.png)
By: Annika Hesse
Hindutva, also known as Hindu nationalism, is the extremist ideology of the Hindu right. Their goal is to dismantle India’s existing social structure and demote the 200 million Muslims, 30 million Christians, and other marginalized minorities such as the Adivasi (indigenous tribes of the Indian continent) in order to promote “true” Hindu Indians. This ideology guides the current ruling party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), spearheaded by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The imminence of the BJP achieving their goal is becoming much more of a threat, as Modi is in his second term in office and does not seem to be letting up.
The term Hindutva was first used by V.D. Savarkar in 1923 in his book “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?”, which details “criteria for Indian identity based on citizenship, common ancestry, common culture and regard for India as fatherland (pitrbhu) and sacred land (puṇyabhu).” Savarkar was a supporter of Muslim-Hindu amity and even praised many Muslim heroes. However, that was before he was arrested for planning a revolt against the Morley-Minto reforms, an act of the UK Parliament that limited Indian involvement in the governance of British India. An important part of the reforms was the introduction of separate electorates reserved for Muslims and in which only Muslims were polled. The effect of this was that Muslim representation was ensured in the Indian government. During his incarceration, Savarkar turned his focus onto Hindu identity and nationalism. In his book, which was written in prison and smuggled out to the public, Savarkar called for a resurgence of Hinduism. However, unlike other calls for the revival of Hinduism by priests and saints, Savarkar defined the rebirth in political terms. He claimed that a ‘Hindu’ was a patriotic inhabitant of India, venturing beyond religious identity. According to Savarkar, neither Christians nor Muslims could ever be considered true Indians even though both religions have been present in India for centuries.
Although some people refer to Hindutva as “Hinduness” or “a way of life”, synonyms for Hinduism, it is important to understand the distinction between the two. Hindutva is an ethnonationalist or religious-nationalist ideology derived from the ancient Indian teachings that are lumped in with Hinduism. It combines religious nationalism with territorial belonging and citizenship as a form of identitarianism. Hinduism in and of itself is a peaceful religion, as some of the core teachings of Hindu scriptures include ekatva (oneness) and ahimsa (nonviolence). Ironically, Hindutva goes against all of this by promoting exclusion and ridicule of minority religions and ethnic groups. Some Hindutva extremists openly encourage violence towards non-Hindus, specifically Muslims and Christians. This is an increasingly pressing issue as Hindutva is becoming more popular due to its promotion by the BJP and its ideological parent group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The Bharatiya Janata Party started becoming relevant in the 1990s, almost 50 years after the Indian republic was established. They had suffered an electoral defeat in the 1984 general polls and decided to abandon the “positive secularism and Gandhian socialism” ideals they had originally campaigned with and instead adopt the Hindutva ideology. They managed to win a few seats in Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) in the 1984 election as well as the following elections. They won the majority of seats three times, but there were many complications before they could finally establish a government as part of a coalition called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) under prime minister Vajpayee from 1998-2004. Coalitions are a critical part of many governments because they reduce the dominance of any one party. Furthermore, coalitions are necessary because it is usually impossible for one party to receive the majority on its own. Between 1998 and 2004, the BJP gained even more popularity by arguing that the Hindu community was being short-changed and that only they could accurately represent and protect their interests. The NDA lost the next two elections to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), but the BJP was able to win the majority on its own in 2014 under Modi, who capitalized on the discontent of the UPA. And ever since then, the BJP has been in power, continuing to push policies and laws that favor Hindu Indians.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, a paramilitary volunteer organization established in 1925 (just two years after Savarkar's book was published), promotes the ideals of upholding the Indian culture and spreads the ideology of Hindutva to “strengthen” the Hindu community. They claim to have been inspired by Hindu scripture when in reality, they draw inspiration from Nazi Germany as well as Mussolini’s fascist tactics in Italy. This conclusion can be drawn by looking at how they are forcing Hinduism upon a very large, diverse group of people and persecuting those who do not assimilate to the Hindu culture. They have roughly 5-6 million members across India, and Prime Minister Modi is one of them. The goal of the RSS is to reshape India according to India’s main religion, Hinduism. Their mission statement reads “The Hindus have been treated as second-order citizens by successive governments”, and “Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the [RSS] is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory, through organizing the entire society and ensuring the protection of Hindu Dharma.” Many followers interpret this as a decree to force Hindu scripture into Indian law while expunging India of “foreign” religious groups, specifically Indian Muslims.
Ever since the 2014 election, there have been various attacks on Muslims, and the BJP has not done much to protect them. These lynchings target all religious minority groups, but specifically Muslims. Between May 2015 and December 2018, 44 members of religious minorities have been murdered, and hundreds more have been injured. Furthermore, Hindu extremists, referred to as “Cow Vigilantes”, have taken it upon themselves to enforce the beef ban (because cows are viewed as sacred in Hindu culture) and have murdered Muslims for being suspected of eating beef or simply transporting cattle for slaughter. The government, and in some cases law enforcement, have sat idly by as these violent attacks have surged in the past 5 years. The Delhi Police have even been found to ignore or participate in the violence towards Muslims during riots.
Not only is the government turning a blind eye to this situation, but they are also encouraging it by imposing laws to exclude Muslims from citizenship and public life. On December 12, 2019, the Modi administration passed the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This act will fast-track citizenship for non-Muslim irregular immigrants from Muslim-majority countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The reason for this act is because the minorities in these Muslim-majority countries are being persecuted on the basis of religion. However, this is problematic because there are other surrounding countries such as Myanmar and Burma where the religious minority is Muslims who are also being persecuted, yet they aren’t extended the benefit of their citizenship being fast-tracked. So although this act might appear tolerant towards minorities, it is really just the BJP's way of extending discriminatory practices of Muslims to surrounding countries. This act has led many Indian Muslims to fear that this is the beginning of unconstitutional bias based on religion and that their citizenship could potentially be revoked. Additionally, BJP leaders have frequently made Hindu nationalist or anti-Muslim remarks in speeches that only serve to incite violence towards Muslims by Hindutva supporters.
With the help of the RSS, the BJP has succeeded in rallying many Hindu Indians to support their movement. And although Hindu Indians make up about 80% of the population, there are still hundreds of millions of other Indians who are in danger of persecution based on their religion and ethnicity. However, many Hindus do speak out against this discrimination. They appreciate diversity and acknowledge that India is a melting pot of different cultures. But in order to have an impact on Indian politics, they need to amplify their voices, which in a country with an immense population, and little to no access to a general platform, is incredibly difficult to do. Considering that Muslims in India are already on the brink of undergoing a humanitarian crisis, as they are already blatantly treated as second class citizens and have consistently been on the receiving end of human rights violations committed by the Indian government, if nothing is done to stop the spread of the imminent threat of the Hindutva ideology, we could be staring at a cultural genocide in one of the most diverse countries in the world.
Discussion Questions:
What can the international community do to help minority religions in India?
How is Hindutva similar to other political ideologies?
What can be done to stop the spread of Hindutva in India?
How does the India-Pakistan conflict play a role in the spread of Hindu nationalism?
Sources Used:
Further Reading:
Comments