Savarkar’s Hindutva and Indian Nationalism

Abstract

Veer Savarkar, named Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, politician, poet, writer and play wright. Born in 1883 in Maharashtra, his early introduction to revolutionary ideas and participation in the Swadeshi movement influenced his conception of the continued struggle to free India from British imperialis By saying this, Savarkar arrived at The India House, a secretive sub-center in London, and in this way, his ascription "The First War of Indian Independence," Yeah, these realignments first observed 1857 revolt as a collective war of freedom. But even in the jail (Cellular Jail of Andaman and Nicobar Islands), his commitment was always unshaken. At the heart of Savarkar's philosophy was Hindutva as further elucidated in his book "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?". It was a kind of identity politics — a cultural nationalism of blood, soil, and culture, that transcended merely a religious identity. While Hindutva under Savarkar conceived of a Hindu Rashtra, completely separate from the inclusive nationalism of figures like Gandhi and Nehru. The paper also explores how Hindutva steers into the territory of Indian nationalism, makes an attempt to check whether it has any relevance with highly inclusive concept of Indian nationalism, what all differs from such inclusive nationalism and for whom this nationalism was primarily targeted? An exposition of the Hindutva of Savarkar will reveal the ideological plurality that characterized the Indian independence movement, the residue it has left on modern politics, and the incalculable ramifications it has had for the nation's socio-cultural grades.