Hindutva ("Hinduness", a word coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1923 pamphlet entitled Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? ) is used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism.

The former ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is closely associated with a group of organizations that promote Hindutva. They collectively refer to themselves as the "Sangh Parivar" or family of associations, and include the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

This ideology has existed since the early 20th century, forged by freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar popularly known as Veer Savarkar (Veer means brave), but came to prominence in Indian politics in the late 1980s, when two events attracted a large number of mainstream Hindus to the movement. The first of these events was the Rajiv Gandhi government's use of its large Parliamentary Majority to overturn a Supreme Court verdict granting alimony to an old woman that had angered many Muslims (see the Shah Bano case). The second was the dispute over the 16th century Mughal Babri Mosque in Ayodhya - built by Babur after his first major victory in India. The Supreme Court of India refused to take up the case in the early 1990s, leading to a huge outcry. Tempers soon flared, and Hindutva supporters razed the mosque in late 1992. The razing of the mosque and subsequent conflict arguably lifted the BJP and Hindutva to international prominence.

Definition

Ancient Hindu flag with two pennants.

Grammatically, the term is a compound of the Persian word "Hindū" and the Sanskrit suffix "-tva" which is used to form neuter abstract nouns. Hence, according to Savarkar, Hindutva is meant to denote the Hindu characteristic, or Hinduness.

In a judgment the Indian Supreme Court ruled that "no precise meaning can be ascribed to the terms 'Hindu', 'Hindutva' and 'Hinduism'; and no meaning in the abstract can confine it to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage." The Supreme Court also ruled that "Ordinarily, Hindutva is understood as a way of life or a state of mind and is not to be equated with or understood as religious Hindu fundamentalism. A Hindu may embrace a non-Hindu religion without ceasing to be a Hindu and since the Hindu is disposed to think synthetically and to regard other forms of worship, strange gods and divergent doctrines as inadequate instead of wrong or objectionable, he tends to believe that the highest divine powers complement each other for the well-being of the world and mankind."

Hindutva is frequently identified with the guiding ideology of the Sangh Parivar, a family of Hindu Nationalist organizations, and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in particular. In general, Hindutvavaadis (followers of Hindutva) believe that they represent the well-being of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and all other religions prominent in India along with Zoroastrianism and Judaism .

Organizations

Main article: Sangh Parivar

Most nationalists are organized into political, cultural and social organizations. The first Hindutva organisation formed was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, founded in 1925. A prominent Indian political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is closely associated with a group of organisations that advocate Hindutva. They collectively refer to themselves as the "Sangh Parivar" or family of associations, and include the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. Other organisations include:

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh - Overseas branch of the RSS

Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh - Worker's Union

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad - A Student's Union

Bharatiya Kisan Sangh - A Farmers' organisation

The major political wing is the BJP which was in power in India's Central Government for six years from 1998 to 2004 and is now the main opposition party. It is also in power in the five states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Uttaranchal. It is an alliance partner in the states of Orissa, Punjab, and Bihar.

Political parties pertaining to the Hindutva ideology are not limited to the Sangh Parivar. Instances of political parties independent from the Sangh's influence include Praful Goradia's Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Uma Bharti's Bharatiya Janshakti Party. The influence of these groups is comparatively limited.

The Maharashtrian controversial political party, the Shiv Sena, converted its ideology to the Hindutva one in recent times. It has been very influential in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The party is not part of the Sangh Parivar but is associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Similar is the Shiromani Akali Dal, which is a Sikh religious party but maintains ties with Hindutva organizations, as they also represent Sikhism.

Central concepts

The Indian subcontinent (which includes the area south of the Himalaya and the Hindu Kush or Akhand Bharat is the homeland of the Hindus.

"Hindus" are those who consider India (Bharat) to be their fatherland (pitribhumi) as well as their holyland (punyabhumi) (definition as proposed by Savarkar).

emphasizing historical oppression of Hindus by invading forces like the Muslims (see Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent) and the Christians (see Goa Inquisition) and the call to "reverse" the influence resulting from these intrusions.

denunciation of British colonialism and Communism alike for a perceived weakening of Hindus.

The irredentist call for the establishment of a "Hindu Rashtra" to protect Hindus and revive Hindu culture

denunciation of the Indian government as too passive with regard to the ethnic cleansing Kashmiri Hindus by Kashmiri Muslim separatists and advocates of Hindutva wish a harder stance in Jammu and Kashmir.

A ban on cow slaughter in India.

Philosophy

Hindu nationalists have the stated aim of uniting the Hindu society which is plagued by casteism, regionalism, passive religion. They have a positive outlook towards the Dalit community, which they aim to bring to leadership positions in their organizations. They believe that the way Muslims and Hindus have treated each other in the past is a one-way compromise and they intend on making society more balanced and fair towards the majority Hindu population. The BJP has also invited Muslims to be a part of this new society and work with the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs for a better India. Even more militant parties such as the Shiv Sena have invited Muslims to join and the party leader declared after the Babri Mosque incident,

"We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us."

Muslims and Christians who insist on conversion and deplore other practices are seen by some as foreign elements in the subcontinent, which rightly belongs to Hindus who firmly support accepting diverse practices.

Ruthven (2007:108) claims to recognize an element of religious fundamentalism in Swami Dayananda's "elevation of the Vedas to the sum of human knowledge, along with his myth of the Aryavartic kings", but identifies its consequences as nationalistic, since "Hindutva secularizes Hinduism by sacralizing the nation". Mezentseva (1994), however, rejects any necessary connection being made between Dayananda and Hindu nationalism, demonstrating that his interpretation of 'Aryavarta' is not to be identified with the concept of the Indian nation as utilized by Hinduvta groups.

Views on other faiths

The advocates of Hindutva often use the term pseudo-secularism to refer to laws which they believe are very favourable towards the Muslims and Christians. They point to the different standards for Hindus, Muslims and Christians. They oppose what they see as a 'separate-but-equal' system; some supporters of Hindutva see it as the Indian National Congress party's effort to woo the sizeable minority vote bank at the expense of true equality. The subject of a Uniform Civil Code, which would remove special religion-based provisions for different religions (Hindus, Muslims, Christians, etc) from the Indian Constitution, isthereforeone of the main political planks of Hindutva. The Uniform Civil Code is opposed by Muslims, Christians and parties like the Indian National Congress and The Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Hindutva followers question differential laws towards Muslim and Christian institutions; and oppose partiality for marriages and divorces asking why in a secular democracy Muslim men are allowed to keep more than one wife, but Hindus or Christians are prosecuted for doing the same.

Christians are also given separate laws for divorce, which is more difficult for them than for Muslims. The passing of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 by Rajiv Gandhi government to dilute the secular judgment of Supreme Court under pressure from the conservative Muslims incensed some Hindus who became Hindutva supporters. The new act, in tune with the Shariat, denied even utterly destitute Muslim divorcees the right to alimony from their former husbands.

Followers feel that Hindutva speaks for freedom to practice diverse believes and customs. They also often feel that secular democracy implies equal laws for all religions, and want a Uniform Civil Code passed for the same reason.

One must also differentiate between the word "secularism" as used in the Western and Indian contexts. Secularism in the West implies "separation of church & state" whereas secularism in India means "equal respect for all religions".

Among the goals of the Hindutva organisations in modern India includes winning the struggles to reclaim Hindu architectures. The struggles have started since usurpation of their structures during the invasions by conquerors. These consist of demands to recover temples that have become disputed historical monuments.

The usurpation of Hindu architecture is still being continued by both the Muslims and Christians and encouraged by their leaders. When Pope John Paul II came to India, he called for an entire conversion of Asia in the lines of that carried out in Europe and Africa in the earlier millennia.. The destruction of the Mylapore Kapalishwar temple in Chennai and Vedhapurishvarar Temple in the city of Puducherry are some of the temples usurped by the then Christian rulers.

Hindutva groups are overwhelmingly supportive of the Jewish State of Israel, including Savarkar himself, who supported Israel during its formation.. The RSS is politically pro-Israel and actively praised the efforts of Ariel Sharon when he visited India . R.S.S spokesperson Ram Madhav recently expressed support for Israel.

Views on Indian History

Further information: Indigenous Aryans and Aryan Invasion Theory (history and controversies)

The ideological beginning of this line of political thought in modern India is the RSS. Its aim, according to its stated objectives is to instil national pride in every Indian. Its motto is 'Sangathit Hindu, Samartha Bharat' i.e. 'United Hindus, capable India'. The RSS is the largest voluntary organisation in the world. All of its gatherings are held on open grounds, where men, women and children of all ages gather in daily meetings. There are about 50000 such daily gatherings (called shakha, i.e. branch) across the length and breadth of the country. It has widespread support among Indian Hindus. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was established to network with Hindus outside India. The Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the VHP.

The RSS worldview is that India is the "fount of human civilisation," from whence its knowledge spread to the rest of the world. Since this view challenges many contemporary historic notions such as the Indo-Aryan migration, and the influence of Babylonic cultures and ancient Central Asian civilizations, on the development of the language, culture and religions of India etc., these claims are considered pseudoscience in peer-reviewed academia, but finds defenders such as Belgian writer Koenraad Elst who casts the notion in an academic framework with his "out of India" theory. While largely uncontroversial in academia "Aryan Invasion" debate in India, involving e.g. Sita Ram Goel, Romila Thapar and Arun Shourie, isthereforea matter of politics.

Symbolism of Historic Hindu figures

Because there were many fighters who stood up to outside aggression, Hindu nationalists use these fighters such as Ahilyabai Holkar, Prithviraj, and particularly Shivaji Maharaj as defenders of India and Hinduism and further advocate that every Hindu should try to be like them. Some organizations such as the Shiv Sena have been named themselves after and been modelled after the ideology of these kings.

Criticism & allegations of fascism

The opponents of Hinduvta philosophy consider Hindutva ideology as a euphemistic effort to conceal communal beliefs and practices.

Many Indian Marxist sociologues have described the Hindutva movement as fascist in classical sense, in its ideology and class support specially targeting the concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony. The Hindutva movement on the other hand terms such description as coming from the far left. More moderate critics of Hindutva do not base their criticism on allegations of "fascism", but raise issues with regards to their sometimes-vacillating attitudes towards non-Hindus and secularism. The epithet of "fascism" is also used to evoke double standards against Hindus in political and academic discourse. The academia and polity have been accused of engaging in a form of anti-Hindu McCarthyism against Hindu political expression by levelling the accusation of "fascism" against anyone who expresses sympathy for Hindus.

Marxist critics , have used the political epithets of "Indian fascism" and "Hindu fascism" to describe the ideology of the Sangh Parivar. For example, Marxist social scientist Prabhat Patnaik has written that the Hindutva movement as it has emerged is "classically fascist in class support, methods and programme"

Patniak bases this argument on the following "ingredients" of classical fascism present in Hindutva: the attempt to create a unified homogeonous majority under the concept of 'the Hindus'; a sense of grievance against past injustice; a sense of cultural superiority; an interpretation of history according to this grievance and superiority; a rejection of rational arguments against this interpretation; and an appeal to the majority based on race and masculinity.

Views on Hindutva and fascism include those of the Christian convert to the RSS viewpoint, Anthony Elenjimittan, who based his views on RSS's symbolism of the Bhagva (the banner of lord Shiva), Dharma Chakra [the Wheel of Faith] and Satyameva Jayate [Truth alone truimphs] (one must note that these symbols are normative in Hinduism and resemble no relation to Hindutva and the lattermost is the national motto of a secular democratic India).

The description of Hindutva as fascist has been condemned by pro-Hindutva authors such as Koenraad Elst who claim that the ideology of Hindutva meets none of the characteristics of fascist ideologies. Claims that Hindutva social service organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are "fascist" have been disputed by academics such as Vincent Kundukulam.

Academics Chetan Bhatt and Parita Mukta reject the identification of Hindutva with fascism, because of Hindutva's embrace of cultural instead of racial nationalism, because of its "distinctively Indian" character, and because of "the RSS's disavowal of the seizure of state power in preference for long-term cultural labour in civil society". They instead describe Hindutva as a form of "revolutionary conservatism" or "ethnic absolutism"..

Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul also rejects these allegations and views the rise of Hindutva as a welcome, broader civilizational resurgence of India.