Fascism and Religion - Hindu Nationalism

Hindu Nationalism

See also: Hindu nationalism, Hindutva#Criticism_and_support, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh#Criticisms_and_accusations, and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar#Hindutva

Indian Marxist Prabhat Patnaik has written that the Hindutva movement as it has emerged is "classically fascist in class support, methods and programme" Patnaik bases this argument on the following "ingredients" of classical fascism present in Hindutva: the attempt to create a unified homogeneous majority under the concept of "the Hindus"; a sense of grievance against past injustice; a sense of cultural superiority; an interpretation of history according to this sense of grievance and superiority; a rejection of rational arguments against this interpretation; and an appeal to the majority based on race and masculinity.

Some scholars contend that the traditional meaning of the term fascism does not apply to Hindutva groups, and may hinder an analysis of their activities. Academics Chetan Bhatt and Parita Mukta reject the identification of Hindutva with fascism, because of Hindutva's embrace of cultural rather than racial nationalism, because of its "distinctively Indian" character, and because of "the RSS's disavowal of the seizure of state power in preference for long-term cultural labour in civil society". They instead describe Hindutva as a form of "revolutionary conservatism" or "ethnic absolutism".

Before World War II, Sadashiv Golwalkar, head of the RSS from 1940–73 opined

German national pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up purity of the nation and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races, the Jews. National pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into a united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by. We or our nationhood defined, 1938, p. 37

However, anti-semitism plays no role in post-1947 Hindutva. Golwalkar in 1966 wrote:

The Christians committed all sorts of atrocities on the Jews by giving them the label "Killers of Christ". Hitler is not an exception but a culmination of the 2000-year long oppression of the Jews by the Christians.

Contemporary Hindutva groups are overwhelmingly supportive of the Jewish State of Israel. Savarkar himself supported Israel during its formation. Golwalkar too supported Israel in his statement:

"The Jews had maintained their race, religion, culture and language; and all they wanted was their natural territory to complete their Nationality"

Jerusalem based scholar Seth J. Frantzman writes that opposition to Hindu Nationalism and its denunciation by leftists as "fascist" or "racist" are related to their own antisemitism and opposition to Zionism, and that both Zionism and Hindu Nationalism are "united in the aspirations of unique peoples and states", and "both grew out of a long suppressed and colonized peoples' dreams for their own country free from foreign rule".