UNDERSTANDING
GLOBAL HINDUTVA
origin, development,
challenges and solutions
UNDERSTANDING
GLOBAL HINDUTVA:
origin, development,
challenges and solutions
CONTENTS
FOREWORD 5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7
1. WHAT IS GLOBAL HINDUTVA? 11
2. THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014 15
3. HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014 22
4. HINDUS IN THE DIASPORA 34
5. GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE 38
NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
6. BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION 53
7.RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA 58
8. RESOURCES 68
APPENDIX 75
4
FOREWORD
5
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA FOREWORD
6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
0. INTRODUCTION 0.1. GLOBAL REACH
AND GOALS OF HINDUTVA
0.2. EURO-AMERICA
8
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
0.3. MIDDLE EAST
0.6. STRATEGIC RESPONSE
0.4. SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
TO GLOBAL HINDUTVA
0.5. BUILDING AN
ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
9
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
0.7. FIVE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS 0.7.4. RAMP-UP MONITORING
AND REPORTING ON HINDUTVA
0.7.1. STRENGTHEN GLOBAL PUBLIC EDUCATION
AND UNDERSTANDING OF HINDUTVA
0.7.5. STRENGTHENING
MULTILATERAL COOPERATION
0.7.2. STRENGTHEN THE COUNTER-NARRATIVE
TO HINDUTVA PROPAGANDA
0.7.3. MUSLIM STATES
INTERVENTION ON HINDUTVA
10
1. WHAT IS
GLOBAL HINDUTVA?
11
1.0. WHAT IS GLOBAL HINDUTVA?
1.1. A DEFINITION OF GLOBAL HINDUTVA
1.3. HINDUTVA’S INDEBTEDNESS TO
EUROPEAN COLONIALISM AND FASCISM
1.2. HINDUTVA IS ONLY ONE STRAND
OF HINDU NATIONALISM
12
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA WHAT IS GLOBAL HINDUTVA?
1.5. HINDUTVA IS NOT
EQUIVALENT TO HINDUISM
1.4. HINDUTVA AS A 1.6. HINDUTVA IS NOT THE OUTCOME
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT OF THE WAR ON TERROR
13
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA WHAT IS GLOBAL HINDUTVA?
1.7. ANTI-HINDUTVA MOVEMENTS MUST
AVOID COMPETITIVE NATIONALISM
14
2. THE ORIGINS
AND DEVELOPMENT
OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
15
2.0. THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT
OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.1. INDIA’S DEMOCRACY
AFTER INDEPENDENCE
2.1.1. CONSERVATIVE
DEMOCRACY (1947-1980s)
2.1.3. HINDUTVA DEMOCRACY
(2014-PRESENT)
2.1.2. DEMOCRATIZATION OF DEMOCRACY
(LATE 1970s, LATE 1980s-2000s)
16
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.2. HINDU NATIONALISM
2.3. THE CORE OF FOUNDATIONAL 2.4. THE INSTITUTIONAL
HINDUTVA IDEOLOGY GROWTH OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.4.1. FORMATION OF THE RSS (1925)
17
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.4.2. FORMATION OF THE VHP (1964)
2.4.3. THE SANGH PARIVAR FAMILY
18
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.5. THE SANGH PARIVAR
IN POLITICS TO 2014
2.5.1. THE FORMATION OF A
POLITICAL WING (1951 AND 1980)
2.5.3. THE BJP’S FORCED
ELECTORAL MODERATION
2.5.2. THE AYODHYA PROVOCATION
19
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
In the 1999 elections, it issued a joint 2.6.1. THE GUJARAT POGROM OF 2002
manifesto with its coalition partners, leaving
aside all contentious issues, and doubled The trigger incident was the killing of 58
down on this approach after its defeat in militant Hindu volunteers (kar sevaks)
2004. Central to what prevented the BJP in two carriages of a train at Godhra
from gaining an absolute majority before Station on 27 February 2002. The causes
2014 was a failure to appeal electorally are unclear, but all serious analysts agree
to the majority of Hindus who belonged it was local and unplanned. The BJP
to the lower castes, and it remained the quickly and falsely blamed the Pakistan
political home for Hindu social elites. This intelligence services. What followed
forced compromise at the elite political level the next day was a systematic pogrom
should not, however, detract from the fact orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar family
that the rhetoric of the RSS and the violence of organisations, the BJP government of
promulgated towards Indian Muslims Gujarat, the police and senior national
between 1990 and 2002 makes a distinction civil servants. The RSS called a state-wide
between this period and more recent times closure (bandh) to protest the Godhra
redundant at a societal level. The perceived killings. The most intense period of killing
failure to promote Hindutva politically in took place between 28 February3 March
this period before 2014 re-energised the RSS and 1527 March, but continued into June,
to push for a stronger mobilization of the in which more than two thousand Muslim
Hindu majority, and it chose Narendra Modi men, women and children were killed.
as its leader to contest the 2014 elections. Five hundred mosques and Su shrines
BJP SEATS IN INDIA’S GENERAL ELECTIONS SEATS AND T
OV E SHARE
1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 2009 2014 2021
2 85 119 160 178 182 138 116 282 303
7.4 11.4 7.4 20.1 25.6 23.8 22.2 18.8 51.7 55.8
Five hundred mosques and Su shrines
2.6. THE GUJARAT POGROM (dargahs) were destroyed, and 150,000
Muslims were displaced by mid-April. There
AND THE MODI PLAYBOOK
was systematic sexual molestation, rape
Modi’s reign as Gujarat’s Chief Minister and murder of Muslim women and children.
between 200214 saw him break away A leading newspaper, Sandesh, ran the
from BJP’s strategy of moderating to headline, A
“ e
v nge Blood with Blood” on 28
hold power in coalition during the 1990s February. In the immediate aftermath, the
and 2000s towards a confrontational, BJP supported its chief minister Modi over
divisive populism. With hindsight, Gujarat its Prime Minister a
V jpayee. Modi moved
functioned as Modi’s laboratory for India the state elections forward and successfully
writ large after 2014. His tenure began with played on the post-pogrom religious
the deaths of over two thousand Muslims polarization to win half the seats (enlarging
in Gujarat. the BJPs’ share over the previous elections).
20
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF HINDUTVA TO 2014
2.6.2. MODITVA: MODI’S
REFORMULATION OF HINDUTVA
21
3. HINDUTVA EMPOWERED:
MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
22
3.0. HINDUTVA EMPOWERED:
MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.1. THE ATTACK ON MINORITIES
3.1.1. CHRISTIANS
“LOVE JIHAD” CAMPAIGN
3.1.2. MUSLIMS
23
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
ANTI-CONVERSION CAMPAIGN
24
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
LYNCHING TO PROTECT COWS
LAND JIHAD
25
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.1.3. THE RISE OF
STATE-BACKED VIGILANTISM
26
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.2. DISCRIMINATORY 3.2.3. STATE ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS
LEGISLATION IN INDIA
3.2.1. CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT (CAA)
3.2.2. NATIONWIDE NATIONAL
REGISTER OF CITIZENS (NRC)
27
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.2.4. PROPOSED UNIFORM CIVIL CODE 3.2.6. COW PROTECTION
LAWS AND VIGILANTE VIOLENCE
3.2.5. USE OF ANTI-TERROR
LEGISLATION AGAINST MINORITIES
28
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.3. THE SHAHEEN BAGH
PROTESTS IN DELHI, 2019-20
29
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
3.4. STAGES OF INCIPIENT SYMBOLIZATION
GENOCIDE IN INDIA
CLASSIFICATION
DISCRIMINATION
30
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
DEHUMANIZATION POLARIZATION
PREPARATION
ORGANIZATION
31
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
PERSECUTION
EXTERMINATION
3.5. THE ANNEXATION OF KASHMIR IN
2019 AND THE ALLIANCE WITH ISRAEL
DENIAL
32
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUTVA EMPOWERED: MODI’S INDIA SINCE 2014
33
4. HINDUS IN
THE DIASPORA
34
4.0. HINDUS IN THE DIASPORA
4.1. AVOIDING THE FALLACY OF 4.2. MAJOR HINDU
DEMOGRAPHIC CORRELATION MINORITY POPULATIONS
The stereotyping fallacy of demography as According to one recent estimate in 2020,
a catch-all explanation that assumes a false only 6% of the world’s Hindus live outside
correlation between size of Hindu diaspora of India. There is only one other Hindu-
populations and the extent of Hindutva majority nation besides India, which is
inuence must and should be avoided. Nepal. Major Hindu minority populations
That said, diasporic Hindu populations have outside of the two majority Hindu nations,
long been the primary targets of Hindutva India and Nepal, with populations of over
recruitment in the decades after Indian 500,000 include:
independence, so with this crucial caveat,
a few facts on the Hindu diaspora itself are
justied.
HINDU MINORITY POPULATIONS
Countries Pew Research, 2020 est. US Dept of State, 2022
Bangladesh 13,790,000 13,260,000
Indonesia 4,210,000 4,710,000
Pakistan 3,990,000 3,890,000
Sri Lanka 3,090,000 2,920,000
United States 2,510,000 1,692,000
Gulf States 2,330,000 2,440,000
Malaysia 1,940,000 2,070,000
UK 1,030,000 1,150,000
Mauritius 640,000 620,000
Canda 610,000 650,000
South Africa 540,000 720,000
All Others 3,290,000 -
Sources:
35
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUS IN THE DIASPORA
36
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA HINDUS IN THE DIASPORA
4.3. HINDU MINORITY
POPULATIONS BY PERCENTAGE
Percentagew
- ise, there are signicant
Hindu minority populations in several small
nation-states, particularly in the Arabian
Gulf:
HINDU MINORITY POPULATIONS
Country % Hindus Hindu Population
Mauritius 48.4 640,000
Fiji 27.9 270,000
Guyana 23.3 200,000
Bhutan 22.5 190,000
Trinidad and Tobago 22.3 310,000
Suriname 18.8 110,000
Qatar 15.9 360,000
Sri Lanka 13.7 3,090,000
Bahrain 10.2 150,000
u
K wait 9.9 330,000
Bangladesh 8.2 13,790,000
United Arab Emirates 7.7 660,000
Singapore 6.5 380,000
Malaysia 5.8 1,940,000
Oman 5.7 190,000
Sources:
37
5. GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS
LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM
OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
38
5.0. GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE
NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.1. THE SALIENCE OF 5.2. THE GLOBAL
LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM HINDUTVA PLAYBOOK
5.2.1. IDEOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP
5.2.2. CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CONTROL
39
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.2.3. STATE CAPTURE
5.2.4. EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE
5.2.5. NEW HINDUTVA HISTORY
40
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.2.7. THE CREATION OF
SEGMENTED INFORMATION
5.2.6. ORGANIZED ONLINE
HARASSMENT OF CRITICS
5.2.8. DIVERSIFICATION OF
FUNDRAISING CHANNELS
5.2.9. STRONG NARRATIVES AGAINST
HINDUTVA’S OUTCASTS
41
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.3. THE UNITED STATES: THE NEW
FRONTIER OF GLOBAL HINDUTVA
42
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.4. GREAT BRITAIN: A NEW
FRONTLINE FOR GLOBAL HINDUTVA
43
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.4.1. LEICESTER 2022 – HINDUTVA
STREET VIOLENCE COMES TO EUROPE
44
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.4.2. BRITAIN’S HINDUTVA
LOBBY MOBILIZES
45
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.5. CANADA: GROWING BJP INFLUENCE
IN A MULTICULTURAL NATION
46
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.6. THE GULF STATES:
REMITTANCES AND INDIA’S
GROWING ECONOMIC FOOTPRINT
47
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
48
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.7. PAKISTAN: MARGINAL HINDUS
AND GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS
49
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.8. BANGLADESH: LEVERAGING
VOTES IN WEST BENGAL
5.9. NEPAL: THE POSSIBILITY OF HYBRID
SOCIALIST HINDUTVA NATIONALISM
50
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.10. SRI LANKA:
BUDDHIST NATIONALISM
AS HINDUTVA’S COMPETITOR
51
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA GLOBAL HINDUTVA AS LONG-DISTANCE NATIONALISM OUTSIDE INDIA: AN OVERVIEW
5.11. INDONESIA: THE NAIVE
PROMOTION OF MODERATE ISLAM
52
6. BUILDING AN
ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
53
6.0. BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
6.1. BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA 6.1.3. SUPPORT FOR OTHER
COALITION IN THE DIASPORA: SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS
THE EXAMPLE OF THE US
6.1.4. EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
6.1.1. INTERSECTIONAL AWARENESS
6.1.5. BROADENING SCOPE
6.1.2. JOINT SOLIDARITY STATEMENTS
54
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
6.1.6. INVOLVEMENT OF PROGRESSIVE 6.2.2. LEGAL ACTION AND ADVOCACY
NON-SOUTH ASIAN ORGANIZATIONS
6.2. THE TOOLKIT OF SUCCESSFUL
ANTI-HINDUTVA STRATEGIES IN
DIASPORA: THE US CASE STUDY
6.2.1. PROTESTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS
6.2.2. EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS
55
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
6.2.4. REACTIVE MEDIA 6.3. ANOTHER POLITICS IS POSSIBLE
AND INFORMATION SHARING FOR INDIA: REFLECTIONS ON THE
SHAHEEN BAGH PROTESTS IN DELHI
OF 2019-20
6.3.1. NOT BOUND BY CONSTITUTIONAL
POLITICS OR PARTY POLITICS
6.2.5. DEDICATED RESOURCES TO MONITOR
HINDUTVA IN INDIA AND GLOBAL HINDUTVA
6.3.2. CRITIQUE OF ETHNIC NATIONALISM
AND CORPORATIZED DEMOCRACY
6.3.3. CALL FOR INTERFAITH UNITY
BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF LIBERALISM
56
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA BUILDING AN ANTI-HINDUTVA COALITION
6.3.6. DEFIANCE OF ESTABLISHED LEADERS
AND ERADICATION OF HIERARCHIES
6.3.4. UNPLANNED AND
SPONTANEOUS POLITICAL ACTION
6.3.5. NEW LEADERS – WOMEN AND YOUTH
57
7. RECOMMENDATIONS TO
COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA
58
7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS TO
COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA
7.1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNTER 7.1.3. MUSLIM STATES
GLOBAL HINDUTVA OUTSIDE INDIA TO COUNTER HINDUTVA
7.1.1. EDUCATION AND UNDERSTANDING
7.1.4. ORGANISED MONITORING
OF HINDUTVA LINKED VIOLENCE
AND HATE CRIMES
7.1.2. COUNTERING HINDUTVA
PROPAGANDA NARRATIVES AND TROPES
59
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA
7.1.9. SUPPORT DIASPORA INITIATIVES
7.1.5. STRENGTHEN
MULTILATERAL COOPERATION
7.1.10. EXPAND MONITORING
AND ANALYSIS CAPACITY
7.1.6. PROMOTE INCLUSIVE NARRATIVES
7.2. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THOSE
OUTSIDE INDIA TO COUNTER HINDUTVA
WITHIN INDIA
7.2.1.ENCOURAGE SELF-DEFENCE
AND SECURITY TRAINING AMONG
MUSLIMS IN INDIA
7.1.7. ADVOCATE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS
7.1.8. COMBAT ONLINE DISINFORMATION
60
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA
7.2.2. ENCOURAGE MUSLIM ORGANISATIONS 7.2.5. PRESSURE FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
BUSINESS, CULTURAL, AND RELIGIOUS
TO NETWORK WITH THOSE OUTSIDE INDIA.
7.2.6. FOSTER INTERCOMMUNITY HARMONY
7.2.3. DO NOT NEGLECT
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
7.2.7. DOCUMENT AND SHARE INFORMATION
7.2.4. AMPLIFY LOCAL VOICES
7.2.8. ADVOCATE FOR LEGAL REFORMS
61
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNTER GLOBAL HINDUTVA
7.2.9. PROMOTE ACADEMIC
AND POLICY EXPERT EXCHANGE
7.2.10. PUT INDIA’S INCIPIENT
GENOCIDE ON THE GLOBAL AGENDA
62
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA ENDNOTES
ENDNOTES
63
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA ENDNOTES
64
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA ENDNOTES
65
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA ENDNOTES
66
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA ENDNOTES
67
8. RESOURCES
68
8.0 RESOURCES
8.1 KEY ORGANISATIONS AND WEBSITES
69
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RESOURCES
70
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RESOURCES
71
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RESOURCES
8.2 BIBLIOGRAPHY
72
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RESOURCES
73
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL HINDUTVA RESOURCES
74
APPENDIX ONE: TIMELINE OF LEICESTER UNREST AND AFTERMATH, 2022-3
75
76
Pran Pratishtha inauguration ceremony of Shree Ram Janmaboomi Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, 22
January 2024, built on the site of the demolished Babri Mosque/Wikimedia Commons; Front cover image:
Demolition of the Babri Mosque, 1992 (poster)/Wikimedia Commons
Ayaan Institute, International House, 142 Cromwell Road, London, SW7 4EF
Telephone: +44 (0) 333 012 4536 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ayaaninstitute.com
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