Is Hindutva a religion or a shared ethnic identity?
While often conflated with Hinduism, the political ideology of Hindutva was originally designed to transcend religious ritual. Formulated in 1923, it sought to unite diverse groups under a single national character based on shared geography, culture, and ancestry rather than specific theological belief.
The concept of Hindutva was formally articulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his 1923 work, *Essentials of Hindutva*. Unlike Hinduism, which refers to a religion, Savarka's Hindutva was intended as an ethnic and cultural category. He defined a 'Hindu' as someone who regards the land from the Indus to the seas as both their Fatherland and Holy-Land. This framework was inclusive of several Indic religions, including Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, as they shared a common civilization (sanskriti) and territory.
However, the ideology also established clear boundaries of exclusion. Savarkar argued that those whose religious histories were rooted outside the Indian subcontinent—specifically Muslims and Christians—might possess divided loyalties. His political thought was partly a reaction to the pan-Islamic Khilafat movement, which he viewed as a threat to a unified Hindu nation. While some scholars describe the movement as a form of ethnic nationalism, others note its historical ties to European fascist concepts of cultural hegemony.
In modern Indian jurisprudence, the definition has become a site of intense debate. In 1966, the Supreme Court of India noted that Hinduism is nearly impossible to define, yet subsequent 'Hindutva judgments' in the 1990s characterized the term as a 'way of life.' Critics, such as historian Mukul Kesavan, argue these rulings have effectively sanitized a sectarian vision, potentially undermining the secular pluralism of the Indian constitution. Today, the ideology remains central to major organizations like the RSS and the BJP.
Source: Hindutva
