The Hindutva Movement: A Struggle Towards a “Hindu Secular India”

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"We must look after the Muslims and treat them as part of us." This seems like a pleasant statement from Mr. Bal Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena party and a proponent of the Hindutva movement, but it hardly works to conceal the villainous face of the Hindu nationalistic movement he follows. This movement aims to protect the interests of India by enhancing cohesion not only within the Hindu classes but also with other religious communities present in the country. However, this movement has numerous controversies attached to it, out of which, the razing of the Babri Mosque, the land transfer in Kashmir and the Christian massacre in Orissa standout, underlining that this movement is not to protect the secular India, but is for a ‘Hindu’ Secular state.

The razing of the Babri mosque is a prominent example of where, The Hindutva Movement wants to direct India. The Babri Mosque touched headlines in India in 1992. This rise to fame was not because of its rich Mughal architecture, but was due to propaganda on part of the far right parties of the country. These parties were none other than the Hindutvadis and included the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). It was propagated that the land on which the mosque stood was the birth place of Ram, a Hindu god. This stimulated a huge reaction in the Hindu community, sparking demands by several segments for the razing of the mosque (Chibber and Mehra 665). Eventually, the mosque was destroyed by volunteers from the Hindu population. These volunteers were known as the Karsevaks. The parties not only mobilized the masses, but played a direct role in the incident as well. The Liberhan commission, set up i...

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.../india/3229253/India-asked-to-investigate-Hindu-massacre-of-Christians.html>.

Chatterji, Angana. "Orissa." Zcommunications.org. Sabrang, 15 Sept. 2008. Web. .

Chibber, Pradeep K., and Subhash Misra. "Hindus and the Babri Masjid." Hindus and the Babri Masjid 33.7: 665. Web. .

Kalyan lied, Rao made wrong judgement on Babri: Govt. Publication. New Delhi, 2009. Web. .

Rao, Nagesh. "Kashmir repression rewards Hindu far right." Socialistworker.org. Web. 14 Aug. 2008. .

Telegraph.co.uk. Web. .

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