This paper explores the interaction of anti-conversion laws in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Haryana, and...Show moreThis paper explores the interaction of anti-conversion laws in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Haryana, and Karnataka in India with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. NGOs like Open Doors are concerned about possible violations of human rights by these anti-conversion laws. By utilising primary sources such as the written anti-conversion laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and examining them through different perspectives provided by secondary sources, this study demonstrates that anti-conversion laws in India both directly and indirectly comply with and violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, depending on the perspective taken. As this paper has established, adopting Western perspectives on human rights reveals the majority of violations against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, alternative viewpoints can also unveil instances where anti-conversion laws align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Show less
Around the globe, India is praised as a secular, democratic and pluralistic nation. However, the 2014 elections represented a watershed moment for politics and the saturation point for Hindutva in...Show moreAround the globe, India is praised as a secular, democratic and pluralistic nation. However, the 2014 elections represented a watershed moment for politics and the saturation point for Hindutva in India. This thesis seeks to examine the developments around the politicization of religious identity in India and its consequences for constitutional secularism. This will be discussed against the background of the Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). This organization is omnipresent in India and has been engaged in a discursive struggle of establishing its vision of Hindutva as ideologically dominant. This modern political ideology, which can be regarded as the major form of Hindu nationalism, advocates the establishment of a Hindu nation. In recent times, the RSS has profoundly shaped Indian politics and society. Through the lens of social constructivism, this paper addresses the issue of “How the RSS has contributed to the politicization of religious identity in India through the propagation of Hindutva ideology since 2014” at the hand of two study cases, the Ayodhya dispute and the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act. It will also explain how the RSS makes use of highly selected narratives of the past, “Chosen Traumas,” to amplify the threat of an enemy and to mobilize a Hindu collective under the umbrella of Hindutva. The ruling Hindu right thereby revisits the very concept of India’s constitutional secularism, a type of secularism which is not anti-religious but respectful of all religious, for its non-secular agenda, placing secularism under serious threat.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In the midst of the 2019 UK general election, a story broke that an affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, was openly campaigning for Conservative...Show moreIn the midst of the 2019 UK general election, a story broke that an affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party, was openly campaigning for Conservative Party candidates in forty-eight marginal constituencies. The ideology of the BJP and its affiliates in the Sangh Parivar, Hindutva, has often been treated by scholars as a siloed entity that only affects India and the Indian or Hindu diaspora. Instead, this paper argues that Hindutva has become a transnational, right-wing populist vernacular that is grounded in the UK as a local political discourse through the principal Hindu nationalist organisational network, the Sangh Parivar. So, this paper asks; How has the organization and discourse of the Sangh Parivar vernacularised in the UK and affected the discourse of British politicians? Events such as Modi’s 2014 ascent to power and Brexit (2016) in the UK have facilitated the move of right-wing populist repertoires into the mainstream. This shift simultaneously enables the Sangh Parivar and Hindu nationalists’ growing confidence and organisational visibility. Thus, this paper updates previous scholarship's mapping of the multifarious network of the UK Sangh Parivar, highlighting the importance of identifying the component organisations of the Sangh Parivar to understand the discourse of global Hindutva. Moreover, this paper highlights how right-wing populist and far-right discourses intersect with Hindutva discourses in the UK. Right-wing, far-right and Hindutva discourses are networked in online spaces, such as social media platforms, where the difference between national and international discourses is often blurred. Finally, this paper argues that the activities of the Sangh Parivar have also affected the parliamentary discourse of British MPs. This effect shows the broader impact of Sangh Parivar discourses in the UK, and on other Hindu organisations that seek to represent British-Hindus and Indians. Thus, contrary to what previous research has assumed, the Sangh UK is political. Importantly, the Sangh Parivar UK has also contributed to the development of global Sangh organisations and collaborations. As such, the Sangh Parivar is a multi-polar, multi-directional and diffuse network of organisations that non-Sangh organisations and individuals, such as British-Hindu umbrella groups and parliamentarians, become entwined with. This can best be understood as ‘Sangh International.Show less
This thesis makes use of a critical discourse analysis to investigate in what ways the Hindutva discourse on (re)conversion of people to Hinduism transforms the religion to accommodate marginalized...Show moreThis thesis makes use of a critical discourse analysis to investigate in what ways the Hindutva discourse on (re)conversion of people to Hinduism transforms the religion to accommodate marginalized groups, such as Dalits and Adivasis. The thesis provides an overview of the relevant topics and academic debate before getting into the critical discourse analysis. It was discovered that, through the Hindutva discourse, Hinduism is constructed as a tolerant and all-encompasing tradition, whilst similtaniously is experiencing isomorphism to monotheistic religions.Show less
Despite the media attention surrounding the influence of India’s Godmen and their relationships politicians, not a great deal has been written in academia concerning this connection. Moreover, what...Show moreDespite the media attention surrounding the influence of India’s Godmen and their relationships politicians, not a great deal has been written in academia concerning this connection. Moreover, what has been studied has predominantly focused on the prominent role of Hindu Godmen in promoting ‘soft Hindutva’ - endorsing Hindutva policies and politicians. With this in mind, the case of the Dera Sacha Sauda and their current leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan challenges existing assumptions about the influence of Godmen in India. In addition, the symbolic character of the 'world renouncer' and the rhetoric of 'humanitarianism', are examined in the context of the Godman's influence over his followers. The theories of Weber and Gramsci, among others, are explored and highlight that Godmen engage with politics in dynamic, locally orientated and pragmatic ways.Show less
In the wake of The Supreme Court of India's decision to decriminalise homosexuality, this paper studies how British colonialism structured the perceptions and representations of same-sex intimacies...Show moreIn the wake of The Supreme Court of India's decision to decriminalise homosexuality, this paper studies how British colonialism structured the perceptions and representations of same-sex intimacies and sexual fluidity in India. Combining discourse analysis and historiographical approaches, this paper focuses on various aspects of Indian history and society, from the many examples of homo-eroticism in Indo-Muslim literature and Indian religious traditions to the medicalisation of sexuality and the internalisation of British ideals of masculinity and sexuality in the discourse around same-sex intimacies, as well as the parallels between this and the modern Hindutva movement.Show less
This thesis examines developments around the politicization of the Taj Mahal by Hindu nationalists and its consequences on a local, national and international level. The act is discussed against...Show moreThis thesis examines developments around the politicization of the Taj Mahal by Hindu nationalists and its consequences on a local, national and international level. The act is discussed against the background of the currently ruling right-wing Indian government and the construction of an Indian national identity. By linking the case to the dynamics of meaning making around heritage, the thesis questions notions on the material and symbolic value of heritage in heritage representation. Moreover, the understanding of ‘heritage in conflict’ as it is done from an international perspective is challenged. Here, the discussion emphasizes the role and importance of international regulation regarding the protection of heritage sites outside conflict zones. The study concludes by drawing attention to the limitations of international governance in heritage management and further developments around the concept, which offer interesting fields to be explored.Show less
