What is Hindu nationalism?

This month, Narendra Modi won the Indian election with a landslide victory for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It has been seen as a major turning point. Modi comes from a low caste, making his victory a decisive vote against the dynastic politics that have long dominated India. Moreover, he and his party espouse a type of nationalism that is distinctly Hindu, rather than the secular nationalism of the rival Congress Party. Since India’s independence in 1947, most Indians would describe themselves as proud nationalists, and 80 per cent of the population is Hindu. So what is Hindu nationalism, and why are some people in India anxious about Modi's association with it?

What is Hindu nationalism and when did it start?

Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that encompasses different groups. Broadly, these groups all define Indian culture and politics in terms of Hindu religious values. The Sangh Parivar, or “family of organisations” is a loose grouping of Hindu nationalists, which has its roots in the 19^th century confrontation between colonial Europeans and Indians yearning for a national identity. Hindu nationalism developed as a way to form a specifically Indian national identity which stood against both the British colonisers and the Islamic dynasty that preceded it. This was articulated by Vinayak Savarkar – an atheist – who wrote a pamphlet in 1928 called “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?” in which he said that a Hindu was someone who regards India as both a fatherland and a holy land. In the 1920s, the movement gained traction among poorer Hindus (the lower caste) who felt oppressed by the ruling Hindu elite and for whom the idea of returning India to its "pure Hindu roots". In an interview before the election, Modi said that “Hinduism is not a religion, but a way of life”. This demonstrates a key part of Hindu nationalism: the equation of Hinduism with being Indian. While the BJP intends this to sound welcoming, many Indians - not least those who identify as Muslim, Sikh, or Christian - find it threatening.

Who are the RSS?

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the mothership of Hindu nationalist organisations, founded around the same time as Savarkar published his pamphlet. Its members devoted themselves to personal discipline and service to the Hindu nation. Their most influential leader, M S Golwalkar, was more religious than Savarkar, and took inspiration from the Nazis in Germany – not their anti-Semitism, but their fervour and organisation. Under his leadership, the RSS fathered most of the other groups that make up the Sangh today, including the BJP (formed in 1980).

The organisation was involved in the struggle for independence, and remains a highly prominent group which has set up schools and charities. However, it has also been criticised for its violence – many describe it first and foremost as a paramilitary group – and its extremism.

Over the years, the RSS has been censured on many different occasions for its role in riots and outbreaks of inter-communal violence, including riots directed against Christians and Muslims. Human Rights Watch and other international organisations have noted the involvement of the RSS and its close affiliate organisations, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal (BD) and the Hindu Jagaran Sammukhya (HJS) in various violent incidents.

It was banned by the British Raj, and then three times by the post-independence Indian government. The first time was in 1948 when former RSS member Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi because he was too tolerant of Muslims; the second was during emergency rule in 1975-8; and the third after the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992. All bans were subsequently lifted.

What are the politics of the BJP?

The BJP was formed in 1980, in a merger of several pre-existing Hindu nationalist parties. It is widely seen as the political wing of the RSS. It grew in strength, soon becoming the second large national party, an opposition to the dominant Congress Party. From 1998 to 2004, the BJP formed the national government, leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It was the first non-Congress government to last a full term in office. Generally described as right-wing and Hindu nationalist, the BJP advocates social conservatism, self-reliance, and foreign policy centred on nationalism. The party expresses its commitment to Hindutva, asserting that this is simply cultural nationalism that favours Indian heritage over westernisation, which therefore applies to all Indians. However, analysts point out that in practice, the BJP tends to define India in terms of its Hindu heritage and culture, to the exclusion of other religions.

The party’s traditional position is that the existence of Pakistan is illegitimate; one of the groups that spawned the party was explicitly established with the aim of reversing Partition. While this line has softened, the party is still strongly antagonistic towards Pakistan. Among some of its controversial aims are the repealing of the special constitutional status given to the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir; and the implementation of a uniform civil code for all Indians. However, it should be noted that while it was in power, the NDA – which also contained parties with different ideologies – didn’t implement any of these divisive policies, instead focusing on a broadly neoliberal programme of business growth and globalisation. During the last BJP-led government, the country underwent substantial economic growth.

Another prominent Hindu Nationalist party, the Shiv Sena, is aligned with the BJP.

Who votes for them?

Broadly, Hindus, who make up 80 per cent of the population. Modi and his acolytes knew they were unlikely to get any votes from Muslims, so – despite claims that the party is inclusive – the campaign tended to appeal to a pan-Hindu nationalism. This language of muscular nationalism appealed to the overwhelmingly young, male electorate. However, the BJP was also helped by the fact that there were no real alternatives – Congress fought a lacklustre campaign, and the Aam Admi party is too new to be a major rival. The public was desperate for a change after 12 years of Congress rule that saw multiple corruption scandals, an economic slowdown, and rising food prices. Many voted for Modi on the basis of his economic achievements in Gujarat, rather than his sectarian politics. It should also be noted that Modi's BJP received 31 per cent of the vote in this month's elections, making it the largest party but not the choice of the majority.

What is Modi’s background in the movement?

Modi started his political career with the RSS in the 1970s, quickly moving up the ranks, before joining the BJP. He is still a member of the organisation. Perhaps most famously, Modi has been implicated in deadly riots that killed between 1000 and 2000 people, mostly Muslims, in Gujarat in 2010, while he was chief minister of the state. Modi’s role has never been decisively clarified, but he certainly gave a series of inflammatory speeches that precipitated the violence, and was slow to act to stop it. He has shown little sympathy for the tens of thousands of people who are still displaced, referring to the camps of Muslims as “baby making factories”. The US denied him a visa because of his role in the violence. He has never apologised. He was re-elected after the riots, and in his second term, focused more on the economic development of Gujarat.

Why are people worried?

The violence in Gujarat was one of the worst instances of inter-communal violence for years. Accordingly, there is anxiety among India’s religious minorities – Muslims make up 14 per cent of the population, with the remaining 6 per cent a mixture of Christians, Zoroastrians, Sikhs, and Jains, among others – about their continued religious freedom and protection from such violence now that Modi is running the country.

There is also anxiety that Modi will not protect free speech. Many of the Hindu nationalist groups with which he is aligned have successfully led attempts to ban books or films which they deem offensive. One example was in April this year, when the HJS successfully stopped performances of a play called Ali J, which focused on communal riots during Partition. Another was in February, when HJS and Shiv Sena threats led to the cancellation of the prestigious Kala Ghoda Festival in Mumbai. Modi has personal form on censorship. His tenure in Gujarat saw economic growth – but it also saw critical journalists silenced with sedition charges.

Are these anxieties warranted?

Nobody knows. Many of the young people who voted for Modi did not do so because of his alleged role in the anti-Muslim pogroms, but because of his strong economic record in Gujarat. Of course, the RSS members who campaigned for him did not do so because of his plan for economic growth. They are likely to push for policies such as the building of a temple to the Hindu god Ram on the site of a mosque destroyed in 1992 (this was included as a BJP election pledge); the end of separate legal codes for Muslims and for Muslim-majority Kashmir; and laws against converting Hindus to “non-Indian” religions. Whether Modi decides to implement such potentially inflammatory policies, or whether he decides that a sectarian agenda should take second place to economic growth and domestic stability remains to be seen.