Hindutva

Hindutva is a Hindu nationalist ideology that defines Indian identity through Hindu culture and heritage. Its interpretations differ over Hinduism’s role in public life and the place of religious minorities.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar: An Indian political activist who articulated Hindutva as a form of national identity in his 1923 pamphlet. His 1923 work gave the ideology its foundational definition.
M. S. Golwalkar: A leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from 1940 to 1973 and an influential Hindu nationalist thinker. His writings and leadership helped institutionalize a cultural-nationalist interpretation.
Hinduism: A diverse family of religious traditions, philosophies, and practices that developed in South Asia. Hindutva is a political ideology, not a synonym for Hindu religious life.
Bharatiya Janata Party: An Indian political party founded in 1980 that has governed India and is associated with Hindu nationalism. It is the principal national party through which Hindutva has gained electoral power.
Indian secularism: An approach to state-religion relations in India shaped by constitutional commitments and the country’s religious diversity. Its future depends partly on how Hindutva influences state treatment of religions.
Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu?: A 1923 pamphlet by V. D. Savarkar that sets out his conception of Hindutva and Hindu nationhood. This text distinguishes Savarkar’s political definition from religious doctrine.
Syama Prasad Mukherjee: An Indian politician who founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951. His party-building connected Hindu nationalist ideas to electoral politics.
Indian nationalism: Political movements and ideas asserting a shared national identity among the people of India. Hindutva defines national belonging culturally; other nationalisms ground it in different shared identities.
Ram Janmabhoomi movement: A campaign seeking a Hindu temple at the disputed birthplace of the deity Rama in Ayodhya. The movement became a defining mass mobilization for Hindu nationalist politics.
Indian Constitution: The supreme legal framework of India, adopted in 1950, establishing institutions, rights, and principles of governance. Arguments about Hindutva often turn on how constitutional equality and religious freedom should be interpreted.

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