Hindutva

Hindutva, meaning roughly 'Hinduness', is the main ideology of Hindu nationalism in India. It holds that India is essentially a Hindu nation (Hindu Rashtra) whose shared culture, history and sacred geography define who belongs to it. Its supporters describe it as cultural nationalism that celebrates Indian civilization and unites Hindus across caste and region. Its critics describe it as majoritarian nationalism that treats religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians, as less fully part of the nation. Scholars stress that Hindutva is a political ideology distinct from Hinduism as a religion, and many Hindus do not support it.

The term was popularized by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1923 work Essentials of Hindutva, which defined a Hindu as someone who regards India as both fatherland and holy land. In 1925 K. B. Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a volunteer organization that became the core of the movement. M. S. Golwalkar led the RSS from 1940 to 1973. After Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, the RSS was banned for over a year. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was founded in 1951 as a political party, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded in 1980. The campaign to build a temple at Ayodhya on the site of the Babri Masjid, which activists demolished in 1992, brought the movement mass support. The BJP led national governments from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2014.

Savarkar's version was largely secular in personal outlook and focused on political unity and military strength. The RSS tradition stresses discipline, social service and gradual cultural change. Deendayal Upadhyaya's Integral Humanism, adopted by the BJP, presents an Indian alternative to both capitalism and communism. The wider family of organizations, known as the Sangh Parivar, includes the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, student groups and labor unions, which differ in emphasis and militancy.

Critics, including many Indian scholars, opposition parties and human rights groups, argue that Hindutva undermines the secular and pluralist basis of India's constitution and contributes to discrimination and violence against Muslims and Christians, pointing to events such as the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition and the 2002 Gujarat riots. Some argue that it also downplays caste inequality. Supporters reject these claims, arguing that Hindutva promotes equal treatment without favoritism, that Indian secularism had become a form of minority appeasement, and that pride in Indian civilization is legitimate. The debate over its meaning is one of the central divides in Indian politics.

BJP governments since 2014 have pursued policies associated with Hindutva, including ending the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, passing the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019 and supporting construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, consecrated in 2024. Supporters view these as fulfilling long-standing commitments, while critics view them as weakening minority rights.