Hindu politics

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Hindu politics

Concepts Integral Humanism Hindu Nationalism Hindutva Cultural Nationalism The Third way Litigation-Free Model Swadeshi Uniform Civil Code

Freedom Fighters Lala Lajpat Rai Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bipin Chandra Pal Sri Aurobindo Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Purushottam Das Tandon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Keshava Baliram Hedgewar

Political leaders Syama Prasad Mookerjee Deendayal Upadhyaya Nanaji Deshmukh Atal Bihari Vajpayee Lal Krishna Advani Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi Bal Thackeray Narendra Modi Sushma Swaraj

Major political parties Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party Bharatiya Janshakti Party Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha Shanti Party Nepal Hindu Prajatantrik Party Defunct parties Hindu Mahasabha Bharatiya Jana Sangh Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad Organisations Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Vishwa Hindu Parishad

Authors on Hindu politics David Frawley Koenraad Elst François Gautier Sita Ram Goel K.S. Lal Harsh Narain Yvette Rosser Arun Shourie Ram Swarup Christophe Jaffrelot Bojil Kolarov Chetan Bhatt Walter K. Andersen

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Hindu politics refers to the political movements professing to draw inspiration from Hinduism. Hindu nationalism is the numerically most significant among the current political movements claiming to be inspired by Hinduism.

Revivalism

Hindu revivalism started with a reassertion of Hinduism in British India,mainly in its largest province, Bengal. Hindus were trying to incorporate things from the West,but while some were trying to make a clean break from their past, others tried to preserve their heritage in an adopted form.^[1] Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Swami Vivekananda were the earliest to formulate a political vision and a social reform program for India on the basis of Hinduism. Later, Aurobindo, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Golwalkar formed much of the political direction of the Hindus in India.^{[2] [3]}

Hinduism in political discourse

Hinduism is an important source of political discourse in India. Hindu minorities have played significant roles in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Hindu symbols are frequently used in political campaigns of Indian politicians. For example, the Ram Janmabhoomi issue in Ayodhya was brought up as a national issue by the Bharatiya Janata Party before the Babri Mosque demolition in 1992.

Ideologies

• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is the philosophy that the whole cosmos is a single family
• Rama Rajya is an ancient Indian concept of an ideal society which according to Gandhi is the "sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority"^[4]. "One of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure”^[5]. It became widely espoused in the Indian Independence Movement.
• Hindu nationalism is the political philosophy of cultural nationalism. The followers claim to be inspired by Vivekananda, Aurobindo and other modern Hindu Gurus.
• Hindutva ("Hinduism-Follower") is the political ideology first expressed by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who defined a Hindu in terms of nationalism, rather than religion.^[6]
• Integral humanism, the official ideology of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Parties

Parties claiming to be inspired by Hinduism include the erstwhile Hindu Mahasabha, Ram Rajya Parishad and the current Shiv Sena. Parties alleged to be Hindu nationalist (although the parties themselves deny it) include: Jana Sangha and Bharatiya Janata Party. Parties have even formed in countries such as Bangladesh (e.g. Banga Sena) and in Mauritius (Independent Forward Bloc) supporting the oppressed Hindus in these countries and giving importance to Hindu traditions.

Minority politics

Hindus form minorities in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Fiji. Minority Hindus in these countries have been denied human rights in many cases.^[7][8] Dhirendranath Datta was a Bengali Hindu member of the renamed Pakistan National Congress who supported the creation of Bangladesh and was later assassinated by the Pakistan Army. Krishan Bheel, a Hindu member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, came into news recently for manhandling Qari Gul Rehman.^[9]

Independent authors

In recent years, a few authors have taken up the cause of Hinduism as a political force. Some of these commentators on the Hindu political scene include Sita Ram Goel, Ram Swarup, Arun Shourie, Koenraad Elst among others.

Panjanya and Hindu Sabha Varta are the main Hindi weekly based on Hindu Interest and culture. Shri Tarun Vijay, Shri Ashok Tyagi and Shri Devendra swarup are the reputed journlists for Hindu and national issues.

References

Further reading

• Elst, Koenraad (2005). Decolonizing the Hindu mind. India: Rupa. ISBN 8171675190. 
• Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar (1923). Hindutva. Delhi, India: Bharati Sahitya Sadan. 
• "Voice of Dharma" (in English). Voice of India Publications. http://www.voi.org. Retrieved 2006-08-07.