Hindutva

An Analysis of the idea of ‘Hindutva’ in Savarkar

Hindutva (literally ‘Hinduness’, the quality of being Hindu) was a term originally coined by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in his book ‘Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?’ published in 1923. He regarded all inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent as Hindu and specifically those who regarded it as their fatherland (Pitribhu); descended from Hindu parents and considered this land holy (Punyabhu or Punyabhumi). According to Savarkar these constituted the three ‘essentials of Hindutva’: a common nation (Rashtra), a common race (Jati) and a common civilization (Sanskriti).For the first two essentials of ‘Hindutva’ Rashtra and Jati are clearly denoted and connoted by the word Pitrubhu while the third essential, Sanskriti, is implied by the word Punyabhu. Savarkar used the term Hindutva to emphasize its distinctiveness from the word Hinduism, For Him Hindutva is not a word but a history, not only the spiritual or religious history but a history in full. Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva. He adds that failure to distinguish between these two terms has given rise to much misunderstanding and mutual suspicion between some of those sister communities that have inherited this common treasure of Hindu civilization. Here it is enough to point out that Hindutva is not identical with what is vaguely indicated by the term Hinduism. By an 'ism' it is generally meant a theory or a code more or less based on spiritual or religious dogma or creed, in this sense Hindutva captured the imagined lack of national identity. The whole Idea behind the text of Savarkar is the political goal of self-assertion of Hindu Identity, The main purpose behind the concept of Hindutva was to construct a collective identity to support the cause of ‘Hindu-unity’ to avoid too narrow a definition of Hinduism which would exclude Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains from the Hindu community. Savarkar is more concerned with Race than that of Religion when...