Hindu nationalism, also known as Hindutva, is a transnational far-right political ideology grounded in Hindu supremacy. In India, Hindu nationalists advocate a strict form of ethnonationalism that reimagines the secular Indian republic as an exclusively Hindu nation and seeks to relegate religious minorities–especially Muslims–to an inferior status. Hindu nationalism is distinct from Hinduism, notwithstanding Hindutva proponents’ erroneous claims of representing all Hindus.
In the United States, Hindutva proponents seek to silence the voices of Indian Americans and others who disagree with their ideology, promote harmful policies favorable to India’s Hindu nationalist political parties, and control knowledge about South Asia’s diverse, multireligious history. In so doing, Hindutva advocates undermine American pluralism and spread hate against Muslims, Sikhs and other minority groups within American society.
To be sure, Hindutva is not Hinduism, both in terms of genre and its impact on American politics and society. Whereas the religion of Hinduism contributes to American pluralism and religious diversity, the political ideology of Hindu nationalism works against those core American values by perpetuating supremacist ideas and discriminatory conduct, especially against non-Hindu South Asians.
The report Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism examines how Hindu nationalists have capitalized on the anti-Muslim public discourse arising from the Global War on Terror to obtain greater acceptance of their ethnonationalist agenda. By couching their rhetoric within the mainstream narrative that Muslims worldwide are presumptively terrorists and violent, Hindutva organizations join the chorus of other anti-Muslim right-wing groups.
Specifically, the various strands of Hindutva in the United States pursue two objectives: the othering Muslims as suspicious outsiders and stymying academic freedom.
To prevent Hindutva-inspired groups from threatening the equality, safety, and lives of their minoritized targets in the United States, the report offers five recommendations:
- Law enforcement, politicians, and civil society groups should cease partnerships with U.S.-based Hindu nationalist groups.
- Federal authorities should ensure that U.S. groups that act as proxies of India’s RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and its affiliate organizations register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
- U.S.-based Hindu nationalist groups, particularly those registered as charities, must be fully transparent about their financial links abroad, including material support originating overseas, financial resources directed overseas, and ties to foreign governments.
- The U.S. government should impose sanctions on or refuse entry into the United States to persons who facilitate or provide material support for anti-minority violence in India.
- University administrations should educate themselves about the threats caused by Hindutva-inspired discrimination in the United States and protect professors, staff, and students within their universities from caste-based and religion-based discrimination.
To read Hindutva in America: A Threat to Equality and Religious Pluralism, click here.
