Understanding Fascism in India - Hindutva is not Hinduism

One is a religion, the other is a modern fascist ideology. Check out the references below, I couldn't fit all 35 to 40. Love.

0:00 Hey
0:42 Hindutva is not Hinduism
4:15 Origins of Hindutva
7:30 Hindutva, Caste and Racism
11:40 What was Savarkar's point?
14:32 Savarkar's fragile reason to purge non-hindus, by his own admission.
15:23 Weaponization of aesthetically liberal ideas of caste annihilation
16:33 Colonialism was just fascism before we called it fascism, and we Indians should know better
17:30 Colonialism in Ireland and religious segregation
18:49 Touching on the Armenian G word
20:13 The US and UK overlook the fascists in India like they overlooked the initial actions of the Reich.
21:01 Modi's treatment of India's farmers
22:04 Coming back to why Indians should know better due to our colonial history and how history is repeating itself
23:56 Essentials of Hindutva summarized by Savarkar
24:21 The RSS only represents upper caste hindus and are terrified of having a real conversation about caste
25:00 Muslims, Christians and Communists are their enemy
26:43 Cow Lynchings in Uttar Pradesh and language erasure
28:12 What it means to be Indian
29:16 Who are the RSS
33:02 Censoring textbooks, making caste invisible again, glorifying fascism
34:55 Myths of aryan superiority
38:52 How the RSS uses women
41:40 Savarkar on the weakness of Shivaji Maharaj
44:21 Casteism is the Achilles heel of the RSS
48:49 How does modern Hindutva work?
50:34 Demographic change and conversion fear mongering
53:25 Savarkar's Abhinav Bharat, assassinations, bombings and terror
56:33 Summary of the Fash


*references, reading material and videos of interest for hindutva video

*reference list too long, see community post for more*

[rohanxdavis]

Wanted to add further important context to the small section touching on Kerala -i realize watching the video back that it comes off as painting Kerala as a utopia, that is not true, we also have issues along caste lines and deeply rooted islamophobia which present itself in different ways. For instance the love jihad conspiracy theory which is weaponized against muslims today originated from some christian leaders of Kerala, spread to Karnataka, and then it was picked up by the BJP and spread across India. So its important to note that it stemmed from an already existing islamophobia within affluent christian communities in Kerala.

[apolloforabetterfuture]

Evangelical Christianity≠Christianity
Zionism≠Judaism
Hindutva≠Hinduism

[SarastistheSerpent]

This is a fantastic video! As a westerner who has only a very limited knowledge of Indian politics, I always found it very odd that many western far-right politicians who’ve been known to make derogatory racial/ethnic/religious statements about South Asians and Hinduism always praise Hindutva. It makes a lot more sense now.

[vickie_g]

As a leftist who lives in India, I think you are doing incredible work. I've been keenly aware of the rapid rise of fascism here, but the frenzy around the Ayodhya ceremony has showed me the scale of hindutva's spread and power.
I'm sending this video to many of my friends so that atleast they wont fall into it.

[darcybhaiwala]

The amount of RELIEF I get from coming across this video. I would consider myself a practicing "Hindu" and I have never felt as isolated from my practice as I have now. Progressive spiritualists need to come out of the woodwork but the intimidation factor is too real. Thank you

[MainelyMandy]

So glad F D gave you a shout out! Thank you for making this! 💜

[tryingnewthings]

F.D. signifier just posted this video on his community tab, which is where I'm coming from.

Great job on this video! Im glad to see discussion of indian politics in the video essay space

[communistcapybara]

Brilliant video, there is truly a lack of Indian voices (in the mainstream media as well on Youtube) challenging this toxic ideology. Voices like yours are truly needed especially in this tumultuous election year as well with the recent consecration of the Ram Mandir which has basically been reported on with no pushback from any mainstream Indian sources.

I have noticed you have pointed out the similarities between Zionism and Hindutva in your responses in the comments which I have also noticed. The parallels between Savarkar and Herzl are pretty interesting with both being atheists who weaponize religion for political prospects and both sucking up to colonial powers (the British) for their own benefit.

You deserve way more subscribers, please continue making this amazing content!

[fyviane]

good luck to all of us in defeating fascism once and for all

[shadowfell_]

The worst thing about all this is that I used to think that such narrow minded and archaic thinking was only spread amongst the so called, "WhatsApp Uncles", on the contrary, this ideology of hate is common currency amongst the youth of our country.

With Indian masses gaining easy access to the internet quite recently, it seems like BJP and the cult of Modi have successfully able to present Hindutva more or less as a politically charged version of Hinduism.

Young minds of our country can be seen actively flaunting with ideas like genocide of a minority community, labeling any form of genuine protest as an anti-national scheme. If one belong to a minority religion, there is very clear society pressure on them to show their love and patriotism towards the country.

Forget about being from a minority religion and try to criticize the ruling government's policies or actions, you would instantly be labelled as an anti-national, that's the level of public discourse our country has stooped to.

What saddens me even more is the failure of the opposition parties to provide the masses a legitimate alternative on a national stage. The ideological damage which has been done to our country's political landscape is something which is irreversible and has a potential to have long term ramifications.

[BigBadBalrog]

It's difficult for Americans to grasp the idea that race is a social construct, and specifically that "whiteness" and white supremacy don't really have all that much to do with skin color. I think this Indian perspective is a perfect eye opener on that front.

[ratgurl]

wow- you’re doing great work here man. i absolutely should know more about India’s geopolitics and the way it’s mirroring the US and Israel’s as a Jewish American. it’s sickening that so many people are enraptured by ethnonationalism and the violence it requires but i really hope we can achieve some sort of peace and equality within our lifetimes. keep up the effort- i’m officially subscribed :)

[ThePurpleKiss]

Thanks for sharing.

I’m a black woman that grew up in the UK & have many Indian friends but I’ve always been afraid to ask about their caste system. (We have something very similar in Igbo culture. Oh the joys of colonialism). I see the caste system in full effect when I watch things like “Indian matchmaker” on Netflix where they are not afraid to say that they would prefer lighter people as Romantic partners. Thanks for framing this in its political context too. I love any opportunity to understand my fellow human beings from different cultures better.

[ИванЯгин]

Fantastic analysis, you've done a great job. Fascism is so repetitive I want to break my skull over a wall. I'm from Russia and the difference is just in names. Same ideas, same organisations, though tragectory of russian fascism is a bit different in a way that it at the same time settle itself as anti-fascist, so it adds extra mental gymntastics to be fasc, but to distance itself from german-italian aesthetics. They use eurasianism, less race and blood oriented, more imperial in a sense of a great russian nation taking lesser peoples under its kind and protective wing (with bombs and assassinations, of course). And, dispite a wartime, it still works more towards depolitisizing and pacifying people: what concerns me, even frightens, is how pro-political and proactive is Hindutva.
Man, this is grim. I hope - when there is no hope, hope is the only thing left - that the Hauge will miraclously rule against Israel. It might, but only by a little, tip the scales agaisnt rightwingers. The Pope made an interesting statement, the old man is based, in regards to a dialogue between marxists and catholics.
Thank you for providing an info on India. No pasaran, friends!

[mpaul]

This was a fascinating analysis to watch as an (anti Zionist) jew! I’ve been curious about the current support of Zionism by Hindu right wing people, it’s shocking just how similar their ethno nationalist claims to the land are. Thank you so much for making this video.

[rishabhchopde]

I feel very isolated in being an Indian leftist because it is very common to hear inflammatory rhetoric about minorities. I wish more people would be able to apply such analysis on this shift of the political landscape towards the right.

[nyamburam.waruingi]

I'm here because of F.D. I have subscribed. Thanks so much for this. I'm listening from Kenya. I love this work and staying.

[patrickdaitya]

Great video! Agreed with all your points, however I do think the diatribe at 27:56 about how Tamil and Malayalam are "older" and "more nuanced" than Hindi is a bit unfounded - even if Hindi was "older" or "more nuanced" than other Indian languages, that wouldn't make it right for it to be imposed upon the nation. So I don't think we should be using the same rhetoric that colonialists do when wiping out indigenous languages en-masse (the idea that some languages are "not as old" or "not as smart/nuanced/complex" was used to justify wiping out many languages across the world) is the move.

[zain]

Here from FD's channel and I'm so glad he shared it because this video was so interesting and informative! I'm looking forward to watching more of your content, I just suscribed!!

[robertgibb]

Greetings from Canada! Still working through your video, but I'm glad to have come across you, especially after having learned of the opening of a new Hindu temple that Modi attended.

Canada (not in all parts, but certainly in my region) has many international students and workers here from India, largely from Punjab (though I know a few people from Kerala as well!), so I've gotten to learn a bit about the Punjabi view on Indian politics.

It's been a great learning experience, but admittedly, I've heard more than a fair share of anti-Muslim rhetoric as well. Understandably, India is a complex political entity, and extremely diverse, which adds to some of that complexity.

I have found the rise of Hindu nationalism to be extremely troubling though. Muslims have had a difficult time in India to be sure, but so to have Sikhs, and I'm sure MANY other people. It's incredible to see a Leftist from India be able to talk about these issues, and criticize the Far-Right in India.

No country on Earth (not even Canada) is free of Far-Right and Fascist movements. It will take solidarity and unity among all peoples to fight back against it. I hope you keep doing this good work, and that more Indians come together to stand against nationalism, racism, and Fascism, in all its forms.