Abstract. The 2014 parliamentary election in India reduced Congress party to merely 44 seats in the lower house, big blow for a party whose history is integral the country's founding narrative. In the last parliamentary election the Congress party polled only 19.3% of the votes declining from 28.6% in 2009, while on the other hand the main right wing party i.e. BJP won 282 parliamentary seats and 31% of the national votes. The extreme right-wing organisations have undoubtedly become the central pole of Indian politics. Moreover, its recent success in Uttar Pradesh provincial election, which is one of the most populated province with 215 million inhabitants, is the strongest evidence yet of the broader shift to the right and the BJP's victory in UP state strengthens this shift. This paper intends to study the recent rise of extreme right-wing Hindu organisations in India. Most prominent among these organisations are RSS, BJP, VHP, Bajang Dal and Shiv Sena. However, all of them work together under the philosophy of Hindutva (i.e. Hindu-ness) and are rabidly anti-minority in their stance. The aim of this study is to highlight the recent rise in extreme right-wing Hindu organisations and to examine their ideas and philosophy regarding Indian history and culture. It is also useful to set this against a global context in which divisive and ultra-nationalist forces are on the rise within Europe and Donald Trump has assumed the US presidency. The study argues that the adoption of neoliberal economic policy in 1991 has increased GDP, but hardly any expansion in employment, which is known as 'jobless growth'. The study also finds the far right encroachment into India's liberal institutions and it seems that Indian polity is undergoing a historically unprecedented change with extreme-right to dominance into vast areas of ideology, economy and culture.Keywords: India, Hindutva, Neo-liberalism, Secularism and minorities.JEL. N30, N35, N40.
The 2014 parliamentary election in India reduced Congress party to merely 44 seats in the lower house, big blow for a party whose history is integral the country's founding narrative. In the last parliamentary election the Congress party polled only 19.3% of the votes declining from 28.6% in 2009, while on the other hand the main right wing party i.e. BJP won 282 parliamentary seats and 31% of the national votes. The extreme right-wing organisations have undoubtedly become the central pole of Indian politics. Moreover, its recent success in Uttar Pradesh provincial election, which is one of the most populated province with 215 million inhabitants, is the strongest evidence yet of the broader shift to the right and the BJP's victory in UP state strengthens this shift. This paper intends to study the recent rise of extreme right-wing Hindu organisations in India. Most prominent among these organisations are RSS, BJP, VHP, Bajang Dal and Shiv Sena. However, all of them work together under the philosophy of Hindutva (i.e. Hindu-ness) and are rabidly anti-minority in their stance. The aim of this study is to highlight the recent rise in extreme right-wing Hindu organisations and to examine their ideas and philosophy regarding Indian history and culture. It is also useful to set this against a global context in which divisive and ultra-nationalist forces are on the rise within Europe and Donald Trump has assumed the US presidency. The study argues that the adoption of neoliberal economic policy in 1991 has increased GDP, but hardly any expansion in employment, which is known as 'jobless growth'. The study also finds the far right encroachment into India's liberal institutions and it seems that Indian polity is undergoing a historically unprecedented change with extreme-right to dominance into vast areas of ideology, economy and culture.
Leidig's article addresses a theoretical and empirical lacuna by analysing Hindutva using the terminology of right-wing extremism. It situates the origins of Hindutva in colonial India where it emerged through sustained interaction with ideologues in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany who, in turn, engaged with Hindutva to further their own ideological developments. Following India's independence, Hindutva actors played a central role in the violence of nation-building and in creating a majoritarian identity. Yet Hindutva was not truly 'mainstreamed' until the election of the current prime minister, Narendra Modi, in 2014. In order to construct a narrative that furthered Hindu insecurity, Modi mobilized his campaign by appealing to recurring themes of a Muslim 'threat' to the Hindu majority. The result is that Hindutva has become synonymous with Indian nationalism. Leidig seeks to bridge the scholarly divide between, on the one hand, the study of right-wing extremism as a field dominated by western scholars and disciplines and, on the other, the study of Hindutva as a field that is of interest almost exclusively to scholars in South Asian studies. It provides an analytical contribution towards the conceptualization of right-wing extremism as a global phenomenon.
This paper explores the interconnections of Hindutva fascist repertoires in India and quasi-orientalist discourses. History and common sense are re-written through audiovisual communications to appeal to one section of a dangerously split Indian public and a neoliberal-touristic sensibility elsewhere. Enlightenment rhetorics of progress, democracy and technological development are apparently embodied by WhatsApp groups, electronic voting machines and laws to protect cows. Voting—as a marker of democratic citizenship—becomes a masquerade protecting a resurgent far right Hindutva (Hindu fascist) regime under the aegis of Narendra Modi and the BJP. Caste Hinduism's association of cows with deities, and the proscription on meat-eating in certain versions of religious practice, are used as pretexts for unimaginable violence against Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and working class/lower caste Hindus. Violence against those who dissent is rationalised as patriotic. Hindutva's banal and spectacular audiovisual discourse overwhelms public communication. Its consequences are a form of vigilante citizenship that is marked on the bodies of dead victims and of vigilante publics ready to be mobilised either in ethno-cultural violence or its defence and disavowal. Meanwhile, attracted to India as an enormous market, Western governments and corporations have colluded with the Hindutva regime's self-promotion as a bastion of development.
Hindutva persigue, mediante la agitación entre hindúes, controlar los resortes del poder e imponer la uniformidad cultural. En parte esta preponderancia de Hindutva se debe al fracaso del "centro-izquierda" para consolidarse como fuerza política en las décadas de 1970 y 1980. A lo largo de este tiempo los gobiernos de turno se proclamaban laicos, pero se inhibían de acometer políticas en ese sentido para no perder apoyo entre los musulmanes, lo que ha permitido que el extremismo hindú capitalizara la oposición. En estos momentos el panorama ha cambiado de forma drástica. ¿Puede una sociedad multirreligiosa y multicultural desarrollarse en un estado en descomposición? ¿El subcontinente se está asimilando al modelo europeo de la nación-estado étnica, apoyada en una religión y una cultura exclusivas? En otras palabras ¿es esto una consecuencia de la Partición? ; Hindutva movement is now actively seeking to capture instruments of state power and trying to impose its cultural hegemony by mobilizing Hindus. In post-Independent India, the Hindutva movement has reached such proportions because the much desired 'left-of-centre' consolidation failed to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s. Over these decades, the governments of the day claimed that India was a secular country but in actual practice, because of the fear of losing Muslim votes, they constantly postponed the implementation of a secular agenda thereby opening the space for the Hindutva forces to rush in. Now the political terrain has changed drastically. Is the belief that a multi-religious and culturally diverse society can wield itself into a nation and democratic polity coming apart? Is the sub-continent returning to the European model of building ethnic nation-states underpinned by the cultural codes of a mono-culture or single religion? In a line, could this be attributed to the 'long shadow' of the Partition of India?
Este artículo reflexiona sobre las ramificaciones ideológicas y políticas de la interpretación histórica india. Examina los prejuicios sectario-religiosos en la historiografía, que las instituciones utilizan para arrojar una representación distorsionada de la realidad, sin dar cabida a otros puntos de vista. Así, estudiamos cómo se promueven determinados libros de texto y suprimen otros en beneficio de posiciones sectarias. A su vez, estos grupos se apropian de las figuras representativas del nacionalismo laico. ; This article discusses the ideological and political ramifications of historical interpretation. It examines the communal perspective on the writing of history to show how it is a distorted representation of reality, so institutions propagate the communal point of view and suppress alternative perspectives. The suppression of the textbooks written from a secular scientific standpoint and the distortions in the textbooks for schools sponsored by the communal groups wielding state power are analysed. This need for legitimacy on the part of the communal forces prompts them to appropriate the icons of the secular nationalist movement —clearly a farcical exercise.
This study is an attempt to understand how the doctrine of Hindutva which considers Hindu- chauvinism as the spirit of Indian nationalism has played a central role in the development of populist discourse of Bharatiya Janata Party during the 2019 general elections in India. The BJP has close ideological association with ultra-right-wing Hindu organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which laid foundation of modern-era Hindutva movement, and incidents of persecution and intolerance towards minorities have also increased under rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014. Especially the Muslims of India have been tagged as the foreigners by the BJP. This study uses the three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis presented by Norman Fairclough to qualitatively assess the textual and visual discursive texts shared by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its key leaders on Twitter during 2019 election campaign. Additionally, the election speeches of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also been analyzed through development of themes and sub-themes on the basis of the essentials of populism and Hindutva doctrine simultaneously. The mythological and historical basis of Hindutva doctrine, and theoretical debate on populism have also been taken into consideration to find answers to the research questions and it was found that the Hindutva ideology played a central role in the electoral campaign of the BJP and helped it in the construction of the people and the antagonizing others, the identification of a charismatic leader, the portrayal of politically reluctant agenda and the definition of a foreign enemy. It was also found that the BJP excessively used historical and mythological references, symbolism, ritualistic notions and promised Hindutva- focused political and constitutional reforms to assert that it was the contemporary political face of the Hindutva doctrine and that it was totally committed to the cause of Hindutva. This study hence demonstrates how the political and public discourse of the world's largest democracy is being shaped by using ultra right-wing populist discourse as an effective tool of political communication to pave the way for reduced political liberties, undemocratic practices and Hindu chauvinism. ; Bu çalışma, Hindu-şovenizmini Hint milliyetçiliğinin ruhu olarak gören Hindutva doktrininin, Hindistan 2019 genel seçimleri sırasında Bharatiya Janata Partisi'nin popülist söyleminin gelişiminde nasıl merkezi bir rol oynadığını anlama çabasıdır. BJP, modern dönem Hindutva hareketinin temelini oluşturan aşırı sağcı Hindu örgütü Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ile yakın ideolojik bir ilişki içindedir. 2014'ten bu yana Başbakan Narendra Modi'nin yönetimi altında azınlıklara karşı zulüm ve hoşgörüsüzlük olayları da artmıştır. Özellikle Hindistan'da yaşayan Müslümanlar BJP tarafından yabancı olarak etkiketlenmektedir. Bu çalışma 2019 seçimleri sırasında Bharatiya Janata Partisi'nin ve önemli liderlerinin Twitter'da paylaştığı metinsel ve görsel metinleri niteliksel olarak değerlendirmek için Norman Fairclough tarafından geliştirilen üç boyutlu eleştirel söylem analizi modellini kullanmaktadır. Buna ek olarak, Hindistan Başbakanı Narendra Modi'nin seçim konuşmaları da popülizmin ve Hindutva doktrininin temelleri etrafında temalar ve alt temalar geliştirilerek analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sorularına cevap aranırken Hindutva doktrininin mitolojik ve tarihsel temeli ile popülizm üzerine kuramsal tartışma göz önünde bulundurulmuştur. Hindutva ideolojisinin BJP'nin seçim kampanyasında merkezi bir rol oynadığı, halkın Hindu olarak inşasına ve aynı zamanda diğerlerinin düşman olarak tanımlanmasına, karizmatik liderin tanımlanmasına ve yabancı düşman tanımının yaratılmasına yardımcı olduğu bu çalışmada ortaya çıkmıştır. Ayrıca BJP'nin tarihsel ve mitolojik referansları, sembolizmi ve ritüelistik kavramları çok yoğun kullandığı, Hindutva doktrininin çağdaş yüzü olduğunu iddia edebilmek için Hindutva temelli siyasi ve anayasal reformlar vaat ettiği görülmüştür. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, dünyanın en büyük demokrasisinin siyasi ve kamusal söyleminin, azaltılmış siyasi özgürlükler, demokratik olmayan uygulamalar ve Hindu şovenizminin önünü açma amacıyla, etkili bir siyasi iletişim aracı olarak ultra sağ popülizm söyleminin kullanılarak, nasıl şekillendirildiğini gözler önüne sermektedir.
One of the most noteworthy developments in Indian politics is the occurrence of a phenomenon often described as Hindu-Nationalism or Hindutva-movement (Bhatt 2001; Jaffrelot 2007, 1996; Zavos 2000). The movement refers to efforts to undertake dramatic changes within the political culture of India. This attempted transformation of state and society, which manifested itself through 'communal violence' – clashes between different religious communities especially between Hindus and Muslims (Engineer 2003; 1987) and actions aimed at challenging constitutional provisions such as secularism in combination with increasingly radical socio-political demands, have posed a threat to the Indian model of consensus democracy and have sadly lived up to bleak forecasts (Basu et.al. 1993).
Lecture held at the South Asia Institute in Heidelberg on 11th November, 2008. Professor Desai will discuss how the Indian experience of cultural nationalism has become the basis for an innovative new theoretical perspective on nationalism in our time. She will examine the Indian case from a comparative perspective and explore the implications for conceptions of citizenship.
This article uses the context of the widespread circulation of accounts about "CoronaJihad" in India during the COVID-19 pandemic to examine how public WhatsApp groups that participate in disseminating such accounts function within the ecosystem of hate around Hindutva majoritarianism in the country. The manner in which the WhatsApp platform operates within this ecosystem is mapped through a granular study of three public Hindutva WhatsApp groups; the messages within these groups during the first phase of the COVID-19 lock-down in India were examined during the course of this study. The pattern of messaging within the three groups that contribute to the narrative of "CoronaJihad," which blames the minority Muslim community for the spread of the virus in India, were analyzed. The article focuses on factors including company policies and the specific sociopolitical situation in the country to understand the circumstances that make WhatsApp's deep entanglement with the divisive politics of Hindutva majoritarianism in India possible.
Hindu intelligentsia makes a secret use of the inimical relations between Muslims, Scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and Adivasis, which has grown even worse, recently. This lends ammunition to the ulterior forces of intelligentsia, in order to extract desirable actions from them. The fact that the maximum atrocities have happened to these communities, has made them adopt a politics of vengeance and retaliation. Instead of uncovering their atrocities and bringing them out before the entire world, they prefer to keep grievances to themselves and retaliate in their own ways. The retaliatory politics worsen the inimical ties and this makes the radical Hindu forces even more actively installed. At the same time, Muslims and Christians show least interest in resisting casteist forces, which they believe is a matter of religion and they should not be meddling with, accounts for the resentment of Dalit-Bahujans against them. I speculate, phenomenon of Hindutva has a historical impetus to it and it is a result of painstaking work of many years. This paper makes use of Bankim's Anandamath to illustrate the emergence of Hindutva forces and the ease with which they fitted in Indian nationalist discourse. Anandamath has no explicit political agenda but it implicitly tries to construct a new moral universe for its readers. It endows the readers with a new moral imperative and totally different sense of purpose. The novel, has messianic overtones, as it tries to give the impression as if it is a preparation for a war, a historical war which could transform the destiny of Indian nation. The emergence of the novel added fuel to the already swelling tide of nationalism.
'Marginalization' is a process of segregation of the socio-culturally, economically, politically and religiously underprivileged group. Marginalization is an inequitable behaviour towards the minorities and weaker sections of the society by the majorities or stronger sections. Dalits, untouchables, tribals, muslims, transgenders and female are generally regarded as marginal or peripheral. So, they are vulnerable to exploitation. Arundhati Roy's latest novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is a registered account of violence on the marginals. The novel incarnates the lynching of thousand minorities in Gujrat riot in 2002, mass slaughtering of three dalit men on the rumour of cow slaughtering, the disrespectful demolition and humiliation of an untouchable soldier S. Murugesan's statue for the audacious erection on the edge of touchable's village, the eviction and execution of tribal in Operation Green Hunt in 2009, and humiliation, rejection and segregated life of Transgenders. The novel unfolds the upliftment of Hindutva and their atrocities on the non- Hindus. The objective of this paper is to portray the plight of marginal people in caste ridden India and the violence coming into their life physically and mentally.
The relationship between religion and nationalism is explored in this paper which takes Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as its core focus of analysis. Given the incomplete process of nation-building in the case of India and the intrinsic challenge of how to cultivate a nationalism when the sense of a nation and nationality is lacking, Nandy discusses Savarkar's idea of Hindutva and the use of religion as a vehicle of nation-building. This, despite Savarkar's being a non-believer. Nandy explores parallels with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, whose project of nation and state-building is also seen in terms of political categories that were drawn from the Western experience and ideal of the Westphalian state. Exploring the love-hate relationship with Savarkar that is prevalent in contemporary India, Nandy probes the concerted attempt to demonise Savarkar and asks whether this is yet another means by which a young nation seeks to exorcise its past?
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.
