Hindu nationalism (Hindutva)

Hindu nationalism is the movement arguing that India should be understood as fundamentally a Hindu nation. The term Hindutva ("Hindu-ness") was coined by V.D. Savarkar in 1923 to describe this ideology. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), founded in 1925, has been the principal organizational network for Hindu nationalism, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging in 1980 as its political wing.

Hindu nationalists argue that Indian secularism unfairly privileges religious minorities (especially Muslims) and that the dominant Hindu majority should be recognized as the cultural and political foundation of the state. They have campaigned around several issues:

• The Ayodhya/Babri Mosque dispute: Hindu nationalists destroyed the sixteenth-century Babri Mosque in 1992, claiming it had been built on the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama. The destruction triggered communal riots that killed approximately 2,000 people. A Hindu temple was later built on the site, opened in 2024.
• Cow protection: Hindus traditionally consider cattle sacred. Hindu nationalists have advocated nationwide bans on cow slaughter, which affect Muslim and Christian communities that consume beef.
• Cultural revisionism: Hindu nationalists have pushed for revised history textbooks that emphasize Hindu achievements and depict the Muslim Mughal period as foreign occupation.
• Citizenship laws: The 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act offered fast-track citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from neighboring Muslim-majority countries, which critics say undermines India's secular constitution.