The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation (with Special Reference to Central India)

Front Cover
Penguin Books India, 1999 - Hinduism - 596 pages
Although The Peaceful, Inward-Looking Doctrine Of The Hindu Religion Hardly Seems To Lend Itself To Endemic Nationalism, A Phenomenal Surge Of Militant Hinduism Has Taken Place Over The Last Ten Years In India. Indeed, The Electoral Success Of The Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp) Has Proven Beyond Doubt That These Forces Now Pose A Significant Threat To India S Secular Character.

In A Historically Rich, Detailed Account Of The Hindu Nationalist Movement In India Since The 1920S, Christopher Jaffrelot Explores How Rapid Changes In The Political, Social, And Economic Climate Have Made India Fertile Soil For The Growth Of The Primary Arm Of Hindu Nationalism, A Paramilitary-Style Group Known As The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Rss), Together With Its Political Offshoots. He Shows How The Hindu Movement Uses Religion To Enter The Political Sphere, And Argues That The Ideology They Speak For Has Less To Do With Hindu Philosophy Than With Ethnic Nationalism

The Hindu Nationalist Movement And Indian Politics Makes A Major Contribution To The Study Of The Genesis And Development Of Religious Nationalism, And Is Essential Reading For Anyone Who Seeks To Comprehend The Spread Of Endemic Conflict.

From inside the book

Contents

INTRODUCTION
1
THREE HINDU NATIONALIST STRATEGIES
11
Priority given to the expansion of the shakha network
64
THE STRATEGY OF ETHNORELIGIOUS
80
The first attempt to exploit the issue of Ayodhya
91
Nehru and the Hindu traditionalists
98
An extremist party
107
THE JANA
114
The VHP and building the Hindu nation against the Other
345
The attempt at Hindu mobilisation
358
THE MAKING OF A HINDU VOTE?
369
populism political bhakti
383
the activists in the forefront
404
AND RETAIN POWER
411
elections
436
THE PARADOX OF THE RAMJANMABHOOMI
449

The Jana Sanghs Sanghathanist partybuilding pattern
132
A countermodel of partybuilding
149
OSCILLATION AND HYBRIDISATION
158
The dual constraints of the Congress system
159
From dogmatism to pragmatism?
178
HINDU MOBILISATION
193
Ethnoreligious mobilisation under a double
203
Electoral progress and increased reliance on notables
213
Electoral alliances and coalition governments
221
THE CONTRADICTIONS OF THE 1970s
230
The central governments fight against communalism
238
THE HINDU NATIONALISTS IN THE J P MOVEMENT
255
THE IMPOSSIBLE ASSIMILATION
282
THE CONVERGENCE OF HINDU NATIONALIST
314
THE HINDU SENSE OF VULNERABILITY
338
an ambivalent tactic
464
The strategy of ethnoreligious mobilisation in question
473
THE B J P HELD IN CHECK IN THE HINDI BELT
482
The difficulty of exploiting the Ayodhya issue
487
Madhya Pradesh
494
The BJP in Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Rajasthan
515
CONCLUSION
522
EPILOGUE
533
Populism and the 19945 state elections
539
Will tensions emerge in the Sangh parivar?
547
APPENDICES
555
Performance of the Jana Sangh and the BJP in Vidhan
558
Select Bibliography
573
Index
581
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information