Hindutva

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.

Grammatically, the term is a 'samaas' of the word "Hindu" and the Sanskrit word "Tatva", which loosely translates to 'characteristic'. Hence, according to Savarkar, Hindutva is meant to denote the Hindu characteristic, or Hinduness.

This right-wing ideology has existed since the early 20th century, forged by freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar popularly known as Veer Savarkar, 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 that had angered conservative 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, by razing a Hindu temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu God-Emperor Rama, an avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism . This came to a head with the razing of the mosque by a Hindu mob in 1992 and subsequent Hindu-Muslim riots, especially in the Bombay riots and the 1993 Mumbai Bomb Blast. The region is now referred to by Hindus as the Ramjanmabhoomi. The Ramjanmabhoomi situation has been compared to the Temple Mount disputes in Israel ^*.

Organisations

Most nationalists are organised into political, cultural and social organisations. The first Hindu nationalist 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, Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. These organisation have been controversial for promoting and allowing violence against non-Hindus, which they defend as retaliatory attacks, or responses to forced conversions.^* Other organisations include:

Swadeshi Jagran Manch
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh - Worker's Union
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad - A Student's Union
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh - A Farmers' organisation
Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram- Tribal's welfre organization
Hindu Mahasabha - A minor political party

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 Jharkhand. It is an alliance partner in the states of Orissa, Bihar and Karnataka.

Definition and etymology

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.

In popular usage Hindutva has come to be identified with the guiding ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu Nationalist organization. The etymology of the word is peculiar, "Hindu-" coming from a Persian root while "-tva" is a Sanskrit suffix from the Sanskrit word 'tatva' (meaning characteristic). "Hindutva" is thus usually translated by its opponents as "Hinduness", or the 'Hindu characteristic' describing a nationalist identity based around the hindu religion and ethos. However, Hindu organizations like the RSS look at Hindutva as a nationalist identity based on the traditions and cultural heritage of the Indian sub-continent. It is in many respects a syncretic ideology; though it draws heavily from Hindu philosophy and quotes hindu scriptures as a part of it's party rhetoric. They hold Hindu historical and religious figures up as inspirational examples.

Central beliefs

Some central beliefs of this version of Hindutva are:

The Indian subcontinent (which includes the area south of the Himalaya and the Hindu Kush, usually Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and sometimes Afghanistan) 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). Hence it typically means that Hindus are those whose religion is indigenous to India. This includes Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs, as well as those who are usually accounted as mainstream Hindus.
An Indian origin of Hinduism sometimes opposing the Indo-Iranian migration theory that Vedic religion and Indo-Aryan Languages came from Central Asia along with the Aryans around 3500 years ago. They often propose that the Indus Valley Civilization was Aryan, that Aryan culture traveled to Iran from India rather than vice-versa, and even that Indo-European language originated in India rather than in Central Asia. These views are disputed by many historians and linguists.
Hindus have been historically oppressed in their own land by invading forces like the Muslims and the Christians and the influence of these invading forces has to be reversed.
Hindus have become weak over time due to the influence of British colonial and Communist thinking.
A Hindu state (or rather, declaration of a Hindu nation) must be established to protect the rights of the Hindus in their homeland and bring about a Hindu cultural revival.
The Indian government is not doing enough to retaliate against the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus ^*,^* by Kashmiri muslim separatists and advocates of Hindutva wish a harder stance on Islamic terrorism in Kashmir.

Philosophy

Though Hindu nationalists look upon themselves as great nation builders, among others they exclude Mulims and Christians in this task. They have the stated aim of uniting the Hindu society which is plagued by casteism, regionalism, passive religion. They also intend on reversing Muslim invasions. 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 Bharatiya Janata Party Official Website Hindutva: The Great Nationalistic Ideology .

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 minorities. 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, Sikhs, etc) from the Indian Constitution, is thus one 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 queston differential laws in terms of marriage and divorce and ask why in a secular democracy Muslims are allowed to marry more than once, 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 Hindus. The amendment of the Indian constitution by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to overturn a Supreme Court judgment under pressure from the conservative Muslims incensed some Hindus who became Hindutva supporters. The amended laws, more in tune with the Shariat, reduced the rights that divorced Muslim women previously had. Shah Bano Case

Followers feel that Hindutva speaks for the Hindu majority in India. 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(W) implies "separation of church & state" whereas Secularism(I) means "equal respect for all religions".

Among the goals of the Hindutva organisations in modern India is a reversing of the invasions by Muslim conquerors. They include demands to convert disputed historical monuments into temples About Hindu Unity. Their view of the Vatican gives an idea about the Hindutva agenda, saying that "the Pope is one of the biggest enemies of Hinduism" and that "This devil is the backbone of all the immoral, unethical and forceful conversions in India" Black list of Bajrang Dal. This statement comes from the fact that 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 millenia.

Historical revisionism?

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 Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is sometimes referred to as the political wing of the RSS and draws its cadre mostly from the RSS.

The RSS worldview is that India is the fount of human civilisation, from where its knowledge spread to the rest of the world. Because of this view it challenges many contemporary historic notions such as the Aryan migration, and the influence of Babylonic cultures and ancient Central Asian civilizations, on the development of the language, culture and religions of India. To this end one of its goals is to change what it perceives as distortions in history as currently taught in Indian universities, which is by their contention biased and skewed because the primary source is the colonial historians (the British), and then the Communists, their former and current colonizers, respectively. Mainstream scholars, however, both in the West and India, contend these claims as being unfounded, and point out that the RSS view of history is itself ethnocentric and a result of nationalist sentiment.

Historians such as Koenraad Elst, and some Hindu writers such as Sita Ram Goel, support the Vedic theory of the origins of the Indic Civilization, though many other historians disagree, most notably Romila Thapar. It is believed by the afformentioned and others In India that Thapar's views are biased in favor of the marxist notions of class-struggle, lending a romanticized link to the "Aryan Migration" theory. Simarlarly Western scholars who support the Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis have been criticized by Hindu writers, such as Arun Shourie in his book "Eminent Historians, their technology, their Line, their Fraud", as being racist and having a Eurocentric bias. Evidence of racism behind the foundation of AIT has been demonstrated ^*^* . The researchers have provided evidence to support the claim that it was part of a systematic agenda of defamation of the Hindu people, along the lines of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Modern Indo-Europeanists who support the Indo-Aryan theories contend that, while it is true that many elements of the original invasion theory where racist when it was first proposed, there is no evidence that this conspiracy theory reflects on modern linguists or historians, or the current theories surrounding the Indo-Aryan migration.

On the Criticism of Hindutva Organizations

It should also be noted that (primarily Dalit Christians and some self-professed anti-Hindu) organizations who criticize the RSS overlook the contributions made by the Hindutva wing to the development of India and its revival. Guruji Golwalkar was responsible for the accession of Kashmir to India.RSS had rendered service during 1962 and other Wars. It had rendered notable services during the recent Sumatra-Andaman_earthquake and the subsequent Tsunami. They also plan to render aid to victims of future natural disasters as well.

For some critics nationalism comes close to a form of "Indian fascism": a term that has been applied by critics to organisations based on the principle of Hindutva, in particular the Sangh Parivar. This term is often supported by referring to a single comment made by Sadashiv Golwalkar, head of the RSS from 1940-1973,about the German stand against jews, before WW2. The extreme anti-Brahaminical Dalit movement regularly compares Hindutva to Nazism. (One must note, however, that the extreme anti-Brahminical movement regularly condemns much of traditional and popular Hinduism.) Such views have been condemned by pro-Hindutva authors such as Koenraad Elst as per them the ideology of Hindutva meets none of the characteristics of other fascist ideologies.

References

Literature

Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar: Hindutva. Bharati Sahitya Sadan, Delhi 1989 (1923).
Elst, Koenraad: Decolonizing the Hindu Mind. Ideological Development of Hindu Revivalism. Rupa, Delhi 2001.
Elst, Koenraad: The Saffron Swastika. The Notion of "Hindu Fascism". New Delhi: Voice of India, 2001, 2 Vols., ISBN 8185990697 [http://www.asianetglobal.com:8080/asianet/2004/news/detailedstory.jsp?catId=10&newsId=2
Goel, Sita Ram: Perversion of India's Political Parlance. Voice of India, Delhi 1984. ^*
Goel, Sita Ram (editor): Time for Stock Taking. Whither Sangh Parivar? 1996.
Shourie, Arun: A Secular Agenda. HarperCollins ~ ISBN 8172232586

External links

News links

The struggle for the Hindu soul from The Economist

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