By any democratic standard, a nation’s armed forces are expected to embody professionalism, neutrality and constitutional duty. Yet in today’s India, these expectations are steadily eroding. Under the current BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Armed Forces are being subjected to an ideological makeover, and increasingly aligned with the majoritarian Hindutva worldview. What was once a secular institution is now showing unmistakable signs of politicization, religious symbolism and ideological conditioning.

This transformation is neither accidental nor isolated. It is visible in the symbols placed inside military spaces, in the conduct and statements of senior commanders, in recruitment pipelines, and in the growing pressure on minority officers. The net result is what many critics these days term “Modi’s Army”: a force being recast not by national security imperatives but by political and religious agendas.

Kashmir’s Struggle

One of the most emphatic signals for that change came in January 2025, when the Army Chief’s lounge in New Delhi replaced a historic painting with a new work entitled “Karam Kshetra.” This painting foregrounds Hindu mythological figures like Krishna and Chanakya with modern military equipment. The symbolism was unmistakable. A secular legacy was replaced with imagery rooted in Hindu mythology, signaling a broader cultural reorientation within the military’s highest office.

This was not an isolated incident. Only weeks earlier, the Fire and Fury Corps had........

© The Nation