ABSTRACT This essay is a follow up to three others published in Religion Compass in 2011 which survey research on Hindutva (Hindu nationalism or political hinduism), covering its seminal ideologies and its evolution into multiple modes of practice. I focus now on the period from 2014 to the present, when the BJP under Narendra Modi has been in political office. This essay therefore considers the forms that Hindutva assumes as a means and tool of governance, and the wide, contentious field of cultural politics it continues to shape beyond state office. The unwieldiness of ‘Hindutva’ in the present moment (and the commensurately large volume of scholarly writing) can be parsed by thinking of it as expressed in two overlapping but still distinct forms: one which uses the institutional and bureaucratic apparatus of the state by which to manifest core ideologies, and the other which far exceeds formal channels and makes use of all available means to decry, challenge, or enforce a political status quo. These many layers of increasingly polarised, intractable politics have heightened the need for opposition and activism, limiting room for dialogic and reflexive work which may be equally invaluable in addressing Hindutva challenges.
Deepa S. Reddy (Sun,) studied this question.