The phrase Hindutva has been cropping up more and more frequently in Indian political debate and thought for many years now, and deserves a deeper understanding and study of it. In his 1923 essay,
Hindutva : Who Is a Hindu, V.D. Savarkar defined Hindutva as a spiritual, religious, and cultural history of the Hindu nation - which to many is synonymous with India - sharing a common nation, common race, and common civilisation.
[1] Already quite hegemonic in conception, this idea of a pervasive Hindu influence gained popularity and found expression within the Indian political arena time and time again since the term was coined. It has found support amongst the right and far right of the political spectrum, and been associated with many political parties over time. The right leaning nature of Hindutva ideology has drawn comparisons with fascist regimes over time - a comparison that is not entirely unwarranted.
[2] Fascism is another term that is widely applied but often misunderstood, and deserves to be accurately represented in this case in order to answer the question
are contemporary Hindutva groups expressions of fascist ideology?
Fascism can be understood to be an “organized form of integrative radical nationalist authoritarianism”
[3] which is characterized by dictatorial power, the use of force to suppress opposition, and a strongly regimented society and economy. It gained international momentum after World War I, spreading outward from Italy. The social and political conditions of post war Europe and contemporary India are dissimilar enough that exact parallels may not be found, but certain striking similarities should serve as chilling reminders of the possibility of fascist resurgence in India. It is well enough to say that
contemporary Hindutva exhibits significant characteristics of fascist movements, but this statement must be supported by adequate research and a critical analysis. Three questions must be answered - firstly,
we must identify who/what are the main proponents of hindutva in contemporary India,
and what the goals of these individuals/organizations are. Within this context we must analyze their ideologies and activities, and examine
how these actors stand in comparison to fascist regimes in the past. Within the diverse and multifaceted Indian political arena, Hindutva is associated with a multitude of different organisations and movements. In the sake of relevancy, the purview of study shall be restricted to the more relevant actors, with a look at their history and presence in today’s India. The oldest and most significant group would be the Hindu Nationalist organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a large organization with close associations with the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). These organizations are interconnected with others like Bajarang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and dozens of others active all over the country and internationally.
[4] The RSS is the leading Hindu supremacist organization in India, founded in 1925 to oppose Muslim separatists and colonial rule. From its very inception the group took inspiration from the Fascist Party in Italy, eventually being banned for its militant activities and forced underground. Leaders of the group expressed open admiration of Adolf Hitler during World War II, and the group resurfaced during the time of the partition.
[5] On 30th January, 1948, member of right wing group Hindu Mahasabha and ex-member of the RSS Nathuram Godse assassinated M.K.Gandhi in New Delhi,
[6] being banned once again. It was banned once more after the leaders of the RSS organised the destruction of the Babri Masjid as part of the Ram Janambhoomi movement.
[7] Fuelled by the Ayodhya issue and other communal tensions, the RSS affiliated BJP formed a major coalition and won the general elections of 1998, with Vajpayee as their Prime Ministerial candidate. The BJP remained a strong opposition party, gaining and overwhelming majority in the 2014 General elections under Narendra Modi, the former CM of Gujarat and registered Swayamasevak. The focus of the RSS is a Hindu renaissance and to build a strong unified Hindu nation, to the exclusion of all other communities; “in a word they must cease to be foreigners; or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment—not even citizens' rights”.
[8] This ideal of a pan-India Hindu hegemony is central to the organisation, and in furtherance of this ideal other groups splintered off from the RSS to further Hindu hegemony. These related organizations together with the RSS form the Sangh Parivar, literally meaning Family of Organisations, which include the Vishva Hindu Parishad, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, and many other rural and urban organisations spread through the country and abroad. The Sangh Parivar forms the largest voluntary missionary organisations in the world, and is one of the largest voluntary paramilitary forces on the planet.
These groups engage in the propagation of a cultural nationalism which places India as a homeland for Hindus, brought together by a geographic and cultural connection - an establishment of Hindu hegemony. Indian culture is seen as synonymous with Hindu culture, to the exclusion of all else. Another common goal of many members of the Sangh Parivar and other organisations is the establishment of a Uniform Civil Code - they argue that differential laws are violative of article 44 of the Indian Constitution - causing further division between communities. This is a push against perceived “pseudo-secular” policies which they believe are biased in favour of Muslims and Christians.
[9] In general, the groups associated with Hindutva argue for the protection of Hindu interests, often at the expense of minority communities, such as arguing for a more hardline stance in Kashmir.
The RSS and other organisations associated with Hindutva views the term Hindu as having a cultural connotation referring to those who belong to the Hindu homeland, including Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains. This is a homogenous, hegemonic view of India and of Hinduism that is both exclusionary as well as inaccurate. Golwalkar defined the mission of the RSS as the revitalisation of the traditional Hindu value system focused on peace and prosperity for all (Hindus)
[10] as the end goal. However, this is an abstract and vague ideal - a nice, pretty aegis under which one finds a darker and much more alarming reality. If one examines the activities of the RSS and the Sangh Parivar, one begins to see a pattern of increasingly divided religious identity, communal conflict, vote bank politics, corruption and violence that are reminiscent of early 20th century Italy and Germany.
Hindutva shares many characteristics with Fascism - firstly, the attempt to unify and mobilise a majority under a homogeneous umbrella, the Hindu. The Hindu is akin to the Nazi conception of the Aryan Race, the racially superior
ubermensch. There is also the sense of injustice and atrocity committed against the homogenous majority by a mysterious other - the Muslim community, which is reminiscent of the anti-semitic rhetoric and propaganda used to vilify the Jewish community in post-war Germany. We find the same ultranationalism and the myth of national rebirth present in postwar Italy and Germany as we see being echoed today within India. Indian history is revised and reinterpreted to push political agendas, just as it was in Germany and Italy. Similar assertions of chauvinistic ideals of masculinity linked with patriotism - tools to incite violence against minority groups - are being made time and time again. Both Fascism and Hindutva have populist elements in their ideology, seeking not to transcend the current state but rather invert perceived oppression/oppressed relations. Too frequently will headlines echo fascist terror tactics: physical threats, mobs that burn or loot, open incitement of violence. Private militias used for political violence are another factor common to both Fascism and Hindutva.
One must first examine the attempts to mobilise the majority under the banner of Hindu. Now, what exactly is a Hindu? According to the reply provided by RSS General Secretary in a 1967 hearing, “The term Hindu in the conviction as well as in the constitution of the RSS is a cultural and civilizational concept and not a political or religious term. The term as a cultural concept will include and did always include all including Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains.”
[11] A good enough definition, but not entirely accurate. The term Hindu is unclear at best, with hundreds of sects dedicated to worshipping different gods with no real organisation between sects, a lack of a clearly shared culture, different languages and ethnicities. Being a Hindu is an unclear thing, with little to link Hindus from different parts of the country apart from the label itself. Hinduism in the sense of the Hindutva movement is not defined by any positive association of what one is, but rather what one isn’t. One is not necessarily a Hindu, but one definitely isn’t a Muslim so one is a Hindu, even if one doesn’t really know what it means. This is because the a key ingredient of modern Hindu identity was the negative rejection of religious identity rather than positive assertion, whether it be the colonial apparatus producing identities through the census
[12] or homegrown political parties furthering and hardening the religious split. For someone unsure about their own religious identity, it is easier to reject what you are not than to know who you are., especially when what you are is as nebulous a term as Hindu. It is easier to think,
I am not a Muslim than it is to know that
I am a Hindu. The presence of, and a reaction to, a perceived “Other” was a key part of Nationalist Hindu identity formation, and thus is inseparable from it. This mobilisation of the populace under the banner of Hindu is reminiscent of the Nazi efforts to mobilise the German public using the racial theory that pitted “Nordic Aryans” that made up the majority of the German population against a perceived other, the Jews.
Antagonism against an “Other” who has committed atrocities against the homeland is visible in both Nazi Germany in their campaign to vilify and persecute the Jewish community, and modern India where it comes to communal conflict and the persecution of Muslims and other minorities. The Ram Janambhoomi movement was manufactured around the location of the Babri Masjid, asserting that it was Hindu land, Rama’s birthplace, that the mosque stood on. This narrative of being wronged by a foreign culture created a feeling of resentment and rage, which exploded in the demolition of the mosque by BJP and RSS sevaks over the course of five hours - despite assurances from the government that the mosque would not be harmed. This set off a chain of communal riots where the Shiv Sena and members of the Sangh Parivar were responsible for arming mobs of Hindu agitators
[13] and organising much of the violence. The BJP and other Hindutva organisations used the opportunity to split the populace for political aims, further hardening the religious split and exploiting it for political benefit. The “other” who has wronged the homeland in any way is often described as privileged or powerful, which is an absurd suggestion to make considering Muslims are incredibly marginalized, and hugely under-represented at the higher levels. In Germany, this was the view pushed by the Nazi propaganda against Jewish community, who were made out to be massively privileged but unproductive members of society. There too, the privilege was supposedly the product of policies of appeasement by the government - part of allegedly ‘pseudo secular’ policies that both the Nazi Party and the Sangh Parivar campaigned against.
[14] In Nazi Germany, the supposedly privileged Jewish community was blamed for the defeat in the first World War, and just like Muslims in India today, held responsible for the supposed sins of their ancestors. Just as Muslims are lynched and messages like
Babur ki Aulad scrawled across their corpses were the Jews of Germany forced to stand trial for the actions of their ancestors during the time of Christ. The ideas of racial purity also find themselves within the rhetoric of both right wing Hindu Nationalists and the Nazi party. The Jew supposedly had bad blood that was to be contained and not allowed to contaminate the pure Nordic Aryan genes of the German people. This idea found institutional expression, with marriage between Jews and Germans being banned. Children of German and Jewish people were officially recorded as Jewish, despite any amount of genetic contribution was from the “pure” German side. In India, the idea of racial purity is once again presented as a form of foreign invasion - Love Jihad. These supposed Love Jihads are aimed at increasing the number of Muslims within India by reproducing as many times and with as many women as possible through love marriages. While furthering the narrative of Hindus as being somehow persecuted by Muslims, it also happens to supports the cause of a Uniform Civil Code which would curb the spread of the “love Jihad” by limiting the number of wives a Muslim man could have - claiming a demographic war where Hindus will eventually be outnumbered by the Muslim population, despite the population actually declining.
[15] We find similar flavours of hyper aggressive nationalism propagated by the Nazis as well as the Hindutva organizations. The BJP and the Nazi party both claimed to represent the interests of the “true” Indian/German people, and both proppound the rhetoric of being the sole representative of the best interests of the homeland. An ultra-nationalistic fever is being fanned across India, aided by indoctrination in schools (many run by the Sangh Parivar) and communities, the rewriting of history textbooks, the substitution of reasoned, moderated research and argumentation in exchange for inflammatory, divisive rhetoric that agitates more than explains. Devotion to the nation and devotion to the organization are taken to be synonymous, and to disobey the latter means to insult the former. This nationalist rhetoric is also supplemented with a healthy dose of chauvinist ideals of masculinity, where the populace is called upon to be a “real man”, or to “take a stand”. This type of rhetoric can incite and inflame communal tensions and is a thinly veiled call to violence. Communal violence is another way the Hindutva organisations strengthen and further their claim, especially the narrative of an outsider posing a threat to the Hindu community. The RSS is one of the largest paramilitary organisations in the world, and its members receive and propagate arms and weapons training. Many riots either have evidence of being actually organised by these groups, or of being provided arms and assistance during the riots from the groups
[16]. If this is alarming, then it is alarming for good cause. These organisations are now significantly placed and in charge of many administrative offices, and these tactics of politicising violence is reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
Considering the similarities is not enough - one must also consider the wild differences between the contexts of the two movements. Hindutva in its modern form has gained popularity over the course of ninety years, and has had time to settle in and become comfortable in our discourse - it is far more normalised to us than Fascism would have been to an Italian or a German during World War II. Fascism was created because of the very peculiar post war conditions which differ hugely from the modern Indian political context. It gained its popularity and momentum within two decades, as contrasted against the almost full century Hindutva has been around. Fascism gained popularity in part due to the failure of major capitalist economies and worldwide recessions - another factor not associated with the rise of Hindutva. There was a significant perceived communist threat - again, absent from the modern political context. Another important factor is that since the world capitalist economy was deeply fractured, in no capitalist country were the bourgeoisie secure in their power. There is no doubt that today the economy stagnates occasionally and there is the presence of unemployment, the actual crisis is not at all acute, and more importantly the world economy is not fragmented. The need of the bourgeoisie to resort to a purely national solution to curb the threat they face from the working class, as they did in the 1930s.
[17] What does all of this mean for India? The Hindutva movement has been gestating for nearly a century now, without any significant attempt to establish a neo-fascist totalitarian authoritarian state in the image of Nazi Germany or Italy. There hasn’t been a nationwide ethnic cleansing of Muslim populations, a national relocation effort - but these have happened on a smaller scale, in different parts of the country. There is a pattern of growing communal violence against muslims, forced relocation and dispossession as a result of rioting. There are militant groups that persecute Muslim communities, groups with ties to the ruling party, groups that were once banned for being too militant but are now in charge of the democratic apparatus. We have established that the main proponents of Hindu ideology in the country are the RSS, Sangh Parivar, and associated organisations. We have also understood their desire for a Hindu hegemony over India where Indian is synonymous with Hindu, united by a common culture and religion. These proponents have been admirers of fascist rulers, and have openly expressed support for those movements. An understanding of the effects of nationalistic fervour and colonial politics of their inception allows us to view the subsequent actions of these groups in the proper context. A close analysis and comparison of Nazi ideology and Hindutva ideology reveals to us that several chilling similarities exist, such as the common cultural/racial identity, the presence of a threatening and malicious other, and the use of violence as legitimate political strategy. All of this together makes for a very complicated and tense political arena which it can be definitively said about that
yes, modern Hindutva is an expression of fascist ideology. This is not to say that these groups are identical - on the contrary, they are incredibly different and situated in different contexts. However, fascist ideals are so deeply ingrained in Hindutva politics that it is, at least ideologically, fascist. There can be no separation of fascism from modern hindutva because without the former, the latter does not exist. This also does not mean that a fascist regime in India is inevitable - on the contrary, it seems impossible. So no, a fascist regime is not upon us. But at the same time, the associations the RSS and the ruling BJP have with fascist movements are quite concerning for the entire nation.
Bibliography
- Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar. Hindutva. Veer Savarkar Prakashan, 1942.
- Patnaik, Prabhat. “The Fascism of Our Times.” Social Scientist, vol. 21, no. 3/4, 1993.
- Cassels, Alan. “Who Were the Fascists? Social Roots of European Fascism”, Edited by Stein Egelvik Larsen, Bernt Hagtvet, Jan Petter Myklebust, Et Al. Canadian Journal of History, vol. 16, no. 3, 1981.
- Damle, Shridhar D. (1987) [Originally published by Westview Press], The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications
- Atkins, Stephen. “Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press 2004. Reference Reviews, vol. 19.
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- Guha, Ramachandra (2008). India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. Pan Macmillan. p. 19
- Stanley Wolpert (2001). Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. Oxford University Press. pp. 254–256.
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[1]Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar.
Hindutva. Veer Savarkar Prakashan, 1942.
[2]Patnaik, Prabhat. “The Fascism of Our Times.”
Social Scientist, vol. 21, no. 3/4, 1993.
[3]Cassels, Alan. “Who Were the Fascists? Social Roots of European Fascism”, Edited by Stein Egelvik Larsen, Bernt Hagtvet, Jan Petter Myklebust, Et Al.
Canadian Journal of History, vol. 16, no. 3, 1981.
[4]Damle, Shridhar D. (1987) [Originally published by Westview Press],
The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications
[5]Atkins, Stephen. “Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. Westport, CT and London: Greenwood Press 2004.
Reference Reviews, vol. 19.
[6]Stanley Wolpert (2001). Gandhi's Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. Oxford University Press. pp. 254–256.
[7] "How the BJP, RSS mobilised kar sevaks - Indian Express." 25 Nov. 2009,
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/how-the-bjp-rss-mobilised-kar-sevaks/545911/. Accessed 30 Apr. 2019.
[8]Guha, Ramachandra (2008). India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. Pan Macmillan. p. 19
[9]BJP calls for Uniform Civil Code". expressindia.com. Press Trust of India. 15 April 2006.
[10]Golwalkar, M. S. (1966), Bunch of thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana
[11]"Quoting RSS General Secretary's reply to the Tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 to hear the case on the RSS". Organiser. 6 June 1993.
[12]Thapar, R. (1989). Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search for a Hindu Identity. Modern Asian Studies, 23(2)
[13]ERCES Online Quarterly Review - Religious Identity of the Perpetrators and Victims of Communal Violence in Post-Independence India
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Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 28, no. 5, 1993, pp. 163–167.
JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/4399339.Sarkar, Sumit. “The Fascism of the Sangh Parivar.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 28, no. 5, 1993, pp. 163–167. JSTOR.
[15]Rao, Mohan. “Love Jihad and Demographic Fears.”
Indian Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 18, no. 3, 2011, pp. 425–430.
[16]Basu, Amrita. “When Local Riots Are Not Merely Local: Bringing the State Back in, Bijnor 1988-92.”
Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 29, no. 40, 1994, pp. 2605–2621.
JSTOR..
[17]Patnaik, Prabhat. “The Fascism of Our Times.”
Social Scientist, vol. 21, no. 3/4, 1993, pp. 69–77.
JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/3517631.
No ‘Baggage of Babri Masjid’ in Ayodhya Mosque Complex: Trust 06 Sep, 2020, 11.11 PM IST Pushpesh Pant, who has been onboarded as the consultant curator of the archives section of the Indo Islamic Cultural Centre that will come up on the five-acre land given to the Central Sunni Waqf Board, said the centre would bring forth the composite culture through the archives section. Two Delhi-based sisters moved the Allahabad High Court Wednesday claiming the ownership of the five-acre land allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque... New Ayodhya mosque to be bigger than Babri masjid, foundation laying ceremony likely on Republic Day Zee News. 17-12-2020. Busted in White House: Imperialists out, 'socialists' in . Here's a Rare New mosque at Ayodhya to be four times bigger than Babri Masjid; 300-bed hospital, museum at new site Mosque will be able to accommodate 2,000 namazis at a time. The hospital complex will be six times the size of the mosque, as per blueprint released by Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) Trust. Photo Courtesy: IANS. NH Web Desk Published: 20 Dec 2020, 12:19 PM. Engagement: 0. The Ayodhya Twenty-eight years after the demolition of Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, a special CBI court will on Wednesday (September 30) pronounce its verdict in this case. The... The design of a mosque and a hospital to be built on a five-acre land in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village allocated by the Supreme Court in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case was unveiled on Saturday... Design of a new mosque planned in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya was revealed on December 20. The UP Sunni Central Waqf Board unveiled the blueprint, work on which will begin once the Faizabad Panchayat Lucknow: The trust tasked with developing the mosque complex in Dhannipur in Ayodhya said it was seeking to make a “new beginning” which was free of the “baggage of the Babri Masjid”, with a contemporary design for the blueprint of the complex and a guiding idea of revisiting the ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’ (composite culture) and showcasing the shared heritage of Hindus and Muslims. India; No domes, no minarets — Ayodhya’s new masjid to replace Babri gets a futuristic design S.M. Akhtar, architect of the new mosque at Ayodhya, tells ThePrint that the complex will also house a 300-bed charitable hospital, museum archive and a public library. Find Babri Masjid In Ayodhya Latest News, Videos & Pictures on Babri Masjid In Ayodhya and see latest updates, news, information from NDTV.COM. Explore more on Babri Masjid In Ayodhya.
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