Historicizing Hindutva Ideology

Hindutva, in the new millennium, has evolved into a national political ideology. Rooted within the Brahminical social structures, its growth has been facilitated by neoliberal capitalism and global flows of culture and capital. This new assemblage of power demands the attention of intellectuals, since its hegemony has been growing phenomenally, radically altering social institutions and shaping subjectivities for the new India. Though there have been well-researched books closely studying this phenomenon, very few texts analyze it in its totality, tracing the evolution from Hinduism to Hindutva, through the literary imagination and cultural manifestations from the past, reaching up to the present India.Hindutva as Political Monotheism is another addition to this repertoire of critical studies on the nature of Hindutva and its evolution into its present form. Anustup Basu takes a researcher's perspective and approaches the topic with academic rigor and passion, thereby contributing immensely to the study of the subject of Hindutva. His work is divided into four chapters, each taking the reader through the nuances of the origins of Hinduism since the Vedas, to contemporary times, where a monotheistic Hindutva has shaped itself out of the polytheistic, polymorphic entity once acknowledged as Hinduism. Manipulating ancient texts, rereading scriptures, rewriting histories—all work toward building this new entity that is created to usher in the new deeply polarized nationhood of India.This book is not for the frivolous reader. The language is erudite, and the reader can seamlessly travel from the annals of ancient history to contemporary India, observing the route taken by Hinduism in its evolution to Hindutva. While texts like Jairus Banaji's Fascism: Europe and India (2013) look at the fascist nature of Hindutva and place it within the theoretical framework on fascism offered by Arthur Rosenburg, Basu takes a more holistic approach to the transformation from Hinduism to Hindutva. In the process he analyzes social history as well as literary and cultural artifacts, borrowing ideas from various scholars like Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, and others.Basu rightly claims that the book presents “a long genealogy of Hindutva” (2) leading up to the creation of an urban Hindu normative identity, which is a “consolidation of a techno-financial Hindu nationalist ideology” (2). The author explores the ambitions of the Hindutva leadership within the context of Schmittian paradigm, where he comprehends Hindutva as a monolithic identity sweeping away the plurality and heterogeneity of Hinduism. Reinventing Hinduism to fit into the patterns of a Semitic religious structure, constructing an “Epic of Tradition,” (4), and the emergence of Hindutva as an organismic “desired political” (48) are part of the plan to create this new entity. Basu substantiates this argument by listing the literary works on Hindutva originally intended to foster nationalist imagination during the struggle for independence. These texts appropriate history by questioning the historicity of narratives, creating alternate readings of histories, and moving beyond “historical times to a glorious past” (51). The concept of Schmittian jealousy also helps Basu explain the divisive and polarizing agenda of Hindutva forces while foregrounding the new Hindu identity of an aggressive male self.The text reiterates the argument that Hindu monotheism can shape itself only by negotiating with problems ranging from Gandhi's notions of Hindu philosophy to a whole range of alternate histories, narratives and memories, and of course “the guilt and disavowal of parricide” (82). Basu takes a comprehensive view of ancient Indian texts, along with works of Golwalker, Savarkar, and others, who dreamt of the Hindu national imaginary, and he then proceeds to read into the contemporary Indian reality of the politics of hatred and exclusion. The “working genealogy of the monothematic Hindu tone of the modernity project,” and the Hindu (87) as a modern political concept are discussed, and Basu selects texts like Manusmrithi and Bhagavat Gita as the grand narratives that shaped the destiny of this journey toward Hindutva.Basu describes the evolution of Hinduism from its “massive Vedic tradition to modern monotheism” (104) during the cultural renaissance of Bengal. Following Ram Mohan Roy and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay were leaders like Thilak and Sarveppalli Radhakrishnan whose works structured the new Hindu identity capable of incorporating elements of modernity. Vedanta, for example, became the perfect product, which later became industrialized in the age of capitalism and techno-capitalism. Along with the growth of this form of Hinduism, Basu also identifies and elaborates upon the nuanced analysis of caste in texts by Ambedkar, confronting the notions of a savarna Hindu entity and of “savarna secularism” (145), as well as its more militant versions.In the chapter titled “Hindutva 2.0” Basu examines the new assemblages of power, which he aptly calls “informational Hindutva” (157). He uses the arguments of Hannah Arendt to identify the shifts from fascist ideology to fascist movement (165) and aligns the new powers into a “new diagram of sovereign power” (165). Basu observes the growth of technology, globalization, and its effect on social structures with Hinduism becoming “an industrial and marketable religion” (187). These paradigm shifts are illustrated with examples from visual cultural practices like Bollywood cinema that have played major roles in consolidating the hegemony of Hindu aesthetics. Hindutva 2.0, “a new-age jealous nationalism,” (205) becomes a totalitarian presence, borne out of finance capital, powers of globalization, and technology but above all “a new affectional assemblage” (205).To conclude, though Basu focuses on Bengal Renaissance as a paradigm of modernity discourse, almost to the exclusion of social movements in the rest of India, the text opens immense possibilities and suggestions into the reading of Hindutva as a sociopolitical and cultural assemblage structured over time. To cite an instance from the text, Basu, while discussing the “Hindu-Hindustan imaginary” (151), goes back to the age of Hindu colonialism to pull examples of instances where the new Hindu identity and imagination were articulated as cultural products, as dance, as music, and as other art forms and focuses on the Gita Press as a prominent presence in the Indian social context. The text unravels the threads of Hindutva fascism, as it weaves into the lives of citizens, at micro and macro levels. Rather than giving a critique to bring forth illuminative insights into Hindutva 2.0, Basu seeks to follow closely its praxis, the contemporary reality being still fluid and evolving. Elaborately designed, the text invites readers to delve deeper into the sociopolitical, religious, and cultural environment of contemporary India and with greater awareness address and encounter the fascistic structures of Hindutva 2.0

Hindutva · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · South Asian Cinema and Culture · South Asian Studies and Diaspora