Hindu Fundamentalists

Hindutva is a political ideology somewhat analogous to Christian or Muslim fundamentalism in its relation to Hinduism, with the important difference that Hinduism does not have a single well-defined universal creed or scripture. The ideology was defined in 1923 with the publication of Hindutva by Indian politician Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966) and is the main form of Hindu Nationalism in India, embraced by right wing parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hindutva is in large part a response to a perceived threat from ‘foreign’ religions, especially Islam, replacing beliefs and traditions that originated in India. Hindutva is not aligned to the secular vision of India enshrined in India’s constitution.