What is Hindutva?
Hindutva means roughly Hinduness. It is the main ideology behind Hindu nationalism in India. It says India is at heart a Hindu nation, a Hindu Rashtra, and that a shared culture, history and sacred land decide who belongs. Supporters call this cultural nationalism: pride in an ancient civilization, and a way to bring Hindus together over the lines of caste and region. Critics call it majority rule dressed as nationalism, one that ranks Muslims and Christians below Hindus. Scholars point out that Hindutva is a political project, separate from the Hindu religion, and plenty of Hindus want nothing to do with it.
Core beliefs
- India's identity comes from Hindu civilization and culture.
- Hindus should see themselves as one community, whatever their caste, language or region.
- The state should not give special legal treatment to religious groups, which supporters link to a uniform civil code.
- Historic and sacred sites are part of the national heritage and deserve to be reclaimed.
- A strong, secure and united country is a top goal.
- Building character and community through volunteer work matters as much as winning elections.
History
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar gave the movement its name in Essentials of Hindutva (1923), where a Hindu is anyone who treats the land between the Indus and the seas as both homeland and sacred ground. In 1925 a doctor from Nagpur, K. B. Hedgewar, set up the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a network of volunteers that became the movement's heart. M. S. Golwalkar led it from 1940 to 1973. In 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse, who came from Hindu nationalist circles, and the government barred the RSS for more than twelve months. A political wing followed: the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980. The Ayodhya campaign over the Babri Masjid, which crowds tore down in 1992, turned a niche cause into a mass movement. The BJP then formed national governments, first from 1998 to 2004 and again after 2014.
Variants
Savarkar held no strong religious beliefs himself. His version was about political unity and military power. The RSS tradition leans on drills, charity work and a patient change of culture. Deendayal Upadhyaya wrote Integral Humanism, a doctrine the BJP took up as an Indian third road between capitalism and communism. A family of groups known as the Sangh Parivar, among them the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a student union and a labor union, shares the goal but not the tone or the level of militancy.
Criticisms
Many Indian academics, opposition parties and rights groups object strongly. In their view Hindutva wears away the secular and plural base of the constitution and encourages bias and attacks on Muslims and Christians. They cite the 1992 mosque demolition and the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Some add that it plays down caste inequality. Supporters reject this. They say Hindutva means equal treatment with no favors, that Indian secularism had slid into appeasing minorities, and that pride in one's civilization is healthy. This argument is one of the sharpest divides in Indian politics.
In practice
Since 2014 BJP governments have carried out policies tied to Hindutva. In 2019 they cancelled the special constitutional position that Jammu and Kashmir had held, and passed the Citizenship Amendment Act. A Ram temple at Ayodhya was consecrated in 2024. Supporters see the promises of decades kept. Critics see weaker protection for minorities. On the 12 axes the profile is highest on Culture, toward National identity, with firm leanings toward Order on Security and Strength on foreign policy.