Hindu nationalism

This article is about various Hindu nationalist mobilisations in the last two centuries. For present day Hindu nationalism, see Hindutva.

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Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of Hindū Rāṣṭravād. It is better described as "Hindu polity".[1]

The native thought streams became highly relevant in Indian history when they helped form a distinctive identity about the Indian polity[2] and provided a basis for questioning colonialism.[3] These also inspired Indian nationalists during the independence movement based on armed struggle,[4] coercive politics,[5] and non-violent protests.[6] They also influenced social reform movements and economic thinking in India.[5]

Today, Hindutva (meaning 'Hinduness') is a dominant form of Hindu nationalist politics in India. As a political ideology, the term Hindutva was articulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923.[7] The Hindutva movement has been described as a variant of "right-wing extremism"[8] and as "almost fascist in the classical sense", adhering to a concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony.[9] Some analysts dispute the "fascist" label, and suggest Hindutva is an extreme form of "conservatism" or "ethnic absolutism".[10] Some have also described Hindutva as a separatist ideology.[11][12] Hindutva is championed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Hindu Nationalist volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Sanatan Sanstha,[7] the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and other organisations in an ecosystem called the Sangh Parivar.[13]

  1. ^ Jain, Girilal (1994). The Hindu Phenomenon. New Delhi: UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN 978-81-86112-32-8.
  2. ^ Chatterjee Partha (1986)
  3. ^ Peter van der Veer, Hartmut Lehmann, Nation and religion: perspectives on Europe and Asia, Princeton University Press, 1999 p. 90
  4. ^ Li Narangoa, R. B. Cribb Imperial Japan and National Identities in Asia, 1895–1945, Published by Routledge, 2003 p. 78
  5. ^ a b Bhatt, Chetan, Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths, Berg Publishers (2001), ISBN 978-1-85973-348-6. P. 55
  6. ^ Vidya Dhar Mahajan; Savitri Mahajan (1971). Constitutional history of India, including the nationalist movement (6th ed.). Delhi: S. Chand. pp. 27–38.
  7. ^ a b "Hindutva is not the same as Hinduism said Savarkar". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  8. ^ Leidig, Eviane (26 May 2020). "Hindutva as a variant of right-wing extremism". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (3): 215–237. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2020.1759861. hdl:10852/84144. ISSN 0031-322X. S2CID 221839031.
  9. ^ Patnaik, Prabhat (1993). "The Fascism of Our Times". Social Scientist. 21 (3/4): 69–77. doi:10.2307/3517631. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 3517631.
  10. ^ Bhatt, Chetan; Mukta, Parita (1 January 2000). "Hindutva in the West: mapping the antinomies of diaspora nationalism". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 23 (3): 407–441. doi:10.1080/014198700328935. ISSN 0141-9870. S2CID 143287533.
  11. ^ Anthony Parel (2000). Gandhi, Freedom, and Self-rule. Lexington Books. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7391-0137-7. The agendas of Hindutva though strong on the issues of self - identity and self - definition, have tended to be separatist.
  12. ^ Siddharth Varadarajan (2002). Gujarat, the Making of a Tragedy. Penguin Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-14-302901-4.
  13. ^ "Frontline.in". www.frontline.in. Retrieved 2 September 2021.