In the early twentieth-century, the concepts of Hindutva, Samyavada or Nationalism and national identity, reconstructed amid currents of globalization and neocolonialism. During this period, the calls for an independent India reached its height. While, Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru believed modern India's strength depended on incorporating the solidarities of all Indians as they stood on the precipice of the postcolonial age, Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966), an ethnocentric nationalist, held that a strong Hindu nation was the only way to guarantee India's security against the Muslim other and the British imperialism. Being the philosopher of Hindutva, Savarkar represented the ethno-nationalistic component to Hindu nationalism and looked to cultural motifs in order to unify the "true" people of India. He, therefore, wrote glorified histories of India and its millennia-old cultural traditions in his essays. This article analyzes and historically contextualizes the timing and the rhetorical style of V. D. Savarkar's infamous extended essay "Essentials of Hindutva".

HINDUTVA: MYTHS AND REALITY [This essay is in response to demand from friends across the globe to make available a concise primer on the toxic ideology of Hindutva based on its own archives for ready reference.] Introduction The term Hindutva took birth with the appearance of VD Savarkar's book titled Hindutva in 1923. Savarkar’s Hindutva was declared to be the Holy Book of Hindu Sangathan or organization. M. S. Golwalkar, who headed the RSS after K. B. Hedgewar, too regarded Savarkar’s Hindutva as a great scientific book which fulfilled the need of a text-book on Hindu nationalism. According to a biography of founder of RSS, Hedgewar published by the RSS, “Savarkar’s inspiring and brilliant exposition of the concept of Hindutva marked by incontestable logic and clarity, struck the cord of Doctorji’s [Hedgewar’s] heart”. Despite such statements glorifying Hindutva as priceless contribution in defence of Hindu nationalism, the contents of the book did not attract many Hindu leaders and remained beyond the comprehension of common Hindus. In fact, even the title of the book seemed to have been an afterthought. A perusal of the original edition (1923) will show that the booklet was printed with the title Hinduism but subsequently a separate piece of paper on which Hindutva was printed was pasted on the title page of the book. Since the term remained alien even to the Savarkarites, by the 4th edition Hindutva as title was dropped and it was published under a new title Who Is A Hindu? In 1963 Maharashtra Provincial Hindusabha published it as part of Savarkar’s collected works with the title Essentials of Hindutva. Another notable fact about this book was that it was published under the pen name ‘A Maratha’ signifying a regional identity of the author where as book stressed only the Hindu identity of the country and its inhabitants. Savarkar admitted at the outset that the ‘term Hindutva defies all attempts at analysis’. He began by trying to make a clear-cut distinction between his theory of Hindutva and religion Hinduism. But few pages later it became clear that Hindutva was nothing else but political Hinduism. According to his definition a Hindu "is he who looks upon the land that extends from Sindhu to Sindhu, from the Indus to the Seas, as the land of his forefathers—his pitribhu, who inherits the blood of that race whose first discernible source could be traced to the Vedic Saptasindhs [seven holy rivers] and which on its onward march, assimilating much that was incorporated and ennobling much that was assimilated, has come to be known as the Hindu people, who has inherited and claims as his own the culture of that race as expressed chiefly in their common classical language Sanskrit and represented by a common history, a common literature, art and architecture, law and jurisprudence, rites and rituals, ceremonies and sacraments, fairs and festivals…These are the essentials of Hindutva—a common rashtra [nation] a common Jati [race] and a common Sanskriti [culture, though in latter editions it is translated as civilization]. According to Savarkar, these were the Hindus with Aryan blood who established the Hindu nation the day "when the Horse of Victory returned to Ayodhya unchallenged and unchallengeable, the great white Umbrella of Sovereignty was unfurled over that, Imperial throne of Ramchandra the brave, Ramchandra the good, and a loving allegiance to him was sworn, not only by the Princes of the Aryan blood but Hanuman—Sugriva—Bibhishana from the south— that day was the real birth-day of our Hindu people." Savarkar’s book Hindutva was haphazard, confused, incoherent, monotonous, contradictory and repetitive in comparison to other works of Savarkar. In fact in Hindutva, propagated as the primer of the Hindu nationalism less than one quarter of the space was devoted to the theme. Major parts of the book contained repetitive discussions over the origin of nomenclature like Hindu/Hindusthan, folk literature, evils in Buddhism, how Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists were Hindus and description of perpetually continuously raging conflicts between Vedic and non-Vedic sects in Hinduism. The concept of Hindu Nation as elaborated in Hindutva remained a fringe thought despite the fact that Savarkar while presiding over the 19th session of Hindu Mahasabha at Ahmedabad in December 1937 declared it to be the goal of Hindu Mahasabha, there were not many takers for the book. The dismal reach of the book can be gauged by the fact that after the publication of its first edition in 1923, the second edition could appear only in 1942. With the last edition appearing in 2003, only seven editions of the book came out in more than eight decades. However, with the ascendency of the RSS-BJP in the Indian parliamentary politics in late 1990s idolizing of Savarkar began. While renaming the Port Blair airport after V. D. Savarkar on May 4, 2002, the then Home Minister L. K. Advani declared that “Hindutva propounded by Savarkar was an all-encompassing ideology with its roots in the country’s heritage”. The glorification of the prophet of Hindutva did not stop there. On February 26, 2003, a portrait of Savarkar was unveiled at Parliament. Savarkar thus came to share the eminence accorded to Gandhi and other prominent leaders of the freedom struggle in the Central Hall of Parliament. However, we need to have a convincing answer to the question that if Savarkar with his eternal love for the two-nation theory and his conscious aloofness from the Indian freedom struggle can be glorified as an Indian nationalist and patriot, then who can stop Mohammed Ali Jinnah from claiming this status? The present RSS-BJP rulers led by PM Modi keep on declaring publically that they are committed to usher India into a Savarkarite model of Hindu nation. We will evaluate the claims made on behalf of the flag-bearers of Hindutva in the following. 5 Myths are discussed in this essay.

Savarkar as a diehard Casteist: Evidence from Hindutva archives It appeared in The Indian Express, Delhi titled ‘Truth about Savarkar and caste’ on 23-03-2022. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/truth-about-savarkar-and-caste-7832134/

V.D. Savarkar popularly called "Veer Savarkar" among the admirers has been one of the controversial figures of India's freedom struggle, generally known as an ideologue of "Hindutva" and his association with Communal Organization "Hindu Mahasabha" made him untouchable in Secular democratic politics in India. The narrative may be different about him, but this paper discusses his early political life and career as a Revolutionary till his confinement in Andaman Cellular jail, it examines and explains the importance of his views in the context of the Revolutionary Movement against British Imperialism in early 20 th Century.

Veer Damodar Savarkar, famously known as 'veer' Savarkar is a popular political philosopher of India. Savarkar had significantly penned down his thoughts and ideas based on the glorious culture of India and its historical foundations. Savarkar released a number of works about Hindutva and Hindu ideologies that led to a significant influence on the people of India. It is also a fact that many of us believe that Savarkar coined the word Hindutva in order to spread and encourage the practice of Hinduism and its social and cultural formations and the factors behind this have remained highlighted in his work. Because much of Savarkar's work has been deleted from public areas, this book is often used, and most of the time it is misquoted, to create the idea of violent Hindutva. This myth blames Savarkar and the Hindu religion for a fanaticism that does not exist. Because of this, a very limited part of his social and political philosophy and thoughts on empowerment of disadvantaged groups are either limitedly explored or not available. This paper would attempt to highlight on his thoughts and ideologies on women of India.

"UNDOING DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIA: THE HINDUTVA WAY Shamsul Islam (notoinjustice@gmail.com) The most prominent flag-bearer of Hindutva politics; the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh1 (RSS), since its birth in 1925, has been steadfastly working for turning India into a theocratic state. It enjoyed the support of a section of high-caste Hindu society but with the formation of the National Democratic Alliance governments[1 998-2004], RSS greatly accelerated its old favourite pastime of turning India into a Hindu Rashtra and minority-bashing as part of Hindutva project. The then Sarsanghchalak or the Supremo of the RSS, KS Sudershan while addressing a rally on the eve of the 75th founding day of the RSS in Nagpur, called upon the Muslims and Christians of the country to prove their patriotism. Later, the RSS at the end of its Bangalore session on March 7, 2002, came out with another warning to the Muslims: “Let the Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the good-will of the majority”. This statement came in the aftermath of the carnage of the Muslims allegedly organized by the cadres of the RSS in Gujarat. How the Muslims and other minorities could earn RSS ‘good-will’ was clear by the following words of an editorial in The Hindustan Times: Daughters were gang-raped in front of their fathers and then had their heads bashed in. Their fathers were doused with petrol and set on fire. Their property was looted. Their businesses were destroyed. And the police stood by and did nothing.2 It is really atrocious that an organization, which had been banned at least twice for anti-national activities by the Government of India after Independence should pose as the controlling authority of patriotism in the country. Should we once again refresh the memory of the RSS brass that their rabid communal organization was banned in 1948 for collaborating in the murder of Father of the Nation M. K. Gandhi,3 and in 1992 it was again banned for demolishing the Babri mosque at Ayodhya? Do we also need to tell the RSS that misadventures like the demolition of the Babri mosque, the large scale pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat, violence against Christians and Dalits by its outfits only served the strategic goals of the enemies of India like the ISI of Pakistan who wanted to see an India fractured, and at war with itself? The RSS and its leadership historically have been great worshippers of Hitler and Mussolini and their ideas. Nazism and Fascism have greatly moulded the ideological as well as organizational frameworks of the RSS. They do not hide this love. The RSS does not hate minorities only, it publicly wants to build up an India of Manu’s dehumanizing ideas and establish a theocracy in which the Dalits/Untouchables, lower castes, downtrodden and women amongst the Hindus will have no humane or respectable existence. It is to be noted that anti-minority rhetoric is only a strategy to camouflage its anti-national designs. It is high time that the people of this country scrutinize the record of patriotism and loyalty to the Nation of the RSS itself. Unfortunately, the RSS, which is fond of demanding unwavering and unflinching loyalty to the nation from the minorities, is loyal neither to the Constitution of India nor to the National Flag. The RSS is an organization which openly decries the existence of a democratic, federal and secular India; and these characteristics are the ‘Basic’ features of the Constitution of India. It is an organization which not only openly decried the Freedom Movement against the British rule but also made fun of the heroic and patriotic revolutionary tradition of great martyrs like Bhagat Singh and his companions who laid down their lives for the liberation of the Motherland. In order to know the truth we will simply have to make access to the literature and publications of the RSS and its different outfits, specially the writings of M.S. Golwalkar who, as an ideologue is religiously followed by the bosses and cadres of the RSS. Here it is attempted to present the original and official viewpoints of the RSS on different aspects of Indian Nation, so that there is no room to allege that they have been misrepresented. It must be stressed here that it is the need of the hour that we know about the RSS and its game plan. It is no more a fringe organization now, as the present BJP leaders have declared their open allegiance to the RSS. They have even told the Nation that the RSS to them is what Gandhi was to Nehru! Interestingly, the RSS, despite these claims and declarations, denies any political role for itself! It claims to be just a cultural organization of the Hindus. It is hoped that with all these facts available (from horse’s mouth itself) our nation and the world will get familiarized with the real face and intentions of the RSS, otherwise it may be too late to save our dear Motherland.

The Hindutva cronies like RSS and Hindu Mahasabha make a brazen claim that they were the only ones who opposed the divisive, communal and two-nation politics of the anti-national Muslim League led by MA Jinnah and played great role in the freedom struggle. There cannot be a worst lie than this and only Hindutva gang can fabricate such lies. The pre-Independence political happenings and documents from the archives of the Hindutva organizations tell us a shameful story of Hindutva organizations aligning with the Muslim League which stood for the Partition of our country. Part 2 presents facts on the following: (1)HINDU MAHASABHA LED BY " VEER " SAVARKAR RAN COALITION GOVERNMENTS WITH MUSLIM LEAGUE DURING QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT. (2) RSS NOT ONLY OPPOSED INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE BUT DENIGRATED IT. (3) Does RSS respect martyrs of the Freedom Movement like Bhagat Singh? Also see: http://www.countercurrents.org/islam310116.htm