(“Hindu-ness”)
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a political figure, was the first to propose the
notion.
It was initially published in a booklet named Hindutva/Who
is a Hindu? and serves as the foundation for current Hindu nationalism.
Despite their strong geographical, cultural, linguistic, and
religious diversity, Savarkar's argument was that Hindus were a nation;
moreover, he defined a Hindu as anybody who regarded India both fatherland and
sacred country.
This wide concept included all of the diversity seen in
Hindu culture in India.
However, it was evident that it was aiming for the lowest
common denominator.
Rather than abstract concepts of being "Hindu,"
most Indians' identities are generally founded on real regional, linguistic, or
sectarian reasons.
However, it is vital to highlight who this broad definition
excludes: India's most prominent minorities, Muslims and Christians, who are
ostracized because of their "foreign" sacred places.
According to this view, Hindus "belong" in India
merely by being Hindus, but Muslims and Christians, regardless of how long
their family have resided in India, are always considered outsiders.
The Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a modern conservative
Hindu organization, and its allied groups, primarily the Vishva Hindu Parishad,
and to a lesser degree the Bharatiya Janata Party, hold Hindutva philosophy as
a core tenet.
Hindutva values are also popular in Hindu-nationalist groups
like the Shiv Sena, which blend Hindu and regional identities.
Christophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement in
India, 1996, is a good source of information.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
