Hindutva is a POLITICAL IDEOLOGY like any other. Eg Fascism , Communism, Dictatorship, Democracy, Anarchy, Capitalism, Socialism, Marxism etc, whose sole purpose is to transform India into a ‘Hindu’ pseudo-state leading to pure dictatorship, not by any individual but by the historically dominating classes, the so-called “High castes”. It is not a religious but a casteist ideology, though it uses religion to further it’s agenda.
The Hindutva ideology is adopted by the RSS and it’s political wing, the BJP. It must be noted that the RSS is a purely male dominated organisation, though it’s political wing has female members for political purposes only. Women are not involved in any decision making. They simply take instructions. People from the so called ‘Lower’ castes are recruited under the banner of ‘Hinduism’, increasing numbers and visibility. They play a major role whenever there are Muslim-Hindu tensions. The high command is purely made of Brahmins.
The literal meaning of Hindutva is Hinduness. Hindutva promotes the term Hindu as equivalent to Indian. It states that all Indians are Hindus and therefore India should be referred to as Hindu Rashtra (or Hindostan) and the way of life of Indians is Hinduism. Hindutva adherents therefore openly declare that people objecting to being called Hindus should be regarded as anti-Hindu
AND
Since anti-Hindu = anti-Indian, they are all anti-national.
Since the Hindutva ideology regards Hinduism as Indianism, it doesn’t recognise Hinduism to be a religion. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, publicly declares and vehemently defends this, as seen in the following video (in Hindi).
A very useful summary of the origins of Hindutva can be found in the following video tutorials (in English) by Pieter Friedrich of OFMI (Organization For the Minorities of India).
Mr Friedrich explains the basics of Hindutva ideology to complete beginners (Americans) in easy steps giving examples relevant to the international community and how Hindutva is spreading it’s web on the global stage.
Episode 1 (Video; 8Mins 6Sec) :
Who is Tulsi Gabbard and what is Hindu Nationalism?
Facebook : Hindutva 101 (ep1): What is Hindu Nationalism?
Episode 2 (Video; 9Mins 22Sec) :
What is RSS?
Episode 3: (13 Minutes)
Who shaped India’s RSS?
