{"id":6813,"date":"2026-05-22T14:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/what-is-hindutva-and-what-are-the-roots-of-this-political-movement\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:35:52","slug":"what-is-hindutva-and-what-are-the-roots-of-this-political-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/what-is-hindutva-and-what-are-the-roots-of-this-political-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Hindutva, and what are the roots of this political movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>On May 14, the high court in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh ruled that\u00a0the centuries-old <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/5\/18\/hindu-order-runs-india-court-declares-another-medieval-mosque-a-temple\">Kamal Maula mosque<\/a> in the city of Dhar was actually a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess. Two days later, saffron flags associated with Hindu far-right groups were all over the site, with supporters celebrating and filming rituals that were carried out.<\/p>\n<p>The Kamal Maula mosque, also known as the Bhojshala complex, has been disputed for decades. And such claims are not unique to this mosque. Far-right Hindutva activists have made similar claims \u2013 that a given mosque was built atop a temple \u2013 across the country, emboldened by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/the-india-report\/2024\/3\/14\/how-india-came-to-embrace-the-politics-of-hindutva\">Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a>\u2019s rise to power in 2014.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/5\/20\/cockroach-janata-party-top-indian-judges-comment-sparks-satire-protest\">\u2018Cockroach Janta Party\u2019: Top Indian judge\u2019s comment sparks satire, protest<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/20\/modi-avoids-norway-media-how-that-led-to-storm-over-indias-press-freedom\">Modi avoids Norway media: How that led to storm over India\u2019s press freedom<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/5\/21\/iron-brothers-how-china-and-pakistan-built-an-unlikely-75-year-bond\">\u2018Iron brothers\u2019: How China and Pakistan built an unlikely 75-year bond<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/5\/21\/india-africa-summit-postponed-as-ebola-spreads-to-m23-held-dr-congo-area\">India-Africa summit postponed as Ebola spreads to M23-held DR Congo area<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Modi is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which follows an ideology known as Hindutva.<\/p>\n<p>But what is the Hindutva movement, and how did it emerge?<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-hindutva-mean\">What does Hindutva mean?<\/h2>\n<p>Hindutva is a right-wing political and nationalist ideology that defines the cultural and national identity of India based on a particular interpretation of Hindu values. India is a constitutionally secular state, but advocates of Hindutva want the country to adopt Hinduism as its state religion.<\/p>\n<p>The term Hindutva consists of two linguistic parts: The first is the word \u201cHindu\u201d, whose origin likely traces back to the Sanskrit word \u201cSindhu\u201d, the ancient name for the Indus River. With the evolution of linguistic usage, the ancient Persians and others replaced the letter \u201cS\u201d with \u201cH\u201d, and the term \u201cHindus\u201d came to be used for the inhabitants living beyond the river.<\/p>\n<p>The second part is the Sanskrit suffix \u201c-tva\u201d, which indicates essence or being, meaning that the term literally denotes \u201cHindu essence\u201d or \u201cHindu identity or being\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-did-hindutva-originate\">How did Hindutva originate?<\/h2>\n<p>Hindu nationalism emerged in protest against British colonial notions of the religion, but quickly grew into a majoritarian ideology that viewed the Indian identity through the lens of a specific interpretation of Hinduism.<\/p>\n<p>Its early years coincided with sectarian Hindi-Muslim tensions in the early 20th century under British rule, culminating in the partition of the subcontinent at independence in 1947 and the formation of Pakistan on religious grounds.<\/p>\n<p>Indian freedom fighter and ideologue Vinayak Savarkar coined the term \u201cHindutva\u201d in his 1923 pamphlet Essentials of Hindutva, presenting a vision of Hindu identity based on the unity of territory, culture, and historical belonging, while considering India as the fatherland and the holy land of Hindus.<\/p>\n<p>Based on this notion, some Hindutva theorists argued that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/4\/6\/cocktail-of-hindutva-and-welfarism-how-modis-bjp-is-wooing-assam-voters\">Muslims<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/1\/14\/as-hate-spirals-in-india-hindu-extremists-turn-to-christian-targets\">Christians<\/a> do not fully belong to the Indian nation, as their holy places are located outside India \u2013 even though India is home to one of the world\u2019s largest Muslim populations, and has more Christians than many European nations such as the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>Savarkar was, and remains, a controversial figure: He infamously wrote letters to the British pleading for his release from a notorious prison in the Andaman Islands.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"from-idea-to-movement\">From idea to movement<\/h2>\n<p>By 1925, the early Hindutva ideologue Keshav Baliram Hedgewar had founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) \u2013 which loosely translates to National Volunteer Organisation \u2013 the mothership of the Hindu majoritarian political movement.<\/p>\n<p>The RSS focused on organising and strengthening the Hindu community through local social and cultural activities. Over time, it expanded to include a network of affiliated institutions and organisations spanning religious activities, education, health, publishing, student politics and even the trade union sector.<\/p>\n<p>Some of its early leaders publicly, in their writings, admired the European fascists and the manner in which they dealt with religious and ethnic minorities.<\/p>\n<p>After India\u2019s independence, the movement faced significant pressure following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948: Gandhi\u2019s assassin was a former RSS member. Savarkar, the founder of the Hindutva ideology, was also arrested in connection with the assassination but was eventually acquitted because the prosecution could not present corroborating evidence against him.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4593486\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4593486\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ap_6a1019829e1e9-1779440002.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C620&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"The men accused of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi listen to testimony in a courtroom during their arraignment in New Delhi, India, on May 27, 1948. Gandhi was shot three times by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, center, on his way to a prayer meeting from Birla House on Jan. 30. At left is Narayan Dattraya Apte and at right is Vishnu Ramkrishna Karkare. In second row at center is Madan Lal, accused of exploding a bomb on Jan. 20 outside a Gandhi prayer meeting at Birla House. (AP Photo)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4593486\">The men accused of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi listen to testimony in a courtroom during their arraignment in New Delhi, India, on May 27, 1948. Gandhi was shot three times by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, centre, on his way to a prayer meeting from Birla House on January 30 [AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Later, the movement shifted towards political action by establishing a party in 1951, which subsequently evolved into the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/5\/23\/what-you-need-to-know-about-indias-bjp\">Bharatiya Janata Party<\/a> (BJP) in 1980.<\/p>\n<p>The party witnessed a remarkable surge in its political influence during the 1980s and 1990s by championing the construction of the Ram Temple in the city of Ayodhya on the site of the Babri Mosque.<\/p>\n<p>In 1992, the demolition of the mosque by activists associated with the RSS and the BJP prompted a widespread wave of sectarian violence. In the wake of that violence, the BJP first came to national power in 1996 as India\u2019s single largest party, but its government collapsed in 13 days after allies it depended on withdrew support. In 1998, it returned to power, but this time lost after 13 months. New elections followed in 1999, and the BJP emerged as the single biggest party again. It led a coalition government for a full five years until 2004, when the Congress party \u2013 now India\u2019s largest opposition force \u2013 defeated it.<\/p>\n<p>The Congress ruled for a decade until 2014, when Modi stormed to power with the largest mandate any party had received since 1984.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"thought-and-ideology\">Thought and Ideology<\/h2>\n<p>Hindutva ideology posits that Indian identity is fundamentally rooted in Hindu culture and civilisation.<\/p>\n<p>The ideology relies on historical narratives portraying the periods of Islamic and Mughal rule as an era that weakened Hindu heritage, calling for the restoration of Hindu identity and the strengthening of its presence in the public sphere.<\/p>\n<p>Its most prominent ideas include: Rereading history from a Hindu nationalist perspective, viewing India as a sacred civilisational entity, calling for the return of those believed to have Hindu origins to their ancestral religion, and granting national status to symbols such as cows and the Sanskrit language.<\/p>\n<p>Critics differentiate between Hindutva as a nationalist political project and Hinduism as a religion and spiritual philosophy, arguing that the former politicises religion and can contradict values such as tolerance and nonviolence that have long been central tenets of Hinduism, the faith.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4546344\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4546344\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-04T190646Z_83267731_RC2A2LATLPAS_RTRMADP_3_INDIA-ELECTIONS-RESULTS-1777975869.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets his supporters as he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters as the BJP won the Assam state assembly election and was on course to win West Bengal, in New Delhi, India, May 4, 2026. REUTERS\/Adnan Abidi REFILE- CORRECTING FROM \"AS BJP CELEBRATES ITS WIN IN THE WEST BENGAL AND ASSAM STATES' ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS\" TO \"AS THE BJP WON THE ASSAM STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTION AND WAS ON COURSE TO WIN WEST BENGAL\".\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4546344\">India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets his supporters as he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters, as the BJP won the Assam state assembly election and was on course to win West Bengal, in New Delhi, India, May 4, 2026 [Adnan Abidi\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"hindutva-in-political-practice\">Hindutva in political practice<\/h2>\n<p>Hindutva has gradually transitioned into the political and legislative spheres with the rise of the BJP to power. Its principles have begun to reflect in laws, public policies, and the nature of social debate within the country. Supporters argue that these policies preserve national identity, while critics contend that they undermine religious and cultural pluralism.<\/p>\n<p>The most notable of these measures was the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019, which had granted the Muslim-majority region of Jammu and Kashmir a special autonomous status.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed that year, granting expedited citizenship to certain immigrants from neighbouring countries, excluding Muslims. It officially went into effect in March 2024, accompanied by the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which threatens to strip millions of Muslims of their citizenship and label them as infiltrators.<\/p>\n<p>The impact of this vision has extended to local legislation in certain states, such as tightening restrictions on cow slaughter and enacting laws to regulate religious conversion and interfaith marriages, alongside calls for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code to replace certain personal status laws for minorities.<\/p>\n<p>Hindutva has also been linked to the emergence of Hindu nationalist groups, such as the Bajrang Dal, which have been implicated in acts of violence and intimidation against Muslims, Christians and marginalised social groups, particularly over issues related to cows or religious conversion.<\/p>\n<p>In January 1999, when the BJP was in power nationally, Bajrang Dal activists burned alive Graham Staines, an Australian Christian missionary, and his two sons, while they were sleeping in their car. And in 2002, while Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, independent India witnessed one of its worst massacres of Muslims, after a group of Hindu pilgrims on a train were burned alive under circumstances that are still contested.<\/p>\n<p>Indian far-right groups ideologically aligned with the RSS have also been accused of lynching dozens of Muslims since 2014, often on accusations that they were carrying cows for slaughter. In almost all cases, none of the murderers have been punished, and in several instances, families of the victims have faced charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On May 14, the high court in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh ruled that\u00a0the centuries-old Kamal Maula mosque in the city of Dhar was actually a temple dedicated to a Hindu goddess. Two days later, saffron flags associated with Hindu far-right groups were all over the site, with supporters celebrating and filming rituals &#8230; <a title=\"What is Hindutva, and what are the roots of this political movement?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/what-is-hindutva-and-what-are-the-roots-of-this-political-movement\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about What is Hindutva, and what are the roots of this political movement?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}