Hinduist

Hindutva ("Hinduness"), a term popularised by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1923, is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) adopted it as its official ideology in 1989. It is championed by the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliate organisations, notably the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

Many Indian social scientists have described the Hindutva movement as fascist, adhering to the concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony. Some Indian social scientists, as well as the Hindutva movement, dispute those descriptions.

On 2 January 2017, the Supreme Court of India declined to reconsider its 1995 judgment, which defined Hindutva as "a way of life and not a religion".

The notion of Hindutva, meaning "Hinduness" was coined in the early 20th century, referring to three meanings of Hindu, viz., Indian, follower of Indian religions in general, and follower of Hinduism (the particular religion).

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, an activist interned in Ratnagiri prison in the 1920s, sought to disassociate the term Hindu from Hinduism. His tract, Essentials of Hindutva, better known under the later title Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu?, defined a Hindu as one who was born of Hindu parents and regarded India as his motherland as well as holy land. The three essentials of Hindutva were said to be the common nation (rashtra), common race (jati) and common culture/civilisation (sanskriti). Hindus thus defined formed a nation that had existed since antiquity, Savarkar claimed, in opposition to the British view that India was just a geographical entity.

This notion of Hindutva formed the foundation for Savarkar's Hindu nationalism, which included in its fold the followers of all Indian religions including Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, but excluded the followers of "foreign religions" such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. It was a form of ethnic nationalism as understood by Clifford Geertz, Lloyd Fallers and Anthony D. Smith.

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