Over the last two decades, Hindutva, characterised by an aggressive, communal and authoritarian streak, has etched out an influential place for itself in Indian politics. Venomous campaigns against the minorities and an equally vituperative propaganda against secular and plural values have marked this forward march of Hindutva. It would be misleading to see this forward drive as a spontaneous mass outburst against a secular-democratic set up and for religio-cultural nationalism. To identify it so ‘suppresses a whole history of meticulously organized efforts towards a Hindu Rashtra’ (Basu et al: 1). Rather than being a sudden upsurge, the spread of ideas represented by Hindutva is attributable to gradual and meticulous mobilisational work combining multiple strategies that are alert to contextual and social differences. Read the rest of this entry »
