From RationalWiki

Hindutva (which can be literally translated into English as "Hinduness"[note 1]) is a word coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1923 pamphlet entitled Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? It forms the basis of the Hindu nationalist movement in India. Hindu nationalism is an ethno-religious nationalist movement that aims to eliminate the secular foundation of India's constitution and turn India into a Hindu State (Hindu Rashtra).

The Hindu nationalist movement, though primarily concentrated in India, has global presence and a section of the Indian diaspora living in the Europe and North America fund Hindutva groups in those countries, as well as in India.

What is Hindutva? [ edit ]

Savarkar, the founder of the Hindutva notion, was an admirer of Mussolini's Italian fascism and Hitler's Nazism. Savarkar said about Nazism and fascism,

“ ” Surely Hitler knows better than Pandit Nehru (refers to , the first prime minister of India) does what suits Germany best. The very fact that Germany or Italy has so wonderfully recovered and grown so powerful as never before at the touch of Nazi or Fascist magical wand is enough to prove that those political ‘isms’ were the most congenial tonics their health demanded.[1] Surely Hitler knows better than Pandit Nehru (refers to Jawaharlal Nehru , the first prime minister of India) does what suits Germany best. The very fact that Germany or Italy has so wonderfully recovered and grown so powerful as never before at the touch of Nazi or Fascist magical wand is enough to prove that those political ‘isms’ were the most congenial tonics their health demanded.

As per Savarkar, who defined Hindutva or Hinduness as an ethnic and political identity, a Hindu is a person whose ancestors lived in a land he called Akhand Bharat or Greater India (literally translated into English as Undivided India, which consists of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). To him, it was the land where their religion originated. Here religion means all religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.

The three essentials of Hindutva ideology are common nation (rashtra in Hindi), common race (jati in Hindi) and common culture/civilisation (sanskriti in Hindi).[2] So Hindutva is similar to ideologies like pan-Islamism and is antithetical to multiculturalism. Some academics have described Hindutva as a far-right-wing ideology.[3]

There are contradictory statements and views among people associated with the Hindu nationalist movement regarding the question of irreligion and atheism. Y. Sudershan Rao, who was appointed the head of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed government in 2014, tries to explain the meaning of "Hindu" arguing, "Hindu in ancient times was a name given to people who were living to the east of the Indus river up to Kanyakumari . Hindus were religious, nonreligious and irreligious. As a historian, I look at it that way."[4] This argument includes irreligious people as Hindu, if Hindu is defined as an ethnic identity. On the other hand, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest Hindu nationalist organization in India, constructs the idea of an "ideal Hindu family". According to a leader of the organization, "We also want people to see to it that their households look like proper Hindu homes: a tulsi plant, images of Hindu gods, the gayatri mantra , etc. should ideally be physically there."[5] This idea of an "ideal Hindu family" obviously excludes atheists, contradicting the view that irreligion comes within the Hindutva fold.

Hindutva in practice [ edit ]

Hindutva advocates are accused of suppressing freedom of speech and freedom of expression by banning books, films and other cultural media which they don't like, rejecting the idea of freedom of choice and instigating mob violence. In India, an umbrella organization called the Sangh Parivar champions the ideology of Hindutva. The Sangh comprises organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and others.

What Hindu nationalists say about genocide and eugenics [ edit ]

Genocide [ edit ]

In 2015, the vice-president of the Hindutva organization All India Hindu Assembly (Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha or ABHM in Hindi) Sadhvi Deva Thakur said that the population growth of Muslims and Christians in India need to be controlled by forcibly sterilizing them.[6][7]

“ ” The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, will have to impose , and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilisation so that they can't increase their numbers The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, Centre will have to impose emergency , and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilisation so that they can't increase their numbers —Sadhvi Deva Thakur[6]

Eugenics [ edit ]

In 2015, Sadhvi Deva Thakur also urged Hindus to have more children to increase their population.[6] BJP MP (member of parliament) Sakshi Maharaj said that every Hindu woman must have four children.[8][9]

“ ” The time has come when a Hindu woman must produce at least four children in order to protect Hindu religion. —Sakshi Maharaj, BJP MP

After this remark, another BJP politician suggested that Hindu women should have five children.[10]

Manipulating public education [ edit ]

Hindutva writer Dinanath Batra, who runs an organization euphemistically named Shiksha Bachao Andolan (Save Education Movement)[note 2], believes religious education should be an integral part of school curriculum.[11]

Batra has written some school textbooks which are taught in the Indian state of Gujarat , where the Hindu nationalist BJP forms government. If one explores these in depth, what is written in his books are bound to give laughs as well as shock to any educated sane person. An example of blatant racism and horrible misinformation is given below:[12][13]

“ ” Once [note 4] went for a dinner. There was a Briton at the event who said, "We are very dear to God." Radhakrishnan laughed and told the gathering, "Friends, one day God felt like making [note 5]. When he was cooking the rotis, the first one was cooked less and the English were born. The second one stayed longer on the fire and the were born. Alert after His first two mistakes, when God went on to cook the third roti, it came out just right and as a result were born." Once Dr Radhakrishnan went for a dinner. There was a Briton at the event who said, "We are very dear to God." Radhakrishnan laughed and told the gathering, "Friends, one day God felt like making rotis . When he was cooking the rotis, the first one was cooked less and the English were born. The second one stayed longer on the fire and the Negroes were born. Alert after His first two mistakes, when God went on to cook the third roti, it came out just right and as a result Indians were born." —schoolbook written by Dinanath Batra[12][13]

The above passage endorses classification of people based on skin color. It claims that Indian people are "just right" while people with lighter or darker skin color are the result of something going wrong.

Another blatant example of racism from his book is where people with darker skin color are depicted as violent criminals:

“ ” The aircraft was flying thousands of feet high in the sky. A very strongly built negro reached the rear door and tried to open it. The air-hostesses tried to stop him but the strongly built negro pushed the soft-bodied hostesses to the floor and shouted, 'Nobody dare move a step ahead'. An Indian grabbed the negro and he could not escape. The pilot and the Indian together thrashed the negro and tied him up with a rope. Like a tied buffalo, he frantically tried to escape but could not. The plane landed safely in Chicago. The negro was a serious criminal in the Chicago records and this brave Indian was an employee of The aircraft was flying thousands of feet high in the sky. A very strongly built negro reached the rear door and tried to open it. The air-hostesses tried to stop him but the strongly built negro pushed the soft-bodied hostesses to the floor and shouted, 'Nobody dare move a step ahead'. An Indian grabbed the negro and he could not escape. The pilot and the Indian together thrashed the negro and tied him up with a rope. Like a tied buffalo, he frantically tried to escape but could not. The plane landed safely in Chicago. The negro was a serious criminal in the Chicago records and this brave Indian was an employee of Air India —schoolbook written by Dinanath Batra[12]

Pseudoscholarship [ edit ]

Pseudoscience [ edit ]

The Sangh Parivar and Hindutva advocates in general also indulge in a lot of pseudoscientific claims. For example, it is not uncommon to find Hindutva proponents claiming that the discoveries of modern science are actually re-discoveries of what had been found ages ago by the ancient Hindu saints. Also, they tend to justify things like Ayurveda using pseudoscientific blabber.

Vedic Science is a concept used by Hindutva advocates to denote to the scientific tradition of ancient India.[note 6] Astrologer Gayatri Devi Vasudev writing for The Organiser, a publication of the Hindutva organization the RSS, claimed that the distinction of science and pseudoscience (or protoscience) is Eurocentric and inapplicable to Vedic Science:

“ ” Western scientific thought draws on the traditions of Greek rationalist thinking according to which only what is within the purview of the five senses is taken cognisance of. Scientific methods follow some kind of closed scientific reasoning which insulates itself against facts that its methods cannot account for. How else can they [scientists] dare dismiss Jyotisha ( Western scientific thought draws on the traditions of Greek rationalist thinking according to which only what is within the purview of the five senses is taken cognisance of. Scientific methods follow some kind of closed scientific reasoning which insulates itself against facts that its methods cannot account for. How else can they [scientists] dare dismiss Jyotisha ( astrology ) which sees a level of existence beyond the purview of the five senses? —Vasudev 2001[14]

Hindutva advocates even go as far to claim that religion and science is identical in India:

“ ” The idea of 'contradiction' is an imported one from the West in recent times by the Western-educated, since 'Modern Science' arbitrarily imagines that it only has the true knowledge and its methods are the only methods to gain knowledge, smacking of Semitic dogmatism in religion. —Mukhyananda 1997:94[15]

Pseudohistory and pseudoarcheology [ edit ]

Even before the advent of the Bharatiya Janata Party, there was a pseudoscientific historian named PN Oak, who made numerous ridiculous claims. Among them, was the allegation that the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, and that the Patriarch Abraham, was a Brahman (Abraham, Brahman). He also alleged that the Vatican originated as a Vedic priesthood (Vatican, Vatika), when it has been clearly documented that it was a successor to the Papal States, itself a successor to Western Imperium Romanum. (Just because a bunch of words are similar, that does NOT imply common origin. Hell, the fact that Japanese fisherman chant 'Yahweh', does NOT mean that they descended from the lost tribes of Israel). In 2014, after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, it appointed Y. Sudershan Rao, a history professor associated with a RSS-affiliated organization, as the head of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).[16] Rao believes that material evidence is not necessary to write the history of India. He said during an interview with the Outlook magazine,

“ ” Western schools of thought look at material evidence of history. We can’t produce material evidence for everything. India is a continuing civilisation. To look for evidence would mean digging right though the hearts of villages and displacing people. We only have to look at the people to figure out the similarities in their lives and the depiction in the and the . For instance, the Ramayana mentions that had travelled to (in ). A look at the people and the fact that his having lived there for a while is in the collective memory of the people cannot be discounted in the search for material evidence. In continuing civilisations such as ours, the writing of history cannot depend only on archaeological evidence. We have to depend on Western schools of thought look at material evidence of history. We can’t produce material evidence for everything. India is a continuing civilisation. To look for evidence would mean digging right though the hearts of villages and displacing people. We only have to look at the people to figure out the similarities in their lives and the depiction in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata . For instance, the Ramayana mentions that Rama had travelled to Bhad­ra­chalam (in Andhra Pradesh ). A look at the people and the fact that his having lived there for a while is in the collective memory of the people cannot be discounted in the search for material evidence. In continuing civilisations such as ours, the writing of history cannot depend only on archaeological evidence. We have to depend on folklore too. —Y. Sudershan Rao, head of the Indian Council of Historical Researh[17]

However, this statement is fallacious and in good old RationalWiki fashion, we have dissected and responded to it:

Rao's argument Reply

To look for evidence would mean digging right though the hearts of villages and displacing people. Argument from adverse consequences. It's also a red herring or possibly an escape hatch bordering on an emotional appeal ("Oh, the poor farmers!" - as if anyone suggests that it's necessary to move in with bulldozers and demolition crews and raze the houses of villagers. Contrast with how we've acquired knowledge of other ancient, but still inhabited, sites, such as Rome, Jerusalem, Jericho or Istanbul).

We only have to look at the people to figure out the similarities in their lives and the depiction in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata . If this seems familiar, it's because it's a Hindu version of the old biblical literalist nugget of "these events were real, hence the entire Bible must be correct!" Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, Rao. Rao is also begging the question, because he uses the fact that folklore occasionally matches written epics which were originally oral epics as evidence that the written version is correct. This is patently absurd because it amounts to using the correspondence between the depiction of Spider-Man in the movies and in the comics as "evidence" that Spider-Man must be real and that the movies are essentially documentaries. It's what we call circular evidence.

For instance, the Ramayana mentions that Rama had travelled to Bhad­ra­chalam (in Andhra Pradesh ). A look at the people and the fact that his having lived there for a while is in the collective memory of the people cannot be discounted in the search for material evidence. Here Rao combines the appeal to tradition with an argumentum ad populum. Why would the fact that countless people have believed something for a long time mean it's real? Loads of people believed in the pantheon of the Greco-Roman or ancient Egyptian religions, but practically no one do so now. Why should we accept Rao's myths?

In continuing civilisations such as ours, the writing of history cannot depend only on archaeological evidence. We have to depend on folklore too. And so we return to the hand waving, ad hoc'ing and argument by assertion. Yeah, Rao, keep repeating it and it will magically become a good argument...

Hindutva advocates propagate the pseudolinguistic Indigenous Aryans theory which asserts that the speakers of Indo-European languages are "indigenous" to the Indian subcontinent.

Revisionism of science and technology [ edit ]

Y. Sudershan Rao claimed that Indians used to fly aircraft, conduct stem cell research and use cosmic weapons 5000 years ago, and believes that the Indian epics the Mahabharata and the Ramayana , which were written two millennia ago, are not fiction, but essentially history books.[note 7] He argues humans did not develop the art of fiction writing until a few centuries ago; hence, the events and things described in these epics must be real.[18]

In the school textbook Tejomay Bharat written by Hindutva writer Dinanath Batra, it is claimed that television was invented in the age of Mahabharata ca. two millennia ago:

“ ” We know that television was invented by a priest from Scotland called John Logie Baird in 1926. But we want to take you to an even older … Indian using their vidya would attain There is no doubt that the invention of television goes back to this. We know that television was invented by a priest from Scotland called John Logie Baird in 1926. But we want to take you to an even older Doordarshan … Indian rishis using their yog would attain divya drishti. There is no doubt that the invention of television goes back to this. —Dinanath Batra[19]

Batra's textbook also claimed that the automobile was first invented in ancient India:

“ ” What we know today as the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. It was called aanashva rath.[note 8] Usually a rath (chariot) is pulled by horses but an anashva rath means the one that runs without horses or yantra-rath,[note 9] what is today a motorcar. The Rig Veda refers to this. What we know today as the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. It was called aanashva rath.Usually a rath (chariot) is pulled by horses but an anashva rath means the one that runs without horses or yantra-rath,what is today a motorcar. The Rig Veda refers to this. —Dinanath Batra[19]

If this kind of “we invented everything” narrative seems familiar, it’s probably because it’s literally the plot of George Orwell’s 1984...

Hindu nationalist phraseology [ edit ]

The phrase "Indian culture" is used to oppose personal choice and justify homophobia.

By referring to secular as "sickular", Hindu nationalists don't hide their hostility towards secularism.[20]

Hindutva movement worldwide [ edit ]

The Hindutva movement is not an Indian-only phenomenon. It is present worldwide, in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries. A number of organizations, mostly in the form of non-profits, constitute the movement and a section of the Hindu Indian diaspora in different countries support these organizations. An average supporter of an Hindutva organization may not adhere to the extremist beliefs of these organizations, but they join or support these organizations out of a perceived sense of alienation in a country where Hindus constitute a religious minority.

In the United States, Hindu nationalists take the benefit of the liberal secular atmosphere of the pluralist American society[21] and draw on multiculturalist discourse for their presence, while at the same time they fund cultural and political organizations in India that spread hatred and commit acts of violence against India's religious minorities.[22][23] In Australia, Hindu nationalist organizations legitimise their activities through the rhetoric of liberal multiculturalism. At the same time, just like the American Hindutva organizations, they promote hatred against religious minorities in India.[23]

Replies to criticism from a Hindu nationalist point of view [ edit ]

Videos by Hindu nationalist writer Rajiv Malhotra and his book "Academic Hinduphobia", ISBN 978-8-191-06737-8 [1]

Articles by author Arun Shourie and his book "Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud", ISBN 81-900199-8-8 [2]

Articles by Koenraad Elst in his website and his book "The Saffron Swastika: The Notion of "Hindu Fascism", ISBN 81-85990-69-7 [3]. Elst has himself been accused of being a "far-right Catholic & BJP fellow traveller".

Exposing Hindu nationalists [ edit ]

General [ edit ]

Hindu nationalist propaganda in education [ edit ]

Delete and control - the Parivar's mantra, article about manipulation of school textbooks

Hindu nationalist pseudo-scholarship [ edit ]

Hindu nationalism in Europe and North America [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

Notes [ edit ]