Ancient period:
The term Hindu was an
abbreviated form for reference of people living beyond the Sindhu River named
by contemporary communities especially that of the Arabs and Persians who had
trade relations with them. The term did not then signify any monolithic religion
but was a general reference name for identity of region and people. The
religious beliefs of people during those times were related to various sects and philosophies but was either related to the vedas (vaidikam)
like Brahmanism, Vaishnavism , Shaktism and non vaidic (avaidikam) like
Ajivikas, Charvakam,Budhism and Jainism . Shaivism had much variants which were
either in the vaidikam or avaidikam
tradition but later forms part of the larger vaidika dharma . However there
seems to exist a rudimentary form of socio-cultural identity structured under a
caste system which could be inferred from the term ‘’ Mlechas’’ which were
referred to immigrants into the landmass who did not assimilate into the common
culture of the region.
Medieval period:
Prior to the Islamic
Invasion of India in the 7th Century by Arabs and in the 12th
Century by Turks, a political Hindu Identity was absent. A identify formed from
the differentiation of idolators and iconoclasts emerged since then mainly from
the political fallout from the conflicts of Islamic Sultanates and Kingdoms in
India from the 12th Century onwards with the Hindu Kings. The
resistance of Rajput Kings Like Pritviraj Chouhan and Rana Sangha and Marathas
under Chatrapati Shivaji testifies a religious angle to the conflict much
reflected by Idolatry, iconoclasm and religious
taxes
The religious angle to conflict
against Islamic forces can be best cited to the emergence of Vijayanagaram Kingdom
in the Deccan. The traditional account referred in Nilakanta Shastri’s History
of South India is that of the capture and conversion into Islam of the local
chief tons Harihara -1 and Bukka by the Delhi Sultan in the 13th
century and their escape and reconversion into Hinduism done and establishing a
mighty empire which spread all over south India. The medieval period of Hindu
Consciousness can also be connected to the bhakti movements which evolved in
the South and later spread to the North of India. However, during this period a
consolidated Hindu political Identity was absent in the sub-continent.
Modern Period:
While it can be mentioned
that the first war of Independence of India of 1857 was triggered primarily by
religious offences faced by both Hindus and Muslims from British Officers, the
rebellion was conspicuous of a collective Hindu -Muslim onslaught on the
British empire. This necessitated a narrative of division and creation of a Hindu-Muslim dyad as part of policy by the British Administration
. This strategy eventually resulted in division of Bengal on religious lines in
1905 and the communal constituencies created through the Minto Morley reforms
in 1906. The British policy of divide and rule had a strong bearing on
emergence of religious identity formation and nationalistic aspiration both
among Hindu as well as Muslims.
The Hindu identity politics
initially emerged as a resentment to the passive Hindu aristocratic affiliation
of the moderate congress to the British empire. This was led by Balagangadhara
Tilak who looked into Hindu and maratha
traditions as sources for nationalistic aspirations. The prevalent
religious reforms movements especially the formation of the Arya Samaj did
create an impetus to Hindu nationalist aspirations . However the formation of the Punjab Hindu
Mahasabha in 1909 through Lal Chand and UN Mukherji ,focussed on creating a
Hindu centric political movement was
mainly guided against the conciliatory politics of the congress which
eventually resulted in the formation of the All India Hindu Maha Sabha in April
1915 during the Haridwar Kubhmela and was ironically facilitated by Mahatma Gandhi
himself.
The emergence of Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar who started the Abhinav bharat society (young India movement) in 1904 and
that of Aurobindo Ghosh who joined Bengal National congress and his association
with anushasan samiti till 1910 was focussed on a revolutionary approach to the
freedom movement. Both their political leaning was inspired by a collective
Hindu Identity. Influenced by their writing and political thinking, Kesav Baliram Hedgewar started an organisation
called Rashtriya Syamsewak Sangh in 1925 on a Vijayadashami day along with his similar ideologues prominent among them
being Guruji Gowalkar for ‘cultural and spiritual regeneration of Hinduism’.
The organisation did not actively associate with the freedom movement and
instead focussed on activities which imbibed a strong Hindu consciousness among
the youth. His activities were followed by Guruji Gowalkar who succeeded him in
1940 and under whom the a political
Hindu consciousness movement started developing a political ideology as referred
through his book ‘’ We or Our nationhood defined’’ . Govalkar spoke of cultural
nationalism and a Hindu Rashtra incorporating the ancient Hindu civilisational
cradle as Akhand Bharat.
The pre independent modern
period had do academic and educational development which has propelled the
development of Hindu consciousness. In 1938 a educationalist turned politician Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi started the Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan a series of educational establishment to promote Indian culture
based education. Prior to that Swamy Vivekananda founded the Rama krishna
Mission and spread the values of Hindu religion through his famous speech in
the parliament of world religions held in Chicago in 1893. Vivekananda remained
a cultural icon to the Hindu nationalists and his work significantly
contributed to the concept of cultural nationalism in India. Additionally the
works done by British Indologists like William Jones, Henry Thomas and among
Indians notably being R G Bhandarkar in addition to the Archaeologists and
Historians of the period have created a consciousness of a prideful past of the
nation. The works of Alexander cunningham who found the Archaeological Survey
of India, John Marshel credited with the discovery of the Indus civilisation, Motimer
wheeler and James Princip among other. This was followed by many woks on archaeology
mainly led by Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankhalia , Dayaram Sahni etc which re
interacted the intelligentsia about a strong linkage to India’s cultural
continuity.
Post Independent Period:
The independence of India
which was followed by the division of the nation, the communal backlash and
notably the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, by Nathuram Godse , a Hindu Maha Sabha activist submerged the
Hindutva movement . However, the Fabián socialist and secular principles of the
new congress led government was opposed by a new leader , a critic of Nehru , a
member of his first cabinet and a dropout from the Hindu Mahasabha, namely
Shyam prasad Mukherji . In 1951 with the support of the RSS, Mukerji started
the Bharatiya Janasangh as a Hindu nationalist alternative to the Indian
national congress . This was also followed by R Rajagopalachari disguised by
left socialist leaning of the congress formed a party called Swatantra Party in
1959. Both these parties formed the
initial right wing alternative to the congress party under Jawarlal Nehru with
the former on Hindutva ideology and the latter with an anti-socialist ideology
.
The Bhartiya Jan Sangh could
win only 3 seats in the 1952 Lok Sabha elections and remained in the fringes of
Indian political till 1967 , heavily dominated by the Indian National congress and
also due to the sudden death of Shyama prasad Mukherji in 1953 under suspicious
circumstances . Deendayal Upadhyaya re
defined the Jan Sangh ideology under a principle of Integral Humanism which he
propounded against western individualism and Marxian socialism, which later
echoed as Swadeshi Sagran Manch and most lately as Make in India and Atmanirbhar
Bharat. The principle takes cues from Gandhian ideologies of Swadishi, Sarvodaya
and Gram swaraj and under his leadership JanSangh got 35 seats in the lok sabha
elections held in 1967. After his untimely death in 1968, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
become the President of Jan Sangh till 1972 which was followed by LK Advani
till 1977. The Jansangh’s association with Janata Party resulted in its
participation in the Morarji Desai cabinet from 1977 to 1979. However the issue
of being a political party member and a member of RSS jointly was opposed by
the Janata Party in 1980 after its poor performance in the national elections .
this led to Bharatiya Jan Sangh breaking away from Janata Party and forming the
Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980 under the president ship of Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.
In 1984, the moderate Vajpayee
was succeeded by LK Advani a hardliner who vehemently criticised the practice
of secularism in India naming it as Pseudo secularism. According to LK Advani, the
practice of secularism in India was for minority appeasement. The immediate
political opportunity for the party under LK Advani was the promulgation of the
Muslim Women (Protection on Divorce Act), 1986.
This law overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shah Bano case which
allowed continuous maintenance to Muslim women . The 1986 Muslim Women
(Protection on Rights of Divorce) Act diluted the Supreme Court judgment and
allowed maintenance to a divorced woman only during the period of iddat, or
till 90 days after the divorce.
Meanwhile in 1964 the Viswa Hindu Parishad was formed by Guruji
Gowalkar and S S Apte under the able
guidance of the Pujniya Swamy Chinmayananda the founder of Chinmaya mission and
one of the post independent global exponent of Gita and Upanishad philosophies .
The VHP which aims to consolidate, serve and protect the Hindu Community, under
the then leadership of Ashok Singhal decided to take up the issue of Ram
Janmabhoomi in its Dharma Sansad held in Delhi in 1984. In 1989 in its Palampur,Kangra
Resolution the BJP under LK Advani took a resolution to fight for the cause of
Ram Janmabhoomi which resulted into his rath yatra which resulted in a
political consolidation of the Hindus . In the elections that followed after
the BJP has consistently outweighed the congress party and in 1998 the party
along with like minded groups formed the National democratic alliance which
came to power in 1998 to 2004 being the first non-congress political
dispensation which completed its 5 year
tenure.
Twenty first century
and Hindutva movement:
Emergence of
the twenty first century saw the coming of a new generation technologically enabled
and highly networked through a burgeoning social media. By the second decade of
this century conservative nationalism started emerging across the globe with
individual leaders leading youthful movements. The Hindutva movement quickly
moved into the digital platform and found centrifuged under a leader named
Narendra Modi the then chief minister of Gujarat. The digital Hindutva movement
under Mr Modi focussed not only on the national but also on the global Hindu diaspora.
Unlike the focussed religious agenda the digital Hindutva campaign was on
development christened ‘’ sab ke saat sab ka vikas’’ a term which
reverberated among the youth and middle class Indians paving way for the second
NDA government under Narendra Modi as PM in 2014 .
