Hindu nationalism

Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that defines India as a Hindu nation and seeks to organize public life around Hindu identity and culture.

Hindutva: A political conception of Hindu identity that presents India as the homeland of Hindus. V. D. Savarkar’s formulation gave Hindu nationalism its most influential ideological vocabulary.
Indian nationalism: A broad movement and set of ideas asserting India’s political unity and national self-determination. Hindu nationalism is one influential, contested account of what constitutes the Indian nation.
Ayodhya dispute: A religious and legal dispute over a site in Ayodhya associated with the Babri Masjid and the birthplace of Rama. The campaign to build a Ram temple there became a defining mobilization for Hindu nationalist politics.
Indian secularism: An approach to Indian public life that seeks state neutrality or principled engagement among religions. It offers a competing framework for accommodating religious diversity in a common polity.
Religious pluralism in India: The coexistence and public recognition of multiple religious communities in Indian society. Hindu nationalism raises disputes over how pluralism fits within a nation defined through Hindu identity.
V. D. Savarkar: An Indian political activist who developed a foundational theory of Hindutva in the twentieth century. His 1923 pamphlet articulated a political definition of Hindu nationhood.
Hinduism: A diverse family of religious traditions originating in the Indian subcontinent. The ideology draws on Hindu symbols and identities, though Hinduism itself is not a single political program.
Babri Masjid demolition: The destruction of a sixteenth-century mosque in Ayodhya by a crowd on 6 December 1992. The demolition marked a dramatic confrontation over religious heritage and national identity.
Civic nationalism: A form of nationalism grounded primarily in shared political membership and institutions rather than ancestry or religion. It contrasts with definitions of Indian nationhood centered on Hindu cultural identity.
Anti-Muslim violence in India: Violence directed against Muslims in India, occurring in forms including riots, attacks, and targeted intimidation. Debates over the movement’s rhetoric and mobilization often focus on their relationship to violence against Muslims.

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