Hindutva Ideology Research Articles

The Saffronization of Public Knowledge in India

Abstract During the political regime of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), public knowledge in India has been tarnished with political colors. The BJP has used the color saffron, which is closely associated with the Indian National Flag, as a sociopolitical tool to signal patriotism, nationalism, indigenization, and decolonization. However, the government’s policies and messages focus on the self-profiting mechanisms of Hindutva ideology. According to the BJP, the notions of pre-colonial knowledge systems and patriotism are only related to the Hindu religion. Thus, public knowledge in India has been politicized through “saffronization”: the color saffron, rightwing political ideologies, and religious fundamentalism combine to create false beliefs about Indian history and culture, which then inspire and excuse hate and crime.

Hindutva: Myths and Reality

Since the 1970s, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has been widely applied to the examination of various discourses. This paper utilizes CDA to investigate how the ideology of Hindutva undermines the concept of nationhood and threatens racial and gender harmony in India. Specifically, this article critiques monumental grand narrative texts such as Manu’s Manusmriti, Golwalkar’s We or Our Nationhood Defined, and Savarkar’s Hindutva. These texts propagate a public discourse designed to convey specific political agendas and ideologies, influencing the opinions of their adherents. Using Fairclough’s Three-dimensional Model as the theoretical framework, this study analyzes both classical and modern Hindutva texts, thereby exploding the pervasive myths and exposing reality. The analysis focuses on how these texts attempt to marginalize and displace racial, cultural, and religious minorities in India. The findings of this study reveal that proponents of Hindutva ideology, particularly organizations like the RSS and BJP, are steering the nation towards intolerance. This trajectory is resulting in the repression of minorities and marginalized groups within India. Through this examination, the study highlights the pervasive influence of Hindutva discourse and its detrimental impact on the social fabric of the nation, emphasizing the need for critical engagement with such ideologies.

Women Under Hindutva: Misogynist Memes, Mock-Auction and Doxing, Deepfake-Pornification and Rape Threats in Digital Space

This paper intends to scrutinise the anti-feminist leanings and misogynist outlook of the Hindutva ideology prevalent in the current socio-political and religious scenario of India. Gendered and sexualised disinformation and virtual violence are used as a prominent tool to attack the autonomy of women’s bodies by labelling them as sexually and socially immoral and thus further disapproving the credibility of their political opinions. Through specific case analysis, the paper explores the ongoing procedure to mute women in the digital space by the Hindutva ideologues.

Introduction to the special issue: Authoritarianism and religion in South Asia: Trends and twists

AbstractReligious sentiments have become a potent tool for political elites, altering national identities and citizenship criteria. This manipulation, driven by majoritarian ideologies, has marginalized religious minorities, leading to discrimination, violence, and legal persecution against them. Hindu, Islamic, and Buddhist nationalisms seem to collectively erode secular democracy in South Asia. Moreover, right‐wing populist leaders, notably Modi in India and the Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka, have merged religious nationalism with authoritarian political orientations posing a challenge to democratic foundations and impacting significantly on the dynamics of state and societal relations. This is the context in which this World Affairs 2024 special issue delves into the relationship(s) between religion, politics, and authoritarianism in the South Asian region. It examines the evolving “religion‐politics” nexus or “complex” to explicate the relationship between religion and authoritarianism, particularly with respect to authoritarian governments mobilizing religion as a readily available resource for popular political mobilization, legitimization, and power consolidation. India's BJP employs Hindutva ideology to marginalize minorities, Bangladesh's regime uses Islam for political legitimacy, and Sri Lanka's Sinhala‐Buddhist nationalism fosters exclusionary policies. By fostering social and cultural polarization, this fusion of authoritarianism with religious nationalism poses a serious challenge to the secular state. The articles in this special issue explore these themes comprehensively, delving into the ideological foundations of political decisions and their consequences for marginalized communities. By shedding light on this multifaceted interplay, the collection offers valuable insights into South Asia's sociopolitical landscape, serving as a vital resource for scholars, policy makers, and global observers seeking to understand the region's complex dynamics.

India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and BJP: A Comparative Study

This article focusses on the formation of a new alliance, namely the India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). The Indian National Congress, which has long dominated Indian politics, leads the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Opposition parties formed the India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The coalition contends that the BJP is endangering India’s multiparty democracy and secular principles. The “Collective Resolve” campaign includes a pledge to preserve and uphold the idea of India as it is expressed in the Constitution of India. Efforts are being done to resist the claimed systemic conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to target, punish, and suppress specific Indians and address polarization. Findings of the reveal that there have been instances of Hindu extremist groups initiating anti-Muslim operations, resulting in numerous casualties and injuries among the Muslim community, as well as other minority groups within the region. The BJP challenged the Indian National Congress, the Nehruvian state, and secular democracy. The policies implemented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 2014 to 2019 were highly detrimental to society, as they strategically employed the Hindutva ideology for political gain and suppressed minority groups through their uncompromising ideological stance. Contrarily, the policies implemented by Congress subsequent to 2009 exhibited a greater emphasis on principles such as freedom, economic growth, liberalism, and prioritization of the welfare of the populace.

Pengaruh Gerakan Hindutva terhadap Hubungan Bilateral India-Pakistan Era Kepemimpinan Narendra Modi (2014-2022)

Abstract: Hindutva is a political ideology that supports Hindu supremacy in India which aims to transform India as a secular state into an ethno-Nationalist State (ethnic nationalism). The revival of Hindutva politics in India began since the Bharatiya janata Party (BJP) which embraced the Hindutva ideology took over the central government of India in 2014. As an ideology, Hindu nationalism (Hindutva) has dramatically changed Indian politics and its relations with other countries, especially Pakistan with the help of Narendra Modi. Therefore, this study aims to find out the influence of the Hindutva movement on India-Pakistan bilateral relations during the era of Narendra Modi's leadership. This study used descriptive qualitative research methods with library research data collection techniques. The analysis in this study uses two concepts, namely the concept of bilateral relations and the concept of political ideology. The results of this study indicate that the emergence of the Hindutva movement as a political ideology in India has brought more serious strains on the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan. Keywords: India, Pakistan, Hindutva, Political Ideology, Bilateral relations.

Hindu and Hindutva Ideology in Indian Polity: Examining Modi’s Administration

The idea of India as an inclusive and secular nation-state has been challenged by the rise of Hindu nationalist ideology known as Hindutva. Promoted by organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindutva advocates for the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra (nation) in India by marginalising minority groups. It involves the “otherisation” of non-Hindus, especially Muslims and Christians, and promotes the Hindu-centric narrative in the country’s history, culture, legislative and administrative setup, which seeks to transform India from a secular democratic republic to an authoritarian Hindu-supremacist one. The paper aims to analyse the widespread resentment towards Indian Muslims arguing that the formation of Hindu identity is deeply intertwined with political processes influenced by the ideologies of the RSS and BJP. It examines various facets of Indian politics, especially under Modi’s government to gain insights into the normative implementation of Hindutva within the contexts of institutionalism and linguistic discourse. It posits that the BJP’s policies and the narrative of Hindus as the ‘sons of the soil’ contribute to the marginalisation of other identities, particularly Indian Muslims. The paper examines modes to understand Hindutva’s normative approach in Modi’s government within the framework of institutionalism and linguistic discourse, focusing on Indian polity.

Is Indian History Being Falsified? Public Interest Trends of Historical Figures, 2004-2023

Since the ascent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concerns have been raised regarding the appropriation or undermining of the legacies of India’s prominent leaders and the promotion of specific figures to reshape historical narratives by promoting right-wing Hindutva ideology. The study investigates these claims by examining changes in public perception of three significant historical personalities, Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vallabhbhai Patel. Information seeking behavior is used as the theoretical basis to explain any change in public interest, measured using Google search volumes from 2004 to 2023. The data is split into two 10-year subsets centered around 2014 corresponding to BJP’s rise to power. Welch’s t-test is applied to the data to measure if there is any change in search volumes after 2014.Results show an increased interest in Sardar Patel during the period 2014 to 2023 and possible reasons are analyzed. However, no statistically significant changes were observed for Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. There is no evidence to suggest that the legacies of these personalities are being suppressed or appropriated to align with a Hindutva narrative, or that such actions, if any, have had any statistically significant impact on public interest.

Идеологическая и структурная трансформация индусской националистической организации Раштрия сваямсевак сангх в конце XX – начале XXI в.

The article examines the ideology of Hindu nationalism in the domestic politics of modern India through the prism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh socio-political activities. The author determines the relations of the organization with its branches and mechanisms for regulating internal conflicts between them. The purpose of the article is to consider and analyze the ideological and structural transformation of the organization at the end of the XX and the beginning of XXI centuries, in particular, the strategy for the inclusion of Indian Muslims in the Hindu nationalist mainstream. The article uses descriptive, historical-genetic, chronological, comparative and structural-functional methods. The author analyses the development of Hindutva ideology in the works of V. D. Savarkar and M. S. Golvalkar; the campaigns for the rapprochement of the Hindu and Muslim communities conducted by the organization and its branches, as well as the structural and ideological transformations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Sangh Parivar. The article pays particular attention to the attitude of Hindutva ideologues towards minorities, specifically Indian Muslims. At the end of the XX century significant political and economic changes in India contributed to the complication of Indian society, which affected both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Sangh Parivar’s membership and ideological orientation. New branches have emerged to defend the interests of groups that were not previously in the orbit of the organization’s interests. At the same time, the successes of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main political asset of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the desire to consolidate them prompted the search for additional electoral support from the Muslim part of the country’s population. The changes demonstrate the organization’s willingness to change both structurally and ideologically in order to gain mass support in changing India. However, despite the changes, some bias towards Indian Muslims and concerns about inclusion of new Muslim branches remain.

The Shifting Trajectories of Hindutva: Bharat Sevashram Sangha and the Making of a Saffron Wave in Contemporary West Bengal

This article strives to explore the ways in which the politics of Hindutva, as represented by the Sangh Parivar, permeated new organizational and ideological spaces in Bengal following the Lok Sabha election of 2014. The article specifically delves into the case of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, a significant Hindu spiritual and philanthropic entity in Bengal. The Bharat Sevashram Sangha and the Sangh-Parivar represent distinct but interconnected manifestations of the broader Hindutva ideology. With a focus on the Bharat Sevashram Sangha’s position on the configuration of Hindutva, this article revolves around deciphering the intricate interplay between religion and politics within the context of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha’s engagement with the Hindu right-wing organizations. Moreover, the article seeks to unveil how the Bharat Sevashram Sangha’s spiritual and cultural visions converged with a strategic political consciousness and potentially paved the way for the emergence of new opportunities for right-wing political forces within the state.

Where law, politics, scripture and theology intersect: an exegetical examination of 49:13 in the Qur’an in light of India’s right-wing legislation and policies against Muslims

ABSTRACT It is now well-documented that there is a global trend of right-wing nationalism that perceives minorities, particularly Muslims, as a threat to state identity. India is a pertinent example of this trend wherein its legislation and policies over the last ten years have led to Muslims in India being marginalised – either through their rights as citizens or in terms of the discrimination and violent attacks they experience at the hands of extremist mobs that believe in the Hindutva ideology. This article will critically explore the scriptural and theological presumptions behind India’s laws and assess whether or not these presumptions are true in light of 49:13 of the Qur’an. These presumptions involve a particular conception of religious identity, theological belief and nationalism. 49:13 is a useful verse in the Qur’an that deals with all of these conceptions and by investigating them, one may be able to cut through right-wing nationalist rhetoric and engage in fruitful and truthful dialogue about what exactly the Qur’an states about constructing a harmonious society that involves a majority and minority population.

Securing Identity via History

Abstract This article analyzes how the Bharatiya Janata Party crafts a narrative of history in line with its ideology of Hindutva by decontextualizing and omitting information. Using school history textbooks prescribed by its state government in Rajasthan from 2013 to 2018, it uncovers how historical events and personalities are reinterpreted to craft a master narrative of belonging and exclusion. It examines how figures such as the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and the twentieth-century Dalit political leader Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar are “Hinduized” in order to ensure their appropriation into the Hindutva narrative. Further, looking at the 1576 Battle of Haldighati it assesses how antagonistic identities of the “local hero” and “external villain” are created by evoking the religious homogenization of communities and ignoring contradictions. This ensures that belonging to and the defence of the “Indian” nation is a privilege of the unified “Hindu” community, which fights “Muslim” aggression.

Towards the Signifying Buffalo: A Deconstructive Study of Casteism through the Dalit Lens in Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability

From ancient times, Varna System (Caste System) is a pernicious feature of the Indian society in which a group of economically, socially and culturally low-graded people have been oppressed, suppressed and exploited in the Brahminical society. Casteism is an internalised hegemonic power structure that determines the sense of belonging, recognition and identity of the underprivileged and marginalised community of people in the caste-based identity politics of Indian society. It makes them feel that they are metaphorically imagined to be the signifying buffalo in the signification of the cow worshipping Brahminical society because the brahmins favourably worship the cow than the buffalo despite belonging likely to the same group of community. The term, “Dalit literature” was first introduced at the “Dalit Literature Conference” in Bombay of Maharashtra in 1958 and later on, a group of Marathi writers institutionalized themselves as the “Dalit Panthers” in 1972 to combat the caste system in their writings. Since then, Dalit literature aesthetically has emerged to shape the collective voice of the socially exploited people who desire to set the platform of Dalit revolution to register a strong protest against the stereotyped frames of caste, race and class to foreground Dalit values, rights and liberty. Besides that, it raises questions about the status and situation of the Dalits who struggle for freedom and recognition to attain society's social, cultural, political and national identity. It stimulates the revolutionary spirit of the Dalit’s “collective consciousness” in the power structure of the Brahminical society. However, Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability (2011) is a frame narrative that graphically interweaves and incorporates Ambedkar's experiences of untouchability, caste discrimination and resistance with the critical observation of a Dalit woman and a Hindu Brahmin about caste discrimination and violence in the contemporary discourse of the Indian society. This research paper aims to examine the deconstructive approach to the logocentric mythology of casteism to poignantly interpret its hollowness and meaninglessness on account of the caste discrimination, violence, oppression and resistance in the graphic novel, Bhimayana. It also attempts to introduce the identity politics of the Dalits to make resistance to caste stratification, inequality, dehumanization and violence, and to enlighten the social codification of the signifying buffalos, the Dalits in the signification of the cows, the brahmins of the Hindu community at the crossroad of the Hindutva ideology.

Heraka: historical memory and new mythology of naga tribes

In the late 1920s, on the territory where Naga tribes resided in the North East India, there emerged a mass religious reformation movement triggered by certain political and economic factors. Over the hundred years that have passed since, this movement has undergone changes. There appeared a new mythology and new religion called Heraka. Not only did heroes of past times remain in the social memory, but they continued to live their own lives and keep playing important roles in the political arena of the region and the country. I attempt to examine the images of real human characters in the context of evolution of the historical memory and gain the understanding of the place that Heraka occupies in the new official mythology. I argue that the development of Heraka is related to the split between the dividing lines of two nationalist ideologies: the ideology of forming an independent Christian state of Nagalim within the territory of residence of Naga tribes and the ideology of Hindutva.

Narendra Modi's Hindutva Policy: A Detailed Examination of Its Implications on Indo-Pak Diplomatic and Strategic Relations

Concurrently with the rise of ultra-nationalism globally, India is undergoing a fundamental change driven by the adoption of the exclusivist Hindutva ideology. Since PM Narendra Modi assumed power in 2014, the Hindutva ideology has gained widespread acceptance and popularity, permeating all segments of Indian society and institutions, including foreign relations and cultural events. This paper examines the Hindutva ideology as a policy and its significant impact on India-Pakistan relations. The Hindutva ideology, fueled by the patronage of the government, has exacerbated the already strained relations between the two countries. It has influenced key aspects such as the abrogation of special status in Jammu and Kashmir, alleged interference in Balochistan, engagement in the Chabahar port, and the hindrance of confidence-building measures. By analyzing the Hindutva policy and its implications, this paper sheds light on the broader consequences for India-Pakistan relations, emphasizing the need for constructive dialogue, de-escalation, and regional cooperation to foster a more peaceful and cooperative future.

Hindu Milliyetçiliği ve Hindistan’da Yükselen İslam Kaşıtlığı

The weakening of the secular tradition, which has been influential in Indian political life since its inception, and the political rise of the Hindu right culminated in the overwhelming mandate of the Hindu nationalist BJP led by Narendra Modi in the 2014 elections. In 2014, the Hindutva ideology that the BJP was fuelled by had the opportunity to spread to all segments of society. As the BJP consolidated its political support from the community in 2019, it became even more prominent as a widespread worldview in India. Backed by the power of Hindutva supporters, the BJP systematically and deliberately targets the non-Hindu population, especially Muslims. Hindutva ideology, the Hindu right wing's ideology of ethnoreligious exclusion, has begun to affect Muslims through political decisions taken by the government and socially triggered acts of oppression and violence, often with the government's deliberate silence. This study discusses the historical and intellectual origins of the Hindutva ideology to reveal the current trends of the BJP's Islamophobic policies through a literature review. In this study, in which the current tendencies of the BJP's Islamophobic policies are tried to be revealed by reviewing the literature, the historical and intellectual origins of the Hindutva ideology are mentioned. The article also analyses the role of the media, which the Modi government uses for its main interests, in fuelling Islamophobia through misinformation and the discourse of 'corona jihad’, particularly in the aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Ultimately, it is argued that the anti-Islamic policies in contemporary India - even though they have come to light with the BJP's rule - should be seen as the social and political projections of the Hindutva ideology, which sees India's ethnic and religious diversity as a threat rather than an opportunity and which was 'constructed' long before the BJP.

The Hinduism and Hindu Nationalism of Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai was a prominent figure of the Arya Samaj, the influential nineteenth-century Hindu socio-religious reform movement. He is also seen as having sown the seeds of Hindu nationalism in the first decade of the twentieth century. Exploring Lajpat Rai’s thought between the 1880s and 1915, this article traces how felt imperatives of Hindu nation-building impelled him to regularly re-define Hinduism. These first prompted Rai to articulate a ‘thin’ Hinduism, defined less in terms of an insistence on a complex set of beliefs and more in broad, simple terms. They then induced him to culturalise Hinduism and make a distinction between ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Hindu culture’. The article ends by comparing the Hinduism and Hindu nationalism of Lajpat Rai and V.D. Savarkar, the chief ideologue of the Hindutva ideology, which is considered the main influence on India’s Hindu nationalist movement. It argues that while formulations of a thin and culturalised Hinduism enabled both men to articulate a ‘Hindu nationalism’, their nationalisms in fact remained qualitatively different. By scrutinizing intellectual trends and processes occurring in Rai’s thought, the article demonstrates that the modern ideology of Hindu nationalism impacted how Hindu religion was defined and re-defined and how such re-definitions can still produce distinct forms of Hindu nationalism.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Abstract This article situates the largest political party in the world, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, within the literature on the populist radical right. After providing a brief overview of Hindutva ideology and organizations, with a particular focus on the BJP, it analyzes how nativism, populism, and authoritarianism are key defining elements in both theory and practice for the BJP. It further examines two important ideological tenets that go beyond these three defining attributes of the (European) populist radical right – anti-colonialism and neoliberalism – which lend towards the success of the BJP. Since holding a majority in national government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has been able to implement its vision of creating a Hindustan, or Hindu ethnostate. Like other populist radical right parties in power, the BJP is more radical in deeds than in words, but the future of the party without Modi’s leadership is uncertain.

Introduction India as a ‘civilizational state’

The (re)turn in interest around the concept and projections of civilizational states has followed the recent surge of different authoritarian-populist versions of this discourse, notably in China, India, Russia, Turkey and the United States. In the case of India, the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 supercharged the ideology of Hindutva (the ‘Hinduness’ of the nation) within government, carefully stoked by decades of ground-level social programming and activism by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other parts of the Sangh Parivar (the Hindutva family of organizations). Compared to the 1990s and early 2000s, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) first came to national power espousing the ideas of Hindutva, India is now wealthier (albeit highly unevenly, and with considerable economic weaknesses and fault-lines); and its nationalistic undermining of democratic, liberal norms is deeper, but also more widely mirrored among some western and other southern states. The forces of Hindutva show no signs of abating, and oppositional voices—from secularists, young people, academics, think tanks and human rights organizations, among others—are being openly suppressed. What to external observers may seem a largely benign, even banal, international projection of yoga, traditional medicine and classical dance, and perhaps rather arcane debates over the origins and travels of Aryan peoples, religions and languages, are understood on all sides domestically as existential battles over what constitutes India and being Indian.

ОСНОВНЫЕ НАПРАВЛЕНИЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНДУССКИХ НАЦИОНАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ ЗА ПРЕДЕЛАМИ ИНДИИ

In modern India, the Hindutva ideology, which many researchers call the Hindu nationalism, occupies a leading position. It is actively promoted by such organizations as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 2014, not only within India, but also abroad, primarily in countries with a large-size Indian diaspora. The involvement of diaspora plays a crucial role in the consolidation of Indian society along religious lines, which is emphasized by these organizations. The work of spreading of the Hindutva is complex, and this will be discussed in this article. The main attention is paid to the activities and activities of Hindu nationalist organizations abroad, the main reasons for their work being to consolidate the Indian diaspora and involve it in their ideology. The purpose of the article is to show the level of activity of these organizations outside the territory of India and their methods of work abroad. The study used materials from the official websites of these organizations and their foreign branches, as well as allied organizations that are not involved in political activities. They are the main sources of research. Some of these organizations have not yet been studied in Russian historiography. Studying the activities of organizations that promote Hindutva outside of India allows one to gain a deeper understanding of the ideology of Hindu nationalism, the methods of its spreading and the reasons for strengthening its political positions.