The Core Of Hindutva: Unity Resistance and Acceptance

India is an evolving civilization with its primary philosophical ideology of being all-inclusive. The
idea of India existed before mere political borders drawn by the British and before numerous
attacks from other intolerant invading forces, Bharatvarsh has existed as an all-accepting and
forgiving land, with absolutely no elements of exclusivity. As a civilization, we’ve never
attempted to negate the validity or existence of other philosophical or spiritual ideologies. Yet
time and again this land and its values and beliefs have faced consistent attacks whenever it
came in contact with Abrahamic faiths which are inherently exclusivist, aggressive, and
predatory.
When the Abrahamic faiths came to the Indian soil and spread their aggression it put the
spiritual, cultural, and religious values of this land under attack and such critical circumstances
demanded an intellectual, political, and social response from the indigenous people of Bharat to
protect themselves and their identity from these proselytizing Abrahamic faiths. This laid the
foundation of Hindutva, a term which was coined later to describe the defensive response of the
Hindus, solely aimed to protect themselves and, thereby acting as a guide for the survival of
Hinduism, as otherwise the Hindu values and Hindu civilization would be pushed into facing an
existential crisis. Hence it is important to understand that Hindutva was developed under critical
circumstances otherwise we will continue to misinterpret and misrepresent it.The sacred values
Hindutva exists to protect are compatible with those of the Indian constitution, as Hindu
philosophy is broad enough to absorb and coexist with all monotheistic religions.
There is undoubtedly a difference between Hindutva and Hinduism. However, If we attempt to conclusively define the relationship between Hindutva and Hinduism then it can be
said that Hindutva is a kinetic effect of the indigenous faith Hinduism, established as a resisting
force to defend Hindus from external aggression. Hence defying all possibilities and false claims
of drawing Hindutva as a prejudiced ideology, because Hindutva can never be aggressive or
prejudiced for it is itself a result of victimhood and emanated from defensive intent. It would also
be wrong to draw false equivalencies between Hindutva and extremist forms of Abrahamic
religions, as while the philosophical underpinning of Hindutva is resistance, contrary to which
any Abrahamic Semitic faith or extremist versions rooting to the same are by their very nature
vulturous and go the extreme extent of negating the existence of any coexisting faiths.
Hindutva not only advocates for acceptance but extends a step further and defies all barriers of
the society allowing the unification of civilization by religious and political means and breaking
out the caste straightjacket. Thereby it is safe to say Hindutva aims to establish a monocultural
connection amongst the Hindus not allowing the Hindu civilization to self-destruct or surrender
to external aggression. Hence we can say that Hindutva is the most real, rational and
reasonable mechanism to protect society from the effect of caste-based discrimination and other
social hierarchy systems.
Hindutva was coined by a Bengali conservative litterateur Chandranath Basu and was later
popularised by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, also regarded as the father of Hindutva. Savarkar was the first to identify the Sepoy mutiny of 1857 as India’s first war of independence. He’s also
described the word “Hindu” in a much broader fashion rather than what many misinterpret to be
associated with just religion. He chose to describe the qualities of being Hindu in cultural and
political terms. He advocated for the idea of Hindu being a national identity and that anyone who
considers the holy land of Bharat his Matrabhumi( motherland) and pitribhumi (the land of his
ancestors).
Swatantraveer Savarkar’s detailed writing on Hindu nationalism and Hindutva has had an
immense influence on the mental makeup of how we’ve grown to understand the socio-political
relevance of Hindutva today.
Hindutva continues to remain significant and relevant even in today’s 21st century and will
continue to even in the future for as long as proselytizing and predatory Abrahamic religions will
continue to exist, identify and function as predatory and proselytizing. The creation of the
following countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh exist as clear proofs of acts of
militarism by foreign Abrahamic faiths towards the indigenous people. Recently it has also been
reported that missionary conversions have gained momentum in India and have converted over
one lakh people amidst the pandemic. We’ve also witnessed incidents of extremism like the
case of Nikita Tomar where the twenty-One-year-old female was shot dead in broad daylight in
her head from point-blank range by Tauseef, her former schoolmate, for refusing to convert and
marry him as she was going to be married to someone else. An aggressive attempt at religious
conversion is the biggest form of religious intolerance and proof of extremism. Hence Hindutva
will continue to remain a relevant armoury to protect the sacred values of the constitution and
Hindu philosophy.