note on religious nationalism
Answers
The contemporary rise of a religious-based Hindu nationalism in India has been
attended by large-scale conflict and violence directed against members of the minority
Muslim communities. In this article I explore the historical roots of communal violence
– violence directed against members of a different faith – and the historical evolution of
an identity based around being a 'Hindu'. I argues that this category is implicated both
within the colonial construction of Indian society as well as within the recent rise of an
authoritarian Hindu nationalism which is attempting to capture state power. I also
maintain that insights drawn from the new Indian historiography and sociology need to
inform debates on 'race' and ethnicity outside India and that the braiding of religious
identities into rightist political movements should make us wary of categorising groups
with diverse histories on the basis of religion.