Hinduism and the Genealogy of Culture: Sovereignty, Religion, and Authority in India

Abstract

The article is an attempt to unpack the famous “Hindutva verdict” of 1995, by specifically paying attention to the construction of culture and its relationship with Hinduism in India. The verdict opens up an avenue to think afresh about the relationship between the state and religion in the context of Hinduism, supporting me to argue that the question of (religious) authority for Hinduism is distinctly connected to secular sovereignty unlike in the case of Islam or Christianity. This in turn suggests that there is no authoritative distinction between Hinduism and Hindutva since these discourses are the products of the state’s ongoing effort to define Hinduism as the context demands. The practice of the state in authorizing acts, attitudes, norms, and sensibilities that are deemed Hindu is encased in the construct of culture and its various enunciations such as legal and rhetoric. One must attend to the genealogy of culture in order to understand the nature of authority in Hinduism as well as the form of sovereignty recognized and exercised in India.