Citation

Devare A. Int. Polit. Sociol. 2009; 3(2): 156-175.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Studies Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1749-5687.2009.00069.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, I suggest that Hindu nationalism, like many other religious extremist ideologies, is a modern discourse rooted in modern categories such as a homogenous national identity, objective science and history, hyper-masculinity, and secularism. To demonstrate the above claims, I undertake a close analysis of the writings of V.D. Savarkar, a key founder of “Hindutva” or Hindu nationalism. I show how he retools Hinduism by removing all aspects of religiosity/piety while replacing it with a primarily political-secular identity that places an exclusive Hindu nation at the center.