The RSS, ‘Hindutva’ and Rising Attacks against Muslims in India

Description

This article discusses the recent attacks against Muslims in Delhi and examines the ‘Hindutva’ (defined as extreme Hindu nationalism) organisation, mainly the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), whose leaders and members not only participated in building a hateful environment, but were also found to be taking part in attacks against Muslims in Delhi. The term Hindutva is a far-right-wing ideology and it was first used by V.D. Savarkar, who defined it in his book Hindutva: Who is Hindu?, published in 1925. Since then it has become the core philosophy of the RSS, whose political front is India’s current ruling party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).