In this excerpt from Susan Adelman’s biography of Ram Jethmalani, The Rebel, Adelman narrates what came to pass in December 1995, when Jethmalani was counsel to Bal Thackeray and Ramesh Yeshwant Prabhoo, an independent supported by the Shiv Sena. Both men had been charged with hate speech. In the course of his defense, Jethmalani had to define and differentiate between Hindutva and Hinduism. Here’s how it played out.

I will never forget the day Ram told me with a thrill in his voice that he had a case in which he needed to define whether Hinduism is a religion. Not only that, he had to define a religion. The task at hand was to show the Supreme Court that Hindutva is not the same as Hinduism and that Hinduism is not actually a religion.

Two related cases went to the Supreme Court on the same day, one of Ramesh Yeshwant Prabhoo, and the other of Bal Thackeray v. Shri Prabhaker Kunte. The cases were appeals from the Bombay High Court, arising from a December 1987 election. The High Court had declared Dr Prabhoo’s election void, and it ruled that Thackeray was guilty of corrupt election practices.

The charge was that Ramesh Yeshwant Prabhoo, a candidate from Vile Parle constituency to the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly, and his agent Thackeray ‘appealed for votes on the ground of the returned candidate’s religion and that they promoted or tended to promote feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on the grounds of religion and community’. At issue were three outrageous speeches that Thackeray had given for the candidate.

Dr Prabhoo ran as an independent candidate with support from the Shiv Sena party, because the Shiv Sena was not recognized for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. Thackeray spoke as the leader of the Shiv Sena. The court quotes from a speech that Thackeray gave in Marathi at Vile Parle in November 1987. The English translation that was furnished to the court read: ‘We are fighting this election for the protection of Hinduism. Therefore, we do not care for the votes of the Muslims. This country belongs to Hindus and will remain so.’