Rewriting the History

Since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, India’s intricate political landscape has seen an unyielding rise of Hindutva – an ideology that offers a cultural justification for Hindu nationalism.

Inspired by European fascism, the Hindutva movement was founded in 1922 by Marathi writer and activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It is the basic philosophy of the Sangh Parivar, which includes organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and several other lesser known outfits. There are millions of followers of Hindutva ideology seeking to establish Hindu hegemony in India.

The Hindutva ideology formulated by V.D. Savarkar sought to preserve the importance of Hindu culture within India’s diverse religious landscape. However, since Modi came to power, Hindutva has been systematically institutionalized with the sole purpose of marginalizing India’s sizeable Muslim minority and other religious communities.

The BJP’s relentless pursuit of Hindu nationalism is deeply divisive. It has elevated Hindu cultural identity to a paramount position while side-lining the rest of the population to the fringes. In its quest for Hindu supremacy, the BJP is slowly doing away with India’s treasured pluralism and its esteemed democratic values.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, started as a political party emphasizing Hindu nationalism. The aim was to create a political platform that resonated with India’s Hindu majority. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the BJP gained prominence by advocating for issues such as the construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya and the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. These issues were considered highly controversial and, thus, remained untouched for decades.

Since coming to power, Modi’s continued focus on these issues widened existing divides and fostered discord among religious and regional communities. In 2019, the BJP government abruptly abrogated Article 370 – an act that angered and alienated Kashmiri Muslims.

Likewise, the recent construction and inauguration of the Ram Mandir in place of the Babri Mosque have been hailed by Hindus. Still, Muslims perceive it as a symbol of exclusion and prejudice.

This is not all. Adding insult to injury, the BJP government enacted the highly controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in March 2024. Under this law, Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains, and those who came to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan before December 2014 will be granted Indian nationality on the fast track. The CAA explicitly excludes Muslims.

These actions, supported by similar laws and initiatives, have raised fears about possibly erasing India’s secular principles and dedication to nurturing an inclusive society. Furthermore, such measures prioritize divisive identity politics over the genuine pursuit of national unity.

In line with its previous practice, the BJP is now focusing on reclaiming two other historically significant sites from Muslims: Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi and Idgah Mosque in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that these mosques were built upon the Hindu temples of Kashi and Mathura, destroyed by Muslim rulers. By evoking the idea of reclaiming these temples, Modi is harnessing a sense of historical grievance among Hindus, solidifying support for his party within this demographic.