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Hindutva International

The internationalization of Hindutva tells us less about Hinduism itself than about the changing nature of identity in the modern world

By Muhammad Arslan Qadeer | February 2026


In the contemporary international system, political ideologies no longer remain confined within the territorial boundaries of the nation-state. In an era defined by mass migration, digital connectivity, and transnational social networks, ideas travel with people, often acquiring new meanings far from their point of origin. Hindutva, a political and cultural ideology rooted in India’s early twentieth-century nationalist discourse, has, over the last decade, undergone such a transformation. What was once primarily a domestic project of cultural nationalism has now assumed an international dimension, shaping the identities, political behaviour, and social positioning of Hindu communities across the global diaspora. This phenomenon, increasingly visible yet insufficiently examined, may be described as Hindutva International.

Hindutva, as articulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the 1920s, was never merely a religious concept. It was conceived as a civilizational doctrine that defined the Indian nation through shared ancestry, culture, and sacred geography. Unlike Hinduism, a pluralistic and internally diverse religious tradition, Hindutva sought coherence, uniformity, and political expression. For decades, this ideology remained on the fringes of Indian politics, cultivated by organizations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and periodically mobilized during moments of national crisis. Its ascent to state power with the electoral dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) after 2014, marking a decisive shift by transforming Hindutva from an ideological aspiration into a governing philosophy.

Yet the most consequential evolution of Hindutva in recent years has occurred beyond India’s borders. As Indian-origin populations have grown in political confidence and economic influence abroad, Hindutva has found fertile ground within sections of the Hindu diaspora. This is not an accidental development. It is the outcome of intersecting historical, technological, and political forces that have reshaped diaspora consciousness itself.

Post-1960s migration patterns produced Hindu communities that were initially preoccupied with economic survival and social integration. Temples functioned as cultural sanctuaries, preserving ritual practices while maintaining a cautious distance from overt political activity. Over time, however, these communities matured. Second- and third-generation diaspora Hindus, often professionally successful yet culturally dislocated, began searching for more assertive forms of identity. In multicultural societies where public recognition increasingly depends on visibility and mobilization, cultural pride gradually merged with political expression. Hindutva, reframed as civilizational confidence rather than sectarian ideology, provided an appealing vocabulary.

Digital media accelerated this transformation. The collapse of geographical distance through social platforms has enabled continuous ideological circulation between India and its diaspora. Narratives of historical grievance, civilizational revival, and cultural victimhood travel instantly, often stripped of contextual nuance. Emotional resonance replaces critical engagement. In this transnational echo chamber, political developments in India are experienced by diaspora communities not as distant affairs but as intimate moral struggles. Electoral victories, court judgments, and street mobilizations in India reverberate in temples, community halls, and social media groups thousands of miles away.

The Indian state has also played a deliberate role in this process. Diaspora outreach has become an integral component of India’s foreign policy strategy. High-profile engagements with overseas Hindu communities, symbolic cultural diplomacy, and the elevation of diaspora success stories have fostered a sense of shared destiny between the Indian state and expatriate Hindus. This relationship, while framed as national pride, carries ideological undertones. Support for India’s political leadership increasingly becomes a litmus test for cultural authenticity within certain diaspora spaces.

The response of Hindu communities abroad, however, is far from uniform. For many, Hindu identity remains cultural and spiritual rather than political. These individuals value pluralism, secular governance, and interfaith coexistence — principles that often shaped their decision to settle in liberal democracies. For them, the politicization of Hinduism through Hindutva represents a narrowing of a tradition historically marked by philosophical diversity and tolerance.

Others, particularly among younger diaspora cohorts, experience Hindutva as a form of empowerment. In environments where minority identities must assert themselves to avoid marginalization, Hindutva offers a narrative of strength and historical continuity. It allows individuals to counter stereotypes, challenge perceived cultural erasure, and articulate pride in heritage. In this context, ideological elements are often selectively adopted, emphasizing civilizational achievement while downplaying exclusionary dimensions.


A smaller but increasingly influential segment embraces Hindutva as an explicit political project. In countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, diaspora organizations aligned with Hindutva ideology engage in lobbying, fundraising, and electoral activism. They influence domestic political debates on issues ranging from religious freedom to foreign policy toward South Asia. Their activities blur the line between cultural advocacy and transnational nationalism, raising complex questions about political loyalty, civic responsibility, and the ethical limits of diaspora mobilization.

Diaspora outreach has become an integral component of India’s foreign policy strategy

This shift has tangible consequences for identity formation within diaspora communities. Hindu identity, once flexible and layered, risks becoming ideologically rigid. Internal diversity of caste, language, region, and belief is often subordinated to a homogenized political narrative. Dissenting voices within the community, including Dalits, secular Hindus, and religious minorities of Indian origin, sometimes find themselves marginalized or accused of disloyalty. The diaspora thus becomes a site not only of cultural preservation but of ideological contestation.

Social integration within host societies is also affected. Multicultural democracies are built on the assumption that cultural communities will negotiate their identities within a shared civic framework. When diasporic political movements import unresolved conflicts from their countries of origin, they risk unsettling this balance. In societies with significant Muslim populations, Hindutva rhetoric, particularly when framed in civilizational opposition, can strain inter-community relations and undermine social cohesion. Old subcontinental antagonisms acquire new geographies, often in spaces ill-equipped to mediate them.

Politically, the rise of Hindutva International has reshaped diaspora engagement. Hindu communities have emerged as organized constituencies courted by political parties in host countries. Their influence is evident in policy discussions, symbolic gestures, and electoral calculations. While such participation is a legitimate feature of democratic life, its ideological orientation matters. When religious identity becomes the primary axis of political mobilization, it challenges the secular foundations of pluralist societies.

At a broader level, Hindutva International complicates global conversations about religious identity and multiculturalism. It exposes the limitations of models that assume religion will remain a private or purely cultural matter within secular states. It demonstrates how diasporic identities can become politicized in ways that transcend national boundaries, creating overlapping spheres of allegiance and influence.

This does not mean that the global rise of Hindutva should be understood in simplistic or alarmist terms. Diasporas are not passive recipients of ideology; they interpret, adapt, and sometimes resist it. Nor is political engagement inherently corrosive to pluralism. The challenge lies in ensuring that cultural pride does not harden into exclusionary politics, and that transnational connections enrich rather than destabilize civic life.

Hindutva International is, ultimately, a reflection of a larger global trend: the return of identity politics in an interconnected world. As globalization unsettles traditional markers of belonging, communities seek coherence through history, culture, and ideology. The question is not whether such movements will emerge, but how societies will respond to them.

For Hindu diaspora communities, the future will depend on whether they can reconcile civilizational pride with democratic pluralism. For host societies, the task is to engage these communities without endorsing ideological exclusivism. And for analysts and policymakers, the imperative is to move beyond binaries — to understand Hindutva International neither as an inevitable civilizational awakening nor as an alien ideological intrusion, but as a complex, evolving phenomenon shaped by history, power, and human insecurity.

In the end, the internationalization of Hindutva tells us less about Hinduism itself than about the changing nature of identity in the modern world. Ideas, like people, migrate. What they become in new lands depends not only on where they come from, but on how they are received, reshaped, and restrained by the societies they enter.

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