Daily Times

Hindutva (Hinduness) is a term, which was coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923 to create a collective “Hindu” identity or a nationalist ideology, based on a modern-day version of centralized intolerant Hinduism. It has nothing to do with the historical tradition of spiritual practices in Hinduism. This centralized and chauvinistic Hinduism-Hindutva-has been brought to the fore front today by a group of political organizations called the SanghParivar (Sangh Family)-consisting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or National Volunteers Association-the mother organization after which the label SanghParivar is coined, the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian Peoples Party-Hindutva’s constitutional front that fights elections etc.), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP-World Hindu Council – the formation’s activist front), the Shiv Sena (the fascist front), the VHP of America (Hindutva’s overseas arm) and the Hindu Students Councils (VHP of America’s student wing).

In his book by the same name, Hindutva, “Savarkar gave a Manifesto, where his concepts of Holy Land, Fatherland, and Hindudom are the defining features of his Hindutva and the construct of Hindu Rashtra (Nation) claiming that “in Hindustan, those who failed the test of having a common Fatherland or Holy Land or Hindudom are but ‘communities’, ‘numerical minorities’, who do not deserve any privileges.

Savarkar’s strategic construct of Hindutva was adopted by his successor, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. the founder of the militant RSS. Its website says that “the emergence of Hindutva owes a lot to the past thousand years of Indian history. In the last 1000 years Indian civilisation was mutilated, altered, and raped by various powers. This ancient civilisation is in on the verge of a collapse. Roman. Egyptian, and Greek civilizations have vanished from history. The only remaining ancient civilization, Indus civilization, or Hindu civilisation also is about to vanish from the scene! Therefore, it is the duty of all the Hindus to awaken and take up arms against the enemies in-order to protect the glory of Bharat.”

The various facets of Hindutva’s state terrorism have remained hidden from the world far too long. Crushing popular uprisings with the blatant use of force, intimidating innocent people, threatening their lives, destroying their property, depriving their liberty and creating tension amongst them, killing and maiming the youth, raping women and incarcerating the blameless are dastardly acts which cannot be excused.

The annexation of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) is only the tip of the iceberg. Ethnic Indian minorities are being targeted under a planned agenda. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalit have been earmarked to accept the supremacy of upper caste Hindus and either convert to Hinduism or leave India

Thus, ethnic cleansing of India is justified in its Aim: To Establish a Hindu Rashtra (Nation), devoid of other religions or forced into subjugation. Its Mission, also depicted on the RSS website: “Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory through organizing the entire society and ensuring the protection of Hindu Dharma.”

Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the second Sarsangchalak (Head) of RSS gave it a new face lift and heightened its influence but the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by a former RSS activist, Nathuram Godse, and the subsequent ban on it forced Golwalkar to change the strategy. In his book We, or Our Nationhood Defined Golwalkar writes: “To keep up the purity of the Race & its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races-the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.”

The advent of Hindu extremist and self-confessed RSS Parcharak (activist), Narendra Modi’s government ushered an era of even more narrow nationalism and suppression of Indian minorities especially the Muslims. Modi’s election manifesto comprised the subjugation of Indian Muslims and cutting them to size while promoting Hindutva.

RSS’ GharWapsi (‘return to your home’) campaign, is a recently issued law, which requires those Hindus who converted to Islam, Sikhism or Christianity to return to their original religion. Many low caste Hindus, the Dalit had converted to escape the repression by high caste Hindus, the Brahmins. This law is a repeat of the past shuddhi (‘purification’) movement. The ‘Ghar Wapsi’ movement is also based on getting back Sikhs into the folds of Hindutva and aimed at converting the Christians and Muslims into the fold of their ‘original religion’.

On 24 September 1990, then BJP president L.K. Advani launched “a crusade in defence of Hindutva”, which culminated in the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992. The rule of Hindutva led by Narendra Modi now feels emboldened to destroy more historic ancient mosques in India claiming them to be original temple sites.

The annexation of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) is only the tip of the iceberg. Ethnic Indian minorities are being targeted under a planned agenda. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalit have been earmarked to accept the supremacy of upper caste Hindus and either convert to Hinduism or leave India.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF