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Template:Hindu politics

For Veer Savarkar's book Hindutva, see 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 (A morphological construct in Sanskrit grammar meaning "margin", basically the same as a portmanteau) 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 many 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, allegedly 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 bombings perpetrated by the one of the Muslim members of the organized-crime gang D-Company, Dawood Ibrahim. The region is now referred to by Hindus as the Ramjanmabhoomi. The Ramjanmabhoomi situation has been compared to the Temple Mount disputes in Israel .

Organizations

Most nationalists are organized into political, cultural and social organizations. 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 (RSS), 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:

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 ("S" in Sanskrit becomes "H" in Persian; whence "Sapta Sindhu" = "Hapta Hindu") 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 its party rhetoric. They hold Hindu historical and religious figures up as inspirational examples.

Central beliefs

Some central beliefs of this version of Hindutva are:

Philosophy

Though Hindu nationalists look upon themselves as great nation builders, among others they exclude Muslims 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. Even more militant parties such as the Shiv Sena have invited Muslims to join and the party leader declared after the Babri Mosque incident,

"We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us."

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 polygamy, 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.

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 in the West implies "separation of church & state" whereas secularism in India 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 . 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 .

Views on Indian History

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.

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 Marxist 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 Marxist 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.

Symbolism of Historic Hindu Figures

Because there were many fighters who stood up to outside (e.g. Islamist) aggression, Hindu nationalists use these fighters such as Ahilyabai Holkar, Prithviraj, and especially Shivaji Maharaj as defenders of India and Hinduism and further advocate that every Hindu should try to be like them. Some organizations such as the Shiv Sena have been named themselves after and been modelled after the ideology of these kings.

Allegations of "Fascism" in Hindutva

Template:Cleanup-remainder The Hindutva movement, considered to be right-wing by many, has come under considerably opposition by the far left Marxists in India, calling it a form of "Hindu Fascism" or "Indian Fascism".For the most part, those who use such epithets of "Hindu Fascism" in Hindutva have links to the far left or Islamist groups. More moderate and non-prejudicial critics of Hindutva do not base their criticism on allegations of "Fascism", but raise issues with regards to their sometimes-vacillating attitudes towards non-Hindus and secularism. The epithet of "Fascism" is also used to evoke double standards against Hindus in political and academic discourse. The academia and polity have been accused of engaging in a form of anti-Hindu Mccarthyism against Hindu political expression by levelling the accusation of "Fascism" against anyone who expresses sympathy for Hindus.

Marxist critics , have used the inflammatory political epithets of "Indian fascism" and "Hindu fascism" to describe the ideology of the Sangh Parivar. For example, Marxist social scientist Prabhat Patnaik has written that the Hindutva movement as it has emerged is "classically fascist in class support, methods and programme"

Patniak bases this argument on the following "ingredients" of classical fascism present in Hindutva: the attempt to create a unified homogeonous majority under the concept of 'the Hindus'; a sense of grievance against past injustice; a sense of cultural superiority; an interpretation of history according to this grievance and superiorityl; a rejection of rational arguments against this interpretation; and an appeal to the majority based on race and masculinity.

Hindutva groups are overwhelmingly supportive of the Jewish State of Israel, including Savarkar himself, who supported Israel during its formation. RSS is the most pro-Israel group in India at present and actively praised the efforts of Ariel Sharon when he visited India . R.S.S spokesperson Ram Madhav recently expressed support for Israel (when the far left Marxists and Islamists in India routinely attack Israel and Jews and have, in fact, accused Israel and Zionists of "fascistic" inclinations as well) when he said:

The entire world acknowledges that Israel has effectively and ruthlessly countered terror in the Middle East. Since India and Israel are both fighting a proxy war against terrorism, therefore, we should learn a lesson or two from them. We need to have close cooperation with them in this field.

Views on Hindutva and Fascism include those of the Christian convert to the RSS viewpoint, Anthony Elenjimittan, who based his views on RSS's symbolism of the Bhagva (the banner of lord Shiva), Dharma Chakra and Satya Meva Jayte (one must note that these symbols are normative in Hinduism and bear no relation to Hindutva and the lattermost is the national motto of a secular democratic India). The claim of fascism in Hindutva is based on the RSS's "discipline, organised centralism and organic collective consciousness" and dismisses the idea of fascism and totalitarianism being evils and parliamentarism and Anglo-Indian types of democracy being holy, as "silly" and "should be got rid of from our minds"

The description of Hindutva as fascist has been condemned by pro-Hindutva authors such as Koenraad Elst who claim that the ideology of Hindutva meets none of the characteristics of other fascist ideologies. Claims that Hindutva social service organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are "fascist" have been disputed by academics such as Vincent Kundukulam .

In addition, accusations of "fascism" in the Hindutva movement coming from the left wing parties and western academics such as Christoffe Jaffrelot (who argues that Hindutva draws on the cultural nationalism of Bluntschli, rather than the racial nationalism of the Nazis themselves) have been criticized by former professor of political philosophy and Times of India commentator Jyotirmaya Sharma as a "simplistic transference has done great injustice to our knowledge of Hindu nationalist politics".

Academics Chetan Bhatt and Parita Mukta reject the identification of Hindutva with fascism, because of Hindutva's embrace of cultural rather than racial nationalism, because of its "distinctively Indian" character, and because of "the RSS’s disavowal of the seizure of state power in preference for long-term cultural labour in civil society". They instead describe Hindutva as a form of "revolutionary conservatism" or "ethnic absolutism"..

Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul also rejects these allegations and views the rise of Hindutva as a welcome, broader civilizational resurgence of India.

References

  1. "the great majority of linguists... seek the ancestors of the Indo-Europeans in Asia somewhere to the north of their later historical seats." Mallory, J. P. (1989). In Search of the Indo-Europeans. Thames and Hudson. p. 65. ISBN 0-500-27616-1.
  2. Bharatiya Janata Party Official Website Hindutva: The Great Nationalistic Ideology
  3. The Rediff Election Interview/Bal Thackeray,Rediff.com
  4. Shah Bano Case
  5. About Hindu Unity
  6. Pope stirs up India - Pope John Paul II calls for evangelization of Asia
  7. eg. Partha Banergee
  8. Decline of the Left in India- Rajesh Tembarai Krishnamachari, South Asia Analysis Group
  9. Puzzling Dimensions and Theoretical Knots in my Graduate School Research, Yvette Rosser
  10. eg. Partha Banergee, Romila Thapar, Himani Bannerji, Prabhat Patnaik
  11. "The Fascism of Our Times" Social Scientist VOl 21 No.3-4, 1993, p.69
  12. Hindu-Zion
  13. The Hindu
  14. Rediff
  15. Press spotlight on Sharon's India visit,BBC
  17. ' RSS slams Left for opposing Sharon's visit,Rediff
  18. Anthony Elenjimittan, The Philosophy and Action of the RSS for the Hind Swaraj, p. 197, cited in V.C.P. Chaudhury, Secularism Versus Communalism, Patna, 1977, p. 101.
  19. Christian Post
  21. Profile, Jyotirmaya Sharma
  22. Hindu Nationalist Politics,J. Sharma Times of India
  23. Ethnic and Racial Studies Volume 23 Number 3 May 2000 pp. 407–441 ISSN 0141-9870 print/ISSN 1466-4356 online
  24. Naipaul V.S. India, a million Mutinies now, Penguin 1992

Further reading

  • 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 81-85990-69-7 ,
  • 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 81-7223-258-6
  • Smith, David James, Hinduism and Modernity, Blackwell Publishing ISBN 0-631-20862-3
  • Ainslie T. Embree, ‘The Function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: To Define the Hindu Nation’, in Accounting for Fundamentalisms, The Fundamentalism Project 4, ed. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 617–652. (ISBN 0-226-50885-4)
  • Partha Banerjee, In the Belly of the Beast: The Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India (Delhi: Ajanta, 1998). (ISBN 81-202-0504-2) (ISBN not available)
  • Walter K. Andersen. ‘Bharatiya Janata Party: Searching for the Hindu Nationalist Face’, In The New Politics of the Right: Neo–Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies, ed. Hans–Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), pp. 219–232. (ISBN 0-312-21134-1 or ISBN 0-312-21338-7)

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