Acknowledgements xi
Copyright Statement xiii
PART 1: INTRODUCTION: THE INVENTION OF AN ETHNIC NATIONALISM 1
Introduction: The Invention of an Ethnic Nationalism 3
An Ideological Reaction to the Other: From Reform to Revivalism in the Nineteenth Century 6
The Political Turn: The Hindu Sabhas Movement 10
The Hindu Sangathan Movement: Hindu Nationalism Crystallizes 12
The Maharashtrian Crucible of Hindu Nationalism 14
The Sangh Parivar Takes Shape 17
Hindu Nationalism and Political Strategy 19
PART 2: THE MAKING AND RESHAPING OF HINDU NATIONALIST IDEOLOGY 27
Chapter 1: Swami Dayananda Saraswati 29
Two Extracts from The Light of Truth (Satyarth Prakash) 31
Chapter 2: R.B. Lal Chand 38
Extract from Self-Abnegation in Politics 40
Chapter 3: Har Bilas Sarda 50
Two Chapters from Hindu Superiority: An Attempt to Determine the Position of the Hindu Race in the Scale of Nations 51
SOCIAL SYSTEM 51
FOREIGN RELATIONS 56
Chapter 4: Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai 61
Presidential Addresses at Two Hindu Mahasabha Annual Meetings 64
MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA: PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, AS REPORTED (1923) 64
LALA LAJPAT RAI'S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, AS REPORTED (1925) 69
Chapter 5: Swami Shraddhananda 77
Extract from Hindu Sangathan: Saviour of the Dying Race 79
Chapter 6: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 85
Extract from Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? 87
Chapter 7: M.S. Golwalkar 97
Extracts from We or Our Nationhood Defined 98
Extracts from Bunch of Thoughts 117
Chapter 8: Deendayal Upadhyaya 139
Two Extracts from Integral Humanism 141
Chapter 9: Balraj Madhok 158
Extracts from Indianization? What, Why and How 159
PART 3: HINDU NATIONALIST ISSUES 173
Chapter 10: The RSS and Politics 175
Extract from K.R. Malkani, The RSS Story 179
Extract from Sri Balasaheb Deoras Answers Questions 188
L.K. Advani's Concluding Statement at the National Executive Meeting of the BJP, 18 September 2005 189
Chapter 11: Jammu & Kashmir 193
Extract of a Speech by Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, in the Lok Sabha, on 7 August 1952 195
Preface to BJP on Kashmir 207
Chapter 12: The National Language 218
Extracts from Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Party Documents Vol. 5: Resolutions on Education, etc. and Party Affairs 220
Chapter 13: Conversion and the Arithmetic of Religious Communities 233
Lala Lajpat Rai on Dalits and Conversions 235
Extract from Raj Eshwar, Paravartan (Back to Hinduism): Why and How 244
Chapter 14: Reservation and Social Justice 255
Extract from RSS Resolves: Full Text of Resolutions from 1950 to 1983 258
Extracts from 'BJP Election Manifesto', 1991 Lok Sabha Elections 259
Extract from 'BJP Election Manifesto', 1996 Lok Sabha Elections 261
Extract from 'BJP Election Manifesto', 1998 Lok Sabha Elections 263
Extract from 'NDA Election Manifesto', 1999 Lok Sabha Elections 267
Extract from 'NDA Election Manifesto', 2004 Lok Sabha Elections 268
Chapter 15: Education 269
Extracts from Murli Manohar Joshi, 'Reorienting Education' 271
Chapter 16: Ayodhya, the Babri Masjid, and the Ramjanmabhumi Dispute 279
Extract from an Interview of L.K. Advani 282
Extract from L.K. Advani, 'The Ayodhya Movement' 289
Chapter 17: Defence 299
Extract from Jaswant Singh, Defending India 302
Chapter 18: Secularism 313
Extract from Atal Behari Vajpayee, 'The Bane of Pseudo-Secularism' 315
Extract from Atal Behari Vajpayee, 'Secularism, the Indian Concept' 318
Chapter 19: The Economy 342
Extract from S. Gurumurthy, 'Swadeshi and Nationalism' 345
Extract from Arun Shourie, 'This is India's Moment, But It's Only a Moment, Can We Grasp It?' 354
Chapter 20: The Diaspora and Hindu Nationalism 361
Documents on the California Textbooks Controversy 364
Bibliography 370

Hindu nationalism came to world attention in 1998, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won national elections in India. Although the BJP was defeated nationally in 2004, it continues to govern large Indian states, and the movement it represents remains a major force in the world's largest democracy. This book presents the thought of the founding fathers and key intellectual leaders of Hindu nationalism from the time of the British Raj, through the independence period, to the present. Spanning more than 130 years of Indian history and including the writings of both famous and unknown ideologues, this reader reveals how the "Hindutuva" movement approaches key issues of Indian politics. Covering such important topics as secularism, religious conversion, relations with Muslims, education, and Hindu identity in the growing diaspora, this reader will be indispensable for anyone wishing to understand contemporary Indian politics, society, culture, or history.

Christophe Jaffrelot is director of the Centre d' Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS) in Paris. His books include India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India.