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Since India's independence (and even before) there is a growing ideological debate regarding its identity and self-understanding. The focal point of this discussion is the much-disputed and multi-faceted Indian historical figure Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1985-1966). His life and work, and above all his literary compositions, point to numerous paradoxes and controversial phenomena, which divides the discussants basically into two essential camps. On the one side are those who see Savarkar and his socio-political vision (Hindutva) that he proclaimed as the greatest danger to the foundation of the modern, secular state, democracy, and multiculturalism. With this background, Savarkar is used as the synonym for an "anti-modern" regression, and as the ideological founder of a phenomenon that has usually been referred to as "Hindu nationalism" or "Hindu fundamentalism". This side is opposed by a second camp consisting of people who tend to see Savarkar and his perceptions of state theory as a legitimate and ambitious form of democratic self-determination. However, all these controversies about Savarkar do not take into account the philosophical tenets underlying his social and political thoughts. Both Indian as well as Western scholars have focused only on some particular fragments of his thoughts without spending the time and effort to understand his various theoretical concepts in a complex and coherent framework. Therefore, this article aims to explore the philosophical foundation of his notions and actions, and suggests crucial variables for further scientific analysis.

India is a large and extremely diverse multination state that is constantly faced with the challenge of maintaining its unity. In the past two decades the Hindu nationalist movement has become a significant factor in Indian politics, and has systematically leveraged heritage to create communal tensions. This has resulted in short-term political gain, but is also tied to longer-term goals of establishing a homogenously Hindu state in South Asia. This article argues that instead of being in decline, this movement is actually progressively expanding, and that the case of Ayodhya is only one part of a much larger programme in which heritage academics play a significant role, and that their collective actions will be pivotal to the future stability of the country.

Some understand fundamentalism (hereafter F for convenience) as orthodoxy, others as a form o f puritanism, yet others as obscurantism or even fanaticism. We may thus refer to two types o f Fundamentalism, one positive (F+) and one negative (F-), the former tolerant and the latter intolerant or even hostile. The author analyses fundamentalism from the perspective o f Indian politics and suggests some positive steps to deal with it.

Abstract. The paper will examine the dramatic rise of the right-wing Hindu organisations in India, especially since the 1990s. Most prominent among these organisations are RSS, BJP, VHP, Bajang Dal and Shiv Sena. However, they all work together under the philosophy of Hindutva (i.e. Hindu-ness) and are rabidly anti-minority in their stance. They appear to need an 'enemy' in the form of a religious minority to unite Hindus and consolidate their support. This study is important because RSS is too politically significant to be ignored. Since the BJP (BhartiyaJanta Party) came to power in May 2014, its ministers and senior party leaders have been coming out in support of Hindutva. Attacks against Muslims have risen sharply. Cultural issues such as cow slaughter and the building of the Ram temple at Ayodhya have been raised again by the RSS as a means of dividing communities and keeping Muslims in a state of constant fear and insecurity. This study argues that the failure of India's economic development to remove socio-economic constraints leading to slow and uneven development has intensified rivalry between castes and religious communities. Under such conditions, it became possible for extremist Hindu organisations to target people on the basis of religion.Keywords. India, Hindus, Muslims, RSS, BJP, Hindutva, Communalism, and Violence.JEL. N30, N35, N40.

The phenomenon of Hindutva might give the impression that it belongs to the canonical part of the Hindu traditions. Not only does it not belong there; even the word Hindu finds no place there. By no stretch of the imagination can they be understood as be­ longing to the same category. Whereas Hindu has functioned as a Sangam for a class of traditions that share in some common or similar beliefs, doctrines, attitudes and values, Hindutva is a la­ bel that stands for a communalistic, fascistic and fundamentalistic movement that uses religion, religious deities, customs, and places apparently for promoting religion and its interests but in actual fact for sheer power political purposes. Hindu and Hindutva are as different as religion and politics. Hindu still belongs to the world of religion and religious experience; Hindutva has not only nothing to do with authentic religion, it is in essence anti-Hindu both in style and in substance. Admittedly, Hindu is a late arrival in the conscious­ ness and self-consciousness of the traditions in question but it has been so accepted by all of them that it has now become part of their identity. Not so Hindutva. The latter, a recent phenomenon, has emerged from a social and political situation that is very new. That of course is no reason for rejecting it. The reason why it cannot enter the Hindu canon is that it goes against the very grain of Hindu spirituality and religion.

La extrema derecha hindú llegó al poder en India en 2014 y en la actualidad controla un buen número de estados de la Unión, además de ostentar el gobierno federal. Esto ha contraído una serie de cambios en las reglas del juego político en el país. La primera parte de mi artículo indica el alcance de este poder, sus consecuencias inmediatas y aquellas otras a largo plazo. Haré una semblanza histórica del extremismo hindú, así como del desarrollo de su estructura a lo largo de nueve décadas. Finalmente me centraré en dos casos instigados contra las minorías religiosas y la libertad de pensamiento y elección, explicaré su relevancia en los planes de la derecha hindú y el lugar que ocupan en su estrategia. ; Hindu extremism captured state power in India in 2014, and, at present, it controls a large number of regional states as well as leading the ruling coalition at the Centre. This has led to significant and wide ranging changes in Indian polity and in political norms and values, and the first part of my article will briefly indicate their range, immediate consequences and long term implications. I will outline the historical evolution, and unpack the structural distinctiveness, of the Hindu Far Right to explore its mobilisational strategies and its ideological agenda over nine decades. In the final part, I will focus on two specific sites of violent hate crimes against religious minorities and against freedom of individual and collective thought and choice.I will finally try and explain their relevance to the larger agenda of the Hindu Right and their broad direction.

India is a contradiction: powerful yet anxious, non-Western, postcolonial, inherently religious but avowedly secular, shaped by a complex pattern of linguistic, caste, political, gender and social tensions. These tensions extend into the Indian diaspora, which is entangled in the country's rise and engaged in a conversation that is shaping a Hindu nationalist (or Hindutva) world view. This thesis introduces the concept of Hindu (inter)nationalism and in doing so, makes important theoretical discoveries. In critically engaging with, and applying, post-Western and post-Oriental perspectives, this study provides a pathway towards a better understanding of the non-West. In fact, it encourages the International Relations (IR) discipline to enter a post-Western world. This thesis asks whether postcolonial theory can retain its relevance in a world where 'peripheral' countries (such as India) are making their way to the 'centre'. How, asks this thesis, can postcolonialism deal with changing international dynamics whilst remaining a robust and vital theoretical approach? This research, in focusing on a unique, Hindutva world view prompts IR theory to use such views more frequently to better understand the international relations of countries. Finally, this thesis suggests that IR ought to consider reorienting its viewpoint to bring religion to the centre of analysis, thereby casting secularism to the periphery. Unlike conventional IR, this thesis does not focus on foreign policies, but instead emphasises the lived realities of people. To undertake such an approach, this thesis uses what it calls a Relations International (RI) methodology. This methodology recognises and embraces scholars of other disciplines, utilising their research to achieve a truly multidisciplinary, collaborative perspective. An RI methodology also encourages novel evidence-gathering, such as through the use of social media and asks us to focus on praxeology in order to demonstrate ideology in action. This thesis seeks to demonstrate that postcolonialism remains a valuable theoretical approach, that an RI methodology is a constructive tool through which to hear what is often unheard in IR, and that religious (inter)nationalisms – such as that introduced by this research – present an exciting new challenge for our discipline.

Innenpolitisch war Indien im Jahr 2003 zunächst geprägt von den Nachwirkungen des Wahlsieges der regierenden BJP in Gujarat unter ihrem lokalen Chefminister Narendra Modi. Dieser hatte mit einem ausgesprochen "kommunalen" Wahlkampf einen spektakulären Sieg errungen. Ausfluss dieses Sieges war zunächst, dass sich Premierminister Vajpayee wieder deutlicher als Anhänger der Hinduideologie ("Hindutva") zu profilieren suchte, die Bewegung zur Errichtung eines Hindutempels in Ayodhya als Ausdruck nationaler Gefühle bezeichnete und die muslimische Gemeine beschuldigte, sie hätten das letztjährige Massaker an Hindupilgern auf einer Bahnstation in Gujarat nicht gebührend verurteilt. Um die Wogen zu glätten, zeigte sich der Premierminister in seiner Neujahrsbotschaft bemüht, seine säkulare Grundüberzeugung zu bekräftigen. Die Partei zog aber aus dem Wahlsieg bei ihrem Konklave Ende Januar den Schluss, dass nun Hindutva (nach dem Muster von Gujarat) und nicht das Koalitionsprogramm der Zentralregierung Wahlplattform für die kommenden Landtagswahlen sein müsse.

International audience ; This article analyses how the Hindutva ideological programme on history-writing is concretely implemented at grass-root levels by an rss-affiliated organisation. The organisation's name is the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojna. The area of fieldwork moves from its rss headquarters to its Chandigarh branch and to its Kullu branch. The primary objective of the article is to shed light on the multiple forms of mediation of the organisation, which show how Hindutva influence in local society cannot be simply reduced to the direct effects of its militants' actions. It also examines how the Hindutva discourse on history infiltrates the local conception of regional culture , merges with pre-existent conceptions and encounters specific forms of resistance. Finally, the article suggests the importance of understanding the Hindutva rereading of Indian history in the light of other post-colonial historiographies, engaged in a similar effort of placing the locality within a wider and prestigious framework. o ver the last few years quite a virulent debate has animated the circle of indian historians who have actively denounced and decon-structed the rewriting of indian history by rss-affiliated organisations. rss is the abbreviation of rashtriya swayamsevak sangh, "association of national Volunteers ", a militant organisation for the propagation/diffusion of Hindutva ("Hinduness"). The aim of the organisation is to build a new (and strong) Hindu people/nation. its members' training is paramilitary. The rss is the real core of the other organisations that together form the sangh Parivar ("family of the sangh", with reference to the rss), a journalistic expression for the complex network of organisations formed around the rss. among these, one is a political party, the bjp (Bharatiya Janata Party, "Party of the indian People "), and another is a religious organisation, the vhp (Visva Hindu Parishad, "universal Hindu congress").

Die partielle Demontage einer Gedenktafel2 hat einen ständig schwelenden ideologischen Grundsatzstreit um die Identität und das Selbstverständnis der indischen Nation erneut entflammt. Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Diskussion ist die wohl umstrittenste und facettenreichste Figur der indischen Geschichte, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Sein Leben und Wirken, allem voran seine literarischen Arbeiten, weisen zahlreiche paradoxe und kontroverse Phänomene auf. Seine politische Vision für ein postkoloniales Indien, manifestiert in der Sozialund Staatstheorie Hindutva, standen von Anfang an in diametralem Gegensatz zu den Verfassungsprinzipien der neu gegründeten Indischen Union. Insbesondere seine folgenreiche Definition eines Hindu, verstanden als ein zu erfüllender Kriterienkatalog für den Erwerb der Staatsbürgerschaft, führte dazu, dass er als personifizierter Antipode zu dem durch die Unabhängigkeitsbewegung unter der Führung von Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi proklamierten Fundamentalkonsens der indischen Gesellschaft betrachtet wurde. Diese prinzipielle Übereinstimung bezüglich der Grundwerte der indischen Gesellschaft, dass damit implizierte Selbstverständnis der Nation und die Legitimität der darauf aufgebauten sozialstrukturellen wie politischen Organisation wird zunehmend durch verschiedene Gruppen der Gesellschaft unter Berufung auf Savarkars Hindutva in den letzten beiden Dekaden herausgefordert und in Frage gestellt. Dieses in Verbindung mit seinem Einsatz für einen militanten Aktivismus und Nationalismus zur Befreiung Indiens von der britischen Kolonialmacht rückte ihn in den Mittelpunkt des kritischen öffentlichen Diskurses.

The character of Golwalkar is still shrouded in deep controversies as it is constantly being portrayed one way or another in political or historical discussions. While many argue that his ideological roots always stayed in touch with true findings through a proper assessment and the myth of Golwalkar being a mere Hindu propagandist in both social and political fields, emerged as a result of the misinterpretations of his teachings or limiting it to one particular ideological or racial connotation by a group of people, others point out the unilateral approach and lack of diversity which in turn converted him into a belligerent hardliner who developed a pugnacious feeling towards anything other than Hindutva? Is Golwalkar"s idea of Hindu Rashtra an enlightened nationalism which was grossly misjudged and thus created a myth of his vilified character based on vague generalisation? Or is it a circumscribed theory, clung to racial supremacy and therefore truly reflects his intentions? The aforementioned doubts led to numerous portrayals of the leader and gave birth of a myriad of interpretations. Whether he was a preacher of true findings or a propagandist built on an apocryphal sense of ideological reintervention, remains a matter of speculation. The queries around him seek answers and this paper puts an effort to present them.

This article addresses two recent socio-religious trends in India: mass conversions to Hinduism (Ghar Wapsi) and mass conversions from Hinduism. Despite officially being a secular nation, organizations allied with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are actively promoting mass conversions to Hinduism. Other religions organize mass conversions, usually of Dalits, away from Hinduism and its legacy of caste discrimination. While several states have controversial laws placing restrictions on mass conversions from Hinduism, mass conversions to Hinduism are often seen as being promoted rather than restricted.

International audience ; This article examines the relationship between gender, nations and nationalisms vis-a-vis the Indian state's nationalist identity and perceptions of (in)security. It explores how the postcolonial Indian state's project of nation-building — reflective of a western secular-modern identity (under the Congress Party) and a -dominated identity (under the BJP) — incorporates gender, with continuities and discontinuities, to articulate divergent forms of nationalist/communalist identities, `cartographic anxieties' and nuclear (in)securities. The article contends that with the recent rise of the Hindu-Right BJP, guided by ideology, the nature of representing the Indian nation, its women and (in)securities has changed from a geopolitical to a cultural perception — thereby necessitating a rereading of the Indian nation, nationalism, gender and its perceptions of (in)security.

The starting point of this article is the recognition of globally proliferating right-wing electoral successes of a specific kind that rely upon a weaving together of seemingly contradictory aspects of neoliberalism and nationalism. An important dimension of these globally occurring changes is that they reflect something more than simply the empirical instantiation of a right-wing success in any one specific context. They require us to unravel and understand the transmutations in the nature of the political and the economic in the contemporary postcolonial world. Here, I focus on the relevance of uncovering the powerful weave of nationalism, neoliberalism, and postcolonialism that lies behind such configurations of power; a governmentality I refer to as PNN (postcolonial neoliberal nationalism). An understanding of PNN requires us to challenge the a priori availability to analysis of either neoliberalism or nationalism in isolation; neoliberalism and nationalism are not only not contradictory to each other, but as projects of re-forming imaginaries, they co-constitute the ideas of "market/economy" and "nation/culture." Further, PNN makes visible the ambivalent status of "the West," since it is imbued with the historical legacy of colonial memory re-called into the present as a revanchist pride, and combined with the conflicting aspirational/actual consumption desires to emulate the capitalist imperial metropolitan fantasies. I use the example of India to illustrate how PNN has been enacted as a technique of governmentality by the Modi-led BJP government through the reformulation of Swadeshi and the Make in India project.

International audience ; p. 29, Introduction (.) This article will compare two competing nationalist programmesof Keralite artistic practices. The focus will be on the opposingviews on how to define the concepts of cultural heritage and nationalculture, as well as the different strategies used to spreadthem among the population. We will first present current activitiesand methods used by the Sangh Parivar in artistic fields to spreadits Hindutva ideology to the public at large and especially to theyounger generation. Such activities are mainly based on a process ofSankritisation. An analysis will then be made of the areas covered bythe Kerala government's cultural policy and its strong impact on theemergence of a 'regional' nationalism. Mediated by local folklorists,this policy has acquired the approval of social equality values and hasled to a social reform movement by promoting the arts.