the Masjid on 6 December, recalls the usage of the slogan "Jai Shri Rama!" by the Hindu crowds rushing towards the mosque.[5]
In January 1999, the slogan was heard again when Australianmissionary doctorGraham Staines was burned alive with his two children in Manoharpur,Orissa.[15]
In the events leading up to theGodhra train burning of February 2002, supporters of the Gujarat VHP and its affiliated organisations like theBajrang Dal forced Muslims to chant "Jai Shri Ram" on their journey to Ayodhya,[64] and on their return journey, they did the same at "every other station", including atGodhra. Both journeys were taken in theSabarmati Express for the ceremony at the Ram Janmabhoomi.[65][66] During the2002 Gujarat riots that followed, the slogan was used in a leaflet distributed by the VHP to encourage Hindus to boycott Muslim businesses.[67]
"Jai Shri Ram" was also chanted by the mob responsible for theGulbarg Society Massacre.Ehsan Jafri, a former Member of Parliament from Ahmedabad, was forced to chant the slogan before he was brutally murdered during said massacre.[68]
The slogan was also heard from the mob during theNaroda Patiya massacre.[69] People living in mixed-religion neighborhoods were forced to put up Jai Shri Ram posters and wear armbands to ward off the rioters.[70]
Tabrez Ansari was forced by a mob to chant "Jai Shree Ram" and "Jai Hanuman" duringhis lynching.[4]
After theBJP's victory in the2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, a 25 year old Muslim man, Babar Ali from UP's Kushinagar district was lynched and killed by the members of his own community for supporting BJP. His family members said that Babar was returning from his shop when he chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and was attacked by some local Muslims.[77][78]
On 15 April 2023, whileAtiq Ahmed was being escorted for a court-mandated medical checkup inPrayagraj, a pistol was fired at Ahmed and his brother's head. Both Atiq and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were killed in the shootout, which was filmed and broadcast live. After shooting attackers started chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' as they were being apprehended.[79][80]
On June 24, 2023, inPulwama, South Kashmir,Indian Army personnel stormed amosque and allegedly forced worshippers to chantJai Shri Ram and bharat mata ke jai.[81][82] Similarly, on November 24, 2024,Kashmiri shawl sellers inHimachal Pradesh reported being harassed and forced to chantHindutva slogans, includingJai Shri Ram.[83]
In October 2024, a 16-year-old Dalit boy in Uttar Pradesh was assaulted and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram by a group of students.[84] Similarly, on December 2024, In Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, three Muslim minors were allegedly beaten and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” by two men near Amrit Sagar Lake.[85]
There have been some reports of violent incidents being associated with the slogan, in which the allegations were later found to be false.[91] In June 2019, a group of 49 artists, academics and intellectuals wrote a letter toPrime MinisterNarendra Modi, requesting him to put a stop "to the name of Ram being defiled" as a war cry. They demanded that strict action be taken against using the slogan for violent purposes.[92]
Politics
In June 2019, the slogan was used to heckle MuslimMPs as they proceeded to take their oath in the17th Lok Sabha.[93] In July that year,Nobel laureateAmartya Sen stated in a speech that the slogan was "not associated with the Bengali culture",[94] leading to some unknown groups publishing his statement on billboards inKolkata.[95] The slogan has also been used to heckleWest BengalChief MinisterMamata Banerjee on multiple occasions, triggering angry reactions from her.[95][96][54]
The slogan was used by lawyers to celebrate the2019 Supreme Court decision to allow a Ram temple to be built on the disputed Ayodhya site where a mob had demolished the Babri Masjid mosque in 1992.[97] In August 2020, following the ground-breaking ceremony of theRam Temple, Ayodhya, the slogan was used as a chant in celebrations in New York.[98]
It is used as a salutation in the 2015 filmBajrangi Bhaijaan. The director states that he grew up hearing "Jai Shri Ram" as a benevolent expression, "rooted in our culture", but that the words have become aggressive.[28] A 2017Bhojpuri film,Pakistan Me Jai Shri Ram depicts the hero as a devotee of Ram who enters Pakistan and kills terrorists while chanting the slogan.[52] Stickers statingHello nahīṃ, bolo Jaya Śrī Rāma (transl. "Don't say hello but say Victory to Rama") became popular on the vehicles and telephones of people running small businesses.[46] A 2018 song, "Hindu Blood Hit", featurespsychedelic repetitions of the slogan and goes on to warn Indian Muslims that their time is up.[100] Another song from 2017, "Jai Shree Ram DJ Vicky Mix", hopes for a time in the future in which "there will continue to be a Kashmir but no Pakistan".[7] The song "Jai Shree Ram" is part of the film music in the 2022 action-adventureRam Setu.[101][102] The 2023 filmAdipurush had a song with the same name.[103]
In 2022, Jujaru Nagaraju, a handloom weaver in Andhra Pradesh weaved a 60 metre long silk sari with "Jai Sri Ram" written over 30 000 times in 13 Indian languages.[104]
See also
Deus vult (God wills it), Christian motto and battle cry
^abEngineer, Asghar Ali (14 November 1992)."Sitamarhi on Fire".Economic and Political Weekly.27 (46):2462–2464.ISSN0012-9976.JSTOR4399118.Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved16 February 2021.Kalam Husain, an eyewitness told us that a mob consisting of brahmins, bhumihars, rajputs, kurmis and chamars (SC) looted and burnt all the houses of 150 Muslims belonging to 36 families living in Ashogi. They were shouting slogan 'Jai Sri Ram'.
^Dasgupta, Amlan (2006). Bakhle, Janaki (ed.). "Rhythm and Rivalry".Economic and Political Weekly.41 (36):3861–3863.ISSN0012-9976.JSTOR4418675.
^"In India, hate-filled songs are a weapon to target Muslims".AP News. 22 April 2022.Similar songs that called for Hindus to kill those who do not chant "Jai Shri Ram!" or "Hail Lord Ram," a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists...
^Jaffrelot, Christophe (4 January 2003)."Communal Riots in Gujarat: The State at Risk?"(PDF).Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics (17).Heidelberg University: 3.doi:10.11588/heidok.00004127.ISSN1617-5069.Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved16 February 2021.They chanted Hindu nationalist songs and slogans throughout the entire voyage, all the while harassing Muslim passengers. One family was even made to get off the train for refusing to utter thekar sevaks' war cry: "Jai Shri Ram!" (Glory to Lord Ram!). More abuse occurred at the stop in Godhra: a Muslim shopkeeper was also ordered to shout"Jai Shri Ram!" He refused, and was assaulted until thekar sevaks turned on a Muslim woman with her two daughters.
^Breman, Jan (17 April 1993)."Anti-Muslim Pogrom in Surat".Economic and Political Weekly.28 (16):737–741.ISSN0012-9976.JSTOR4399608.Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved16 February 2021.Through a hole in the wall he had seen how adults and children were beaten and kicked to death. The hunters forced their catch to shout 'Jai Shri Ram'. "I can't hear you. Louder, say it louder...". "Oh, merciful Allah, Jai Shri Ram". And then came the last kick, final cut or was the body, soaked with petrol, set alight.
^Sarkar, Sumit (30 January 1993)."The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar".Economic and Political Weekly.28 (5):163–167.ISSN0012-9976.JSTOR4399339.Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved16 February 2021 – viaAcademia.edu.The Bajrang Dal thugs often openly declare that anyone who criticises the destruction of the Babri Masjid will have to go to Pakistan, while in the selectively curfew-bound Muslim pockets of Seelampur in east Delhi, the police had rounded up all Muslim men in some areas, beaten them up unless they agreed to say Jai Shri Ram, and even pulled out the beard of a Muslim gentleman.
^Ghassem-Fachandi, Parvis (1 August 2009)."Bandh in Ahmedabad".Violence: Ethnographic Encounters.Berg.ISBN978-1-84788-418-3.Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved16 February 2021.If mobs successfully entered Muslim compounds, they killed the men, raped the women before killing them and burned the residences to the ground. Surviving eyewitnesses have reported widely that Muslim victims were made to speakJai Shri Ram ("Hail Lord Ram") andVande Mataram ("Hail to the Mother") before being killed.
^Salam, Ziya Us (16 August 2019).""Jai Shri Ram": The new battle cry".Frontline.Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved16 February 2021.Unlike his first innings, when the cow was used as a political animal to lynch unarmed Muslim and Dalit men, this time Muslim, Dalit and even Christian men have been assaulted and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram". From Jharkhand to Assam, from Mumbai to Delhi, neither small-town India nor the big metropolises are safe from these lynch mobs.
^"Tensions That Roiled English City Have Roots in India".nytimes com.Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved2 October 2022. "[On 17 September 2022] more than 300 people gathered for an unplanned demonstration [in Leicester, England] ... Some chanted, 'Jai Shri Ram'"
^Jain 2007, pp. 320–321: "... a figure that began to appear in Indian bazaar prints in the late 1980s in confluence with the Hindu nationalist Ramjanmabhumi movement: that of the god Ram as a muscular, aggressive, dynamic warrior.".
^Pinney 2004, p. 204: "The angry Rama image, for instance, was first produced by the Vishva Hindu Parishad in the late 1980s and, following the publication by S. S. Brijbasi of a commissioned copy by the Bombay artist Ved Prakash and then by Rajan Musle, several other companies produced similar images.".
^"What's Next for India's Muslims After Delhi Riots?".Time. 3 March 2020.Whenever a building went up in flames, mobs responded with loud chants of "Jai Shri Ram" ("Victory to Lord Ram" — a deity who has become an icon to Hindu nationalists).
^Ghosh, Shohini (2000). "Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!: Pluralizing Pleasures of Viewership".Social Scientist.28 (3/4): 85.doi:10.2307/3518192.ISSN0970-0293.JSTOR3518192.The characters enter and exit the house by first paying respects to the mandir whose walls are inscribed with "Jai Shri Ram"... This is undoubtedly a 'feelgood' scenario for the Sangh Parivar.
