Hindu revolution

Hindu Revolution is a term in Hindu nationalism referring to a sociopolitical movement aiming to overthrow untouchability and casteism to unified social and political community to create the foundations of a modern nation.

Causes

The causes of the Hindu Revolution may be classified into five broad categories: economic, religious, cultural, political and ideological.

• Economic: Historically, the most pressing cause was the economic domination and exploitation by the colonial state, resulting in chronic poverty and recurrent famines; this had already provoked widespread popular uprisings such as that of the sannyasis and peasants of Bengal (1761–1800). ^{[1] [2]}

• Religious and cultural: The growing influence of Western religion and culture on Indian society was seen as an assault on Hindu civilisation. ^{[3] [4] [5]}
• Political: Political domination by foreign powers was identified as the root cause of India's economic problems, ^{[6] [7]} leading to mounting demands for limited self-government and, by 1930, full constitutional independence (Swaraj). ^[8]
• Ideological: an equally important role was played by ideological causes such as the rise of Hindu nationalism and the emergence of a Hindu revolutionary ideology. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Widespread corruption has become an additional source of popular dissatisfaction with the existing political system since Independence in 1947. ^[12] In the 1970s the degradation of the political field under Indira Gandhi's authoritarian regime led to a sharp polarisation of political discourse in India. Hindu revolutionary groups joined a popular anti-Congress opposition front formed around the concept of "Total Revolution" ("Sampoorna Kranti") promoted by Gandhian reformer Jayaprakash (J.P.) Narayan. In particular, this was purportedly aimed at achieving the complete reformation of public morality in India. ^[13]

Ideology

The ideology of the Hindu Revolution is essentially nationalist and Hindu revivalist. It may also be characterised as traditional to the extent that it opposes aspects of modernity that are regarded as detrimental to the interests of the Indians or incompatible with Hindu culture and civilisation. In economic terms this has given rise to what has been described by some as "patriotic capitalism" as encapsulated in the 1990s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slogan "Computer chips, yes; potato chips, no". ^[14] In social and cultural terms, the Hindu revolutionaries aim to curtail several rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to every citizen of the Republic of India. Some of them include the right to profess and propagate one's religion of choice, the right to food and livelihood, the right to equality and the right to free expression. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]}

The principal sources of Hindu revolutionary ideology are the Manusmriti, a deeply controversial ancient Hindu text which legitimised the Caste system, and the writings of figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, Aurobindo, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and M. S. Golwalkar. ^{[21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]}

Th ideals of the Hindu Revolutionary movement are largely contradictory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Constitution of India and other modern interpretations of civil liberties with respect to the right to profess and propagate ones religion of choice, the right to food and livelihood, the right to equality and the right to free expression. ^{[27] [17] [19] [20] [28]} Mainstream Hindu revolutionary ideology interprets this State as a Hindu theocracy. ^[29]

See also

• Hinduism portal

• Hindutva
• Communalism (South Asia)
• Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
• Indian independence movement
• List of Hindu empires and dynasties

References

1. Dasgupta, Atis K. The Fakir and Sannyasi Uprisings. Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi & Company, 1992.
2. Bipan, Chandra. The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India: Economic Policies of the Indian National Leadership, 1880-1905. New Delhi, 1966, p. 5.
3. Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. "The Bharata Dharma Mahamandala", speech delivered at Varanasi on 3 January 1906, in Grover, V., ed., Bal Gangadhar Tilak: A Biography of His Vision and Ideas, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 1998, pp. 176-178.
4. Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. "National Education", speech delivered at Barsi, 1908, in Grover, V., ed., Bal Gangadhar Tilak: A Biography of His Vision and Ideas, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 1998, pp. 197-201.
5. Madhok, Balraj. Indianization? What, Why and How. New Delhi: S. Chand, 1970.
6. Dadabhai Naoroji. The Poverty of India. London, 1878, p. 65.
7. Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. Kesari. 18 February 1902, p. 4.
8. Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. "Tenets of the New Party", Kolkata, 2 January 1907, in Grover, V., ed., Bal Gangadhar Tilak: A Biography of His Vision and Ideas, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 1998, pp. 181-188.
9. The foundations of this ideology were laid by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in his writings and speeches, in particular, in his scholarly commentary on the Bhagavadgita, Gita Rahasya (written in 1910-11 and published in 1915).
10. Guha, Arun Chandra. First Spark of Revolution. Bombay: Oriental Longmans, 1971, p. 221.
11. Wolpert, Stanley A. Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. New Delhi: S. K. Mookerjee, 1989. p. 206.
12. See the Report of the Committee on the Prevention of Corruption. New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, presented on 31 March 1964.
13. Hansen, Thomas Blom. The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 130.
14. Hansen, Thomas Blom. The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999, pp. 218-237.
15. "Hindu nationalist BJP against equal rights for Christian and Muslim Dalits".
16. "RSS Women Wing Teaches Women Are Inferior". 12 March 2017 – via YouTube. Archived at Ghostarchive and Wayback Machine
17. "RSS seeks Central act to ban conversion". The Hindu. 20 October 2008.
18. "Hindus in Valentine's Day attack on lovers". 15 February 2009.
19. "Outcry as Penguin India pulps 'alternative' history of Hindus". TheGuardian.com . 13 February 2014.
20. Tomlinson, Hugh. "Burn down British cinemas that show Bollywood film Padmavati, urge Hindu nationalists".
21. "The Dichotomy Between Manusmriti and a Liberal Constitution".
22. Jawaharlal Nehru in his address at the unveiling of a painting of Tilak in the Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi, on 28 July 1956, in Grover, V., ed., Bal Gangadhar Tilak: A Biography of His Vision and Ideas, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 1998, p. 589.
23. Ghodke, H. M. Revolutionary Nationalism in Western India. New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company, 1990, p. 31.
24. Guha, Arun Chandra. First Spark of Revolution. 1st edition, Mumbai: Oriental Longmans, 1971, p. 221.
25. Wolpert, Stanley A. Tilak and Gokhale: Revolution and Reform in the Making of Modern India. New Delhi: S. K. Mookerjee, 1989, p. 206.
26. "How the Sangh Parivar systematically attacks the very idea of India". 13 November 2014.
27. "Those who eat beef have no human rights: RSS leader". The Indian Express. 3 June 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
28. "India is working itself into a frenzy about interfaith marriages". The Economist. 30 September 2017.
29. "Punj, Balbir K. "Hindu Rashtra". South Asian Journal". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 10 March 2009.

External links

• The Hindu Revolution
• Hindu Jagruti