Examining the Rhetorics of Hindutva and Explaining Its Consolidation in Manipur

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) electoral success in Manipur has been discussed in length. However, scholarly writings often argue about the absence of Hindutva and assert that the states complex political landscape helped the BJP win in Manipur. This article examines how the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) confronted these complexities to consolidate Hindutva through multiple rhetorics. To explain this, we discuss the politics of revisiting history, appropriating local patriots, and tackling the diametrical ethnonationalism of the three major ethnic groups, Meitei, Nagas, and Kuki-Zo, along ethnoreligious lines while embracing the Meiteis culture and religion. It also examines the attempt to syncretise Sanatana Dharma and Sanamahi revivalism of Meiteis concerning Sangh Parivar’s religious assertion that “animist religion equates Sanatana Dharma.” This is aligned with the experimentation of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s classification of ‘Hinduness’ among Meiteis, intensifying politics on indigeneity and violence that manifests Hindutva politics. Most capably, this has been dealt with within the ideological agendas of Hindutva. By confronting these complexities, we argue that Hindutva has consolidated in Manipur, where Hindutva ideologues are unfamiliar

Assertion · Consolidation (business · Ethnic group · Hindutva · Ideology · Politics · Anthropological Studies and Insights · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

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