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Hindu nationalism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based

on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India. Some scholars have argued that the use of theterm "Hindu nationalism" to refer to Hindū rāṣṭravāda is a simplistic translation and is better described by the

term "Hindu polity".[1]

 

The native thought streams became highly relevant in the Indian history when they helped form a distinctive

identity to the Indian polity[2] and provided a basis for questioning colonialism.[3] They inspired the freedom

movements against the British rule based on armed struggle,[4]

 coercive politics[5]

 and non-violent

protests.[6]

They also influenced social reform movements and economic thinking in India.[5]

 

The term Hinduism derives from a Persian word that refers to the Sindhu (or Indus) river in northwest India;

"Hindu" was first used in the 14th century by Arabs, Persians, and Afghans to describe the peoples of the

region.[8]

 The usage of the word "Hindu" to describe the native polity of India have been found in the historical

accounts of medieval India. These usages show that the word Hindu, until the early nineteenth century was

emphasised by nativity rather than by religion.[9] 

Prominent among the southern Indian rulers of the fourteenth century were the Sangama rulers

of  Vijayanagara empire who were hailed as "Hinduraya suratana", the best among the Hindu rulers.[10]

 The

Sangama rulers were in constant conflict with the Sultanate of Bijapur , and this usage of the word "Hindu" in

the title was to distinguish them as native rulers, as opposed to the sultans, who were "perceived to be foreign

in origin".

In the sixteenth century in north India, in the year 1556, Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, native of  Rewari, 

Haryana established vedic "Hindu Raj" from Delhi after defeating Akbar's Mughal forces at  Agra and Delhi, 

albeit for a short period. Prior to his coronation on 7 October 1556, at Purana Quila(Pandvon Ka Quila ) Delhi,

Hemu had won 22 battles, between 1553 –1556, against Afghans and Mughals from Punjab to Bengal, without

losing any. Hem Chandra was killed in the Second Battle of Panipat.[11][12][13]

 

 According to Palmer-Fernandez, "Hindus" did not conceive themselves as a religious unity in any sense except

in opposition to foreign rule. For example, the early seventeenth-century Telugu

work Rayavachakamu condemns the Muslim rulers for being foreign and barbarian and only rarely for 

specifically religious traits.[14]

 

The other references include the glorification of the Chauhana heroes of  Jalor  as "Hindu" by Padmanabha in

his epic poem, Kanhadade-prabandha, which he composed in AD 1455. The Rajput ruler, Maha Rana

Pratap became renowned with the title of "Hindu-kula-kamala-divakara" for his relentless fight against

the Mughals.[15]

 Maharaja Pratap Aditya was the most prominent of the Hindu rulers of Bengal. He declared

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independence from the Mughals and established an independent Hindu state in Bengal. 'Hindavi Swarajya' 

(self rule of the natives) was how the rule of  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the most notable of the rulers of the

seventeenth century was described. The usage of "Hindavi" (translated as "of Hindus" in Marathi)[need quotation to

verify ]in "Hindavi Swarajya" is considered to mean Indian Independence rather than the rule by a religious sect

or a community.[9] 

Hindu Renaissance in the late 19th century[edit source | editbeta] 

Raja Ram Mohan Royendeavoured to create from the ancient Upanishadic texts a vision of rationalist modern India.

Many Hindu reform movements originated in the late nineteenth century. These movements led to the fresh

interpretations of the ancient scriptures of Upanishads and Vedanta and also emphasised on social

reform.[5]

 The marked feature of these movements was that they countered the notion of western superiority

and white supremacy propounded by the colonizers as a justification for British colonialism in India. This led to

the upsurge of patriotic ideas that formed the cultural and an ideological basis for the freedom struggle in

India.[3]

 

Brahmo Samaj[edit source | editbeta] 

The Brahmo Samaj was one of the earliest Hindu renaissance movements in India under the British rule

It was started by a Bengali scholar, Ram Mohan Roy in 1828.

Ram Mohan Roy endeavoured to create from the ancient Upanishadic texts, a vision of rationalist 'modern'

India.

Religiously he criticised idolatry and believed in a monotheistic religion devoid of any idolatry and religious

customs.

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His major emphasis was social reform.

He fought against Caste discrimination and advocated equal rights for women.[16]

 

 Although the Brahmos found favourable response from the British Government and the Westernized Indians,

they were largely isolated from the larger Hindu society due to their intellectual Vedantic and Unitarian views.

But their efforts to systematise Hindu spirituality based on rational and logical interpretation of the ancient

Indian texts would be carried forward by other movements in Bengal and across India.[3] 

Arya Samaj[edit source | editbeta] 

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati 

 Arya Samaj is considered one of the overarching Hindu renaissance movements of the late nineteenth

century.

Swami Dayananda, the founder of Arya Samaj, rejected idolatry, caste restriction and untouchability, child

marriage and advocated equal status and opportunities for women.

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He opposed "Brahmanism" (which he believed had led to the corruption of the knowledge of Vedas) as much

as he opposed Christianity and Islam.[5]

 

 Although Arya Samaj was a social movement, many revolutionaries and political leaders of theIndian

Independence movement like Ramprasad Bismil,[17]

 Bhagat SinghShyamji Krishnavarma, Bhai

Paramanand andLala Lajpat Rai were to be inspired by it.[18] 

Swami Vivekananda[edit source | editbeta] 

Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament of the World's Religions. 

 Another 19th century Hindu reformer was Swami Vivekananda. 

Vivekananda as a student was educated in contemporary Western thought.[3]

 

He joined Brahmo Samaj briefly before meeting Ramakrishna, who was a priest in the temple of the

goddess Kali in Calcutta and who was to become his guru.[3]

 

Under the influence of  Orientalism, Perennialism andUniversalism, Vivekananda re-interpreted Advaita

Vedanta, presenting it as the essence of Hindu spirituality, and the pinnacle indeed of the development of 

human's religiosity.[19] 

This project started with Ram Mohan Roy of Brahmo Samaj, who collaborated with the Unitarian Church, and

propagated a strict monotheism.[20]

---UNITARIANS—TRANSCENDENTALISTS—EMMERSON-THOREAU

This reinterpretation produced neo-Vedanta, in which Advaita Vedanta was combined with disciplines such as

yoga and the concept of social service[20]

 to attain perfection from the ascetic traditions in what Vivekananda

called the "practical Vedanta".

The practical side essentially included participation in social reform.[3]

 

He made Hindu spirituality, intellectually available to the Westernized audience.

His famous speech at theParliament of the World's Religions at Chicago on 11 September 1893, followed huge

reception of his thought in the West and made him a celebrity in the West and subsequently in India too.[3]

 

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His influence can still be discerned in popular western spirituality, such as nondualism, 

New Age and the veneration of  Ramana Maharshi. 

 A major element of Vivekananda's message was nationalist.

He saw his effort very much in terms of a revitalisation of the Hindu nation, which carried Hindu spirituality and

which could counter Western materialism.

The notions of White supremacy and Western superiority, strongly believed by the colonizers, were to be

questioned based on Hindu spirituality.

This kind of spiritual Hinduism was later carried forward by Mohandas K. Gandhi and Sarvepalli

Radhakrishnan. 

It also became a main inspiration for the current brand of Hindu nationalism today.[3]

 

One of the most revered leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Baba Saheb Apte's lifelong pet

sentence was "Vivekananda is like Gita for the RSS."

Historians have observed that this helped the nascent Independence movement with a distinct national identity

and kept it from being the simple derivative function of European nationalisms.[2]

 

Sri Aurobindo[edit source | editbeta] 

Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was a nationalist and one of the first to embrace the idea of complete political independence for 

India.

He was inspired by the writings of Swami Vivekananda and the novels of  Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.[21]

 

He ―based his claim for freedom for India on the inherent right to freedom, not on any charge of misgovernment

or oppression‖.

He believed that the primary requisite for national progress, national reform, is the free habit of free and healthy

national thought and action and that it was impossible in a state of servitude.[22]

 

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He was part of the revolutionary group  Anushilan Samiti and was involved in armed struggle against the

British[23] 

In his brief political career spanning only four years, he led a delegation from Bengal to the Indian National

Congress session of 1907[22]

 and contributed to the revolutionary newspaper  Bande Mataram. 

In his famous Uttarpara Speech, he outlined the essence and the goal of India's nationalist movement thus:

"I say no longer that nationalism is a creed, a religion, a faith;

I say that it is the Sanatan Dharma which for us is nationalism.

This Hindu nation was born with the Sanatan Dharma, with it, it moves

and with it, it grows.

When the Sanatan Dharma declines, then the nation declines, and if 

the Sanatan Dharma were capable of perishing, with the Sanatan

Dharma it would perish."  

In the same speech, he also gave a comprehensive perspective of 

Hinduism, which is at variance with the geocentric view developed by the

later day Hindu nationalist ideologues such as Veer Savarkar and

Deendayal Upadhyay:

  "But what is the Hindu religion ?

  What is this religion which we call Sanatan, eternal ?

  It is the Hindu religion only because the Hindu nation has kept it, because in this Peninsula it grew up

in the seclusion of the sea and the Himalayas, because in this sacred and ancient land it was given as

a charge to the Aryan race to preserve through the ages.

  But it is not circumscribed by the confines of a single country, it does not belong peculiarly and forever 

to a bounded part of the world.

  That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion

which embraces all others.

  If a religion is not universal, it cannot be eternal.

   A narrow religion, a sectarian religion, an exclusive religion can live only for a limited time and a limited 

 purpose.

  This is the one religion that can triumph over materialism by including and anticipating the discoveries

of science and the speculations of philosophy."  

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In 1910, he withdrew from political life and spent his remaining life doing spiritual exercises and writing.[21]

 But

his works kept inspiring revolutionaries and struggles for freedom, including the famous Chittagong Uprising.[24]

 

Both Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo are credited with having founded the basis for a vision of freedom

and glory for India in the spiritual richness and heritage of Hinduism.

Independence movement[edit source | editbeta] 

The influence of the Hindu renaissance movements was such that by the turn of the 20th century, there was a

confluence of ideas of the Hindu cultural nationalism with the ideas of Indian nationalism.[5]

 Both could be

spoken synonymous even by tendencies that were seemingly opposed to sectarian communalism and Hindu

majoritism.[5]

 The Hindu renaissance movements held considerable influence over the revolutionary

movements against the British rule and formed the philosophical basis for the struggles and political

movements that originated in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Revolutionary movements[edit source | editbeta] 

Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar [edit source | editbeta] 

 Anushilan Samiti was one of the prominent revolutionary movements in India in the early part of twentieth

century. It was started as a cultural society in 1902, by Aurobindo and the followers of Bankim Chandra to

propagate the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. But soon the Samiti had its goal to overthrow the British rule in

India.[4] Various branches of the Samiti sprung across India in the guise of suburban fitness clubs but secretly

imparted arms training to its members with the implicit aim of using them against the British administration[25]

 

On 30 April 1908 at Muzaffarpur, two revolutionaries, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw bombs at a

British convoy aimed at British officer Kingsford. Both were arrested trying to flee. Aurobindo was also arrested

on 2 May 1908 and sent to Alipore jail. The report sent from Andrew Fraser, the then Lt Governor of Bengal to

Lord Minto in England declared that although Sri Aurobindo came to Calcutta in 1906 as a Professor at the

National College, ―he has ever since been the principal advisor of the revolutionary party. It is of utmost

importance to arrest his potential for mischief, for he is the prime mover and can easily set tools, one to replace

another.‖ But charges against Aurobindo were never proved and he was acquitted. Many members of the

group faced charges and were transported and imprisoned for life. Others went into hiding.[26]

In 1910, when,

 Aurobindo withdrew from political life and decidedto live a life of renounciate,[21] the Anushilan Samiti declined.

One of the revolutionaries, Jatindra Das Mukherjee, who managed to escape the trial started a group which

would be called Jugantar . Jugantar continued with its armed struggle with the British, but the arrests of its key

members and subsequent trials weakened its influence. Many of its members were imprisoned for life in the

notorious Andaman Cellular jail.[26]

 

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Savarkar (above) and Gandhi politely agreed to disagree on

whether Ramayana  justified the use of violence in freedom struggle.

India House[edit source | editbeta] 

 A revolutionary movement was started by Shyamji Krishnavarma, a Sanskritist and an Arya Samajist, inLondon, under the name of  India House in 1905. The brain behind this movement was said to be V D Savarkar . 

Krishnaverma also published a monthly "Indian Sociologist", where the idea of an armed struggle against the

British was openly espoused.[27]

 The movement had become well known for its activities in the Indian

expatriates in London. When Gandhi visited London in 1909, he shared a platform with the revolutionaries

where both the parties politely agreed to disagree, on the question of violent struggle against British and

whether  Ramayana  justified such violence. Gandhi, while admiring the "patriotism" of the young revolutionaries,

had dissented vociferously from their violent blueprints for social change. In turn the revolutionaries disliked his

adherence to constitutionalism and his close contacts with moderate leaders of Indian National Congress.

Moreover they considered his method of "passive resistance" effeminate and humiliating.[28] 

The India House had soon to face a closure following the assassination of  William Hutt Curzon Wyllie by the

revolutionaryMadan Lal Dhingra, who was close to India House. Veer Savarkar  also faced charges and was

transported. Shyamji Krishnaverma fled to Paris.[27]

 India House gave formative support to ideas that were later 

formulated by Savarkar in his book named 'Hindutva'. Hindutva was to gain relevance in the run up to the

Indian Independence and would also form the core to the political party named Hindu Mahasabha started by

Savarkar .[5]

 

Indian National Congress[edit source | editbeta] 

Lal-Bal-Pal”[edit source | editbeta] 

―Lal-Bal-Pal‖ is the phrase that is used to refer to the three nationalist leaders Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar 

Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal who held the sway over the Indian Nationalist movement and the freedom struggle

in the early parts of twentieth century.

Lala Lajpat Rai belonged to the northern province of Punjab. He was influenced greatly by the Arya Samaj and

was part of the Hindu reform movement.[5]

 He joined the Indian National Congress in 1888 and became a

prominent figure in the Indian Independence Movement.[29]

 He started numerous educational institutions.

TheNational College at Lahore started by him became the centre for revolutionary ideas and was the collegewhere revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh studied.

[30] While leading a procession against the Simon Commission, 

he was fatally injured in the lathi charge by the British police. His death led the revolutionaries

like Chandrashekar Azadand Bhagat Singh to kill the British officer  J. P. Saunders, who they believed was

responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.[29]

 

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Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a nationalist leader from the Central Indian province of Maharashtra. He has been

widely acclaimed the "Father of Indian unrest" who used the press and Hindu occasions like Ganesh

Chaturthiand symbols like the Cow to create unrest against the British administration in India.[31]

 Tilak joined the

Indian National Congress in 1890. Under the influence of such leaders, the political discourse of the Congress

moved from polite accusation that imperial rule was ―un-British‖ to the forthright claim of Tilak that ―Swaraj is my

birthright and I will have it‖.[32]

Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal was another prominent figure of the Indian

nationalist movement, who is considered a modern Hindu reformer, who stood for Hindu cultural nationalism

and was opposed to sectarian communalism and Hindu majoritism.[5] He joined the Indian National Congress in

1886 and was also one of the key members of revolutionary India House.[33]

 

Gandhi and Ramarajya[edit source | editbeta] 

Mohandas K. Gandhi never called himself a Hindu nationalist, but preached Hindu Dharma. 

Though Mohandas K. Gandhi never called himself a "Hindu nationalist"; he believed in and propagated

concepts like Dharma and "Rama Rajya‖ (Rule of  Lord Rama) as part of his social and political philosophy.

Gandhi said ―By political independence I do not mean an imitation to the British House of commons, or the

soviet rule of Russia or the Fascist rule of Italy or the Nazi rule of Germany. They have systems suited to their 

genius. We must have ours suited to ours. What that can be is more than I can tell. I have described it as

Ramarajya i.e., sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority."[34]

He emphasised that "Rama Rajya"

to him meant peace and justice. ―Whether Rama of my imagination ever lived or not on this earth, the ancient

ideal of Ramarajya is undoubtedly one of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift

 justice without an elaborate and costly procedure.‖[35]

He also emphasised that it meant respect for all religions:

―My Hinduism teaches me to respect all religions. In this lies the secret of Ramarajya.‖[36]

 

Madan Mohan Malviya, an educationist and a politician with the Indian National Congress was also a

vociferous proponent of the philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita. He was the president of the Indian National

Congress in the year 1909 and 1918.[6]

 He was seen as a 'moderate' in the Congress and was also considered

very close to Gandhi. He popularized the Sanskrit phrase "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs), which

today is the national motto of the Republic of India.[37]

 He founded the Benaras Hindu University in 1919 and

became its first Vice-Chancellor .[38]

 

Subhas Bose[edit source | editbeta] 

 Apart from Gandhi, revolutionary leader Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose referred to Vedanta and the Bhagavad-

Gita as sources of inspiration for the struggle against the British.[39]

 Swami Vivekananda's teachings on

universalism, his nationalist thoughts and his emphasis on social service and reform had all inspired Subhas

Chandra Bose from his very young days. The fresh interpretation of the India's ancient scriptures appealed

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immensely to Subhas.[40]

 Hindu spirituality formed the essential part of his political and social thought through

his adult life, although there was no sense of bigotry or orthodoxy in it.[41]

 Subhas who called himself a socialist,

believed that socialism in India owed its origins to Swami Vivekananda.[42]

  As historian Leonard Gordan

explains "Inner religious explorations continued to be a part of his adult life. This set him apart from the slowly

growing number of atheistic socialists and communists who dotted the Indian landscape." "Hinduism was an

essential part of his Indianess".[43]

 His strategy against the British also included the use of Hindu symbols and

festivals. In 1925, while in Mandalay jail, he went on a hunger strike when Durga puja was not supported by

prison authorities.[44] 

Keshav Baliram Hedgewar [edit source | editbeta] 

 Another leader of prime importance in the ascent of Hindu nationalism was Dr  Keshav Baliram Hedgewar  of 

Nagpur. Hedgewar as a medical student in Calcutta had been part of the revolutionary activities of the Hindu

Mahasabha, Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar .[45]

 He was charged with sedition in 1921 by the British

 Administration and served a year in prison. He was briefly a member of Indian National Congress.[45]

 In 1925,

he left the Congress to form the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with the help of Hindu Mahasabha Leader Dr.

B. S. Moonje, Bapuji Soni, Gatate Ji etc., which would become the focal point of Hindu movements in

Independent India. After the formation of the RSS too, Hedgewar was to take part in the Indian National

Congress led movements against the British rule. He joined the Jungle Satyagraha agitation in 1931 and

served a second term in prison.[45]

 The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh started by him became one of the most

prominent Hindu organisation with its influence ranging in the social and political spheres of India. He died in

1940.

Partition of India[edit source | editbeta] 

Main article: Partition of India 

The Partition of India outraged many majority Hindu nationalist politicians and social groups.[46]

 Savarkar  and

members of the Hindu Mahasabha were extremely critical of  Mohandas K. Gandhi's leadership.[47]

 They

accused him of appeasing the Muslims to preserve a unity that in their opinion, did not exist; Savarkar 

endorsed the concept of the Two-nation theory while disagreeing with it in practice.[48]

 Some Hindu nationalists

also blamed Gandhi for conceding Pakistan to the Muslim League via appeasement.[49]  Also, they were further 

inflamed when Gandhi conducted a fast-unto-death for the Indian government to give Rs. 550 million which

were due to the Pakistan government, but were being held back due to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.[50]

 

 After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, the Sangh Parivar was plunged into distress

when the RSS was accused of involvement in his murder. Along with the conspirators and the

assassin, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar  was also arrested. The court acquitted Savarkar, and the RSS was found

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be to completely unlinked with the conspirators.[51]

 The Hindu Mahasabha, of which Godse was a member, lost

membership and popularity. The effects of public outrage had a permanent effect on the Hindu Mahasabha,

which is now a defunct Hindutva party.

Evolution of ideological terminology[edit source | editbeta] 

The word "Hindu", throughout history, had been used as an inclusive description which lacked a definition and

was used to refer to the native traditions and people of India. It was only in the late eighteenth century that the

word "Hindu" came to be used extensively with religious connotation, while still being used as

a synecdoche describing the indigenuous traditions.[9]

 

Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra[edit source | editbeta] 

Main article: Hindutva 

Savarkar [edit source | editbeta] 

Main article: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar  

Savarkar was one of the first in the twentieth century to attempt a definitive description of the term "Hindu" in

terms of what he called Hindutva meaning Hinduness.[52]

 The coinage of the term "Hindutva" was an attempt by

Savarkar who was an atheist and a rationalist, to de-link it from any religious connotations that had become

attached to it. He defined the word Hindu as: "He who considers India as both his Fatherland and Holyland". He

thus defined Hindutva ("Hindu-ness") or Hindu as different from Hinduism.[52]

 This definition kept the  Abrahamic

religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) outside its ambit and considered only native religious denominations

as Hindu.[53]

 

This distinction was emphasised on the basis of territorial loyalty rather than on the religious practices. In this

book that was written in the backdrop of the Khilafat Movement and the subsequent Malabar Rebellion, 

Savarkar wrote "Their [Muslims' and Christians'] holy land is far off in Arabia or Palestine. Their mythology and

Godmen, ideas and heroes are not the children of this soil. Consequently their names and their outlook smack

of foreign origin. Their love is divided".[52]

 

Savarkar, also defined the concept of Hindu Rashtra (translated as "Hindu polity").[54]

 The concept of Hindu

Polity called for the protection of Hindu people and their culture and emphasised that political and economic

systems should be based on native thought rather than on the concepts borrowed from the West.

Golwalkar [edit source | editbeta] 

M S Golwalkar, the second head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was to further this non-

religious, territorial loyalty based definition of "Hindu" in his book Bunch of Thoughts. Hindutva and Hindu

Rashtra would form the basis of Golwalkar's ideology and that of the RSS.

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While emphasising on religious pluralism, Golwalkar believed that Semitic monotheism and exclusivism were

incompatible with and against the native Hindu culture. He wrote "Those creeds (Islam and Christianity) have

but one prophet, one scripture and one God, other than whom there is no path of salvation for the human soul.

It requires no great intelligence to see the absurdity of such a proposition". He added "As far as the national

tradition of this land is concerned, it never considers that with a change in the method of worship, an individual

ceases to be the son of the soil and should be treated as an alien. Here, in this land, there can be no objection

to God being called by any name whatever. Ingrained in this soil is love and respect for all faiths and religious

beliefs. He cannot be a son of this soil at all who is intolerant of other faiths."[55] 

He further would echo the views of Savarkar on territorial loyalty, but with a degree of inclusiveness, when he

wrote "So, all that is expected of our Muslim and Christen co-citizens is the shedding of the notions of their 

being 'religious minorities' as also their foreign mental complexion and merging themselves in the common

national stream of this soil."[55] 

Golwalkar nominated for the post of General Secretary in the General Election of Hindu Mahasabha in 1939,

but Golwalkar faced defeeat and he left Hindu Mahasabha with quick decision, he decided to maintained

distance from Hindu Mahasabha. Most of the contemporary RSS leaders wrote that Golwalkar has done all

these stupidity and anti-national activities due to jealous with Savarkar.

1940-1946 Golwalkar maintained distance with Hindu Mahasabha and boycotted every meeting and events in

which Hindu Mahasabha was participating. Golwalkar instructed Swayam Sewaks not to join Politics, but

suddenly in 1946, Golwalkar issued a statement to Swayam Sewaks and urged to participate in the National

Elections from Hindu Mahasabha. Later, Savarkar distributed most of the election ticket to RSS's Swayam

Sewaks. Everything was going fine, but on the very next day of ending nomination date, Golwalkar isseud new

statement that "We had a successful talk with Gandhi Ji, Gandhi Ji assured us that partition would not be

happen. So we will not oppose Gandhi Ji and Congress, we will not participate in the Elections." All the

Swayam Sewaks were asked to surrender their nominations, as all were nominated from Hindu Mahasabha.

With due this biggest back-step and betrayal by the chief of RSS, Hindu Mahasabha was unable to participate

in the National Elections on the major level.

Later, in the Parliament of 1946, the Proposal of Partition of India was passed with 157 votes of Congress,

Muslim League and Communist Party of India. Hindu Mahasabha won 13 seats and Ram Rajya Parishad won

4 seats, were not sufficient to oppose the Bill of Partition of India.

 After the assassination of Gandhi, Golwalkar and Hindu Mahasabha's senior leaders such as Shyama Prasad

Mukharji founded a new political party as Jan-Sangh, many of Hindu Mahasabha members joined Jan-Sangh.

In fact, there was no need to found a new political party to divide Hindu Vote-Bank.

Deendayal Upadhyaya[edit source | editbeta] 

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Somnath temple movement[edit source | editbeta] 

See also: Somnath temple Restoration after Independence 

The Somnath temple is an ancient temple at Prabhas Patan in the coastal Indian province of  Gujarat, which

had been destroyed several times by the Muslim foreign invaders, starting with Mahmud Ghaznavi in 1025 AD.The last of such destructions took place in 1706 AD when Prince Mohammad Azam carried out the orders of 

Mughal ruler   Aurangzeb to destroy the temple of Somnath beyond possible repair. A small mosque was put in

its place.[60]

 

Before Independence, Prabhas Pattan where Somnath is located was part of the Junagadh State, ruled by the

Nawab of Junagarh. On the eve of Independence the Nawab announced the accession of Junagarh, which had

over 80% Hindu population, to Pakistan. The people of Junagarh rose in revolt and set up a parallel

government under Gandhian leader and freedom fighter, Shri Samaldas Gandhi. The Nawab, unable to resist

the popular pressure, bowed out and escaped to Pakistan. The provincial government under  Samaldas

Gandhi formally asked Government of India to take over .[61]

 The Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sardar 

Patel came to Junagadh on 12 November 1947 to direct the occupation of the state by the Indian army and at

the same time ordered the reconstruction of the Somanath temple.[62]

 

When Sardar Patel, K. M. Munshi and other leaders of the Congress went to Gandhiji with the proposal of 

reconstructing the Somnath temple, Gandhiji blessed the move, but suggested that the funds for the

construction should be collected from the public and the temple should not be funded by the state. He

expressed that he was proud to associate himself to the project of renovation of the temple[63]

 But soon both

Gandhiji and Sardar Patel died and the task of reconstruction of the temple was now continued under the

leadership of K. M. Munshi, who was the Minister for Food and Civil, supplies in the Nehru Government.[63]

 

The ruins were pulled down in October 1950 and the mosque was moved to a different location. In May 1951,

Rajendra Prasad, the first President of the Republic of India, invited by K. M. Munshi, performed the installation

ceremony for the temple.[64]

 Rajendra Prasad said in his address, "It is my view that the reconstruction of the

Somnath Temple will be complete on that day when not only a magnificent edifice will arise on this foundation,

but the mansion of India's prosperity will be really that prosperity of which the ancient temple of Somnath was a

symbol."[65]

 He added "The Somnath temple signifies that the power of reconstruction is always greater than the

power of destruction."[65]

 

This episode created a serious rift between the then prime minister  Jawaharlal Nehru, who saw in movement

for reconstruction of the temple an attempt at Hindu revivalism and the president  Rajendra Prasad and Union

Minister K. M. Munshi, saw in its reconstruction, the fruits of freedom and the reversal of injustice done to

Hindus.[65]

 

The emergence of the Sangh Parivar [edit source | editbeta] 

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Main article: Sangh Parivar  

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which was started in 1925, had grown as a huge organisation by the end

of British rule in India. But the assassination of Gandhi and a subsequent ban on the organisation plunged it

into distress. The ban was revoked when it was absolved of the charges and it led to the resumption of its

activities.[51]

 

The 1960s saw the volunteers of the RSS join the different social and political movements. Movements that

saw a large presence of volunteers included the Bhoodan, a land reform movement led by prominent

Gandhian Vinoba Bhave[66]

 and the Sarvodaya led by another Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan.[67]

 RSS

supported trade union, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and political party Bharatiya Jana Sangh also grew into

considerable prominence by the end of the decade.

 Another prominent development was the formation of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an organisation of 

Hindu religious leaders, supported by the RSS, with the aim of uniting the various Hindu religiousdenominations and to usher social reform. The first VHP meeting at Mumbai was attended among others by all

the Shankaracharyas, Jain leaders, Sikh leader Master  Tara Singh Malhotra, the Dalai Lama and contemporary

Hindu leaders likeSwami Chinmayananda. From its initial years, the VHP led a concerted attack on the social

evils of untouchability and casteism while launching social welfare programmes in the areas of education and

health care, especially for the Scheduled Castes, backward classes and the tribals.[68]

 

The organisations started and supported by the RSS volunteers came to be known collectively as the Sangh

Parivar . Next few decades saw a steady growth of the influence of the Sangh Parivar in the social and political

space of India.[68] 

See also[edit source | editbeta] 

  Hindu nationalist parties 

  Hindu revolution 

  Hinduism in India 

  Cow protection movement 

References[edit source | editbeta] 

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35. ^ Young India, 19 September 1929

36. ^ Harijan 19 October 1947

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0105-9 

38. ^  Aparna Basu, The Growth of Education and Political

Development in India, 1898 –1920, Published by Oxford

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Subbier Appadurai Ayer, Beacon Across Asia: A Biography

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798-2 

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Sources[edit source | editbeta] 

  King, Richard (2002). Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial 

Theory, India and "The Mystic East" . Routledge

Further reading[edit source | editbeta] 

  Walter K. Andersen. ‗Bharatiya Janata Party: Searching for 

the Hindu Nationalist Face‘, In The New Politics of the Right:

Neo –Populist Parties and Movements in Established

Democracies, ed. Hans –Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall

(New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 1998), pp. 219 –232. (ISBN 0-

312-21134-1 or  ISBN 0-312-21338-7) 

  Partha Banerjee, In the Belly of the Beast: The Hindu

Supremacist RSS and BJP of India (Delhi: Ajanta,

1998). OCLC 43318775 

  Blank, Jonah.  Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God .

   Ainslie T. Embree, ‗The Function of the Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh: To Define the Hindu Nation‘, in

 Accounting for Fundamentalisms, The Fundamentalism

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Project 4, ed. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby (Chicago:

The University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 617 –652. (ISBN

0-226-50885-4) 

  Gandhi, Rajmohan. Patel: A Life.

  Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar  (1923). Hindutva. Delhi, India:

Bharati Sahitya Sadan.

  Balbir K, Punj, "Hindu Rashtra" South Asian Journal

External links[edit source | editbeta] 

  Damodharan, Dipin (1 August 2011). "Hindu Nation: The

Undisputed Legacy Of Every Indian". American Chronicle.

  The Hindu phenomenon- Girilal Jain

  Why Hindu Rashtra 

  Voice of Dharma 

Categories: 

  Hindutva 

  Hindu movements and organizations 

  Hindu nationalism 

  Political ideologies 

  Religious nationalism