Dr. Koenrad Elst’s seminal work, Decolonizing the Hindu Mind, is probably one of the first in-depth studies to be done on contemporary Hindu Revivalist doctrine. His book presents an overview of the ideas underlying the Hindu Revivalist movement and traces its high points and low points in the larger canvass of Indian politics and public discourse. The book assesses events of 1988-1998 when Hindu Revivalism made its way to the political stage. But Dr. Elst’s focus is not on the performance of the political parties that made this political breakthrough possible but the ideas underpinning the movement and those which prompted its political debut.

An important part of the broader revivalist movement and therefore, of the study is the ideology of Hindutva. He explores the ideas of Hindu Nationalism and the Hindu State as conceptualised by the thought leaders of the movement and also discusses specific Hindu grievances.

While exploring a myriad of themes, Dr. Elst elucidates the ideological positions of the leaders vis-a-vis each of them and also offers his critique on the same. Unlike other Hindutva-watchers whose critique had been based on documentary information produced by partisan writers, Dr. Elst’s scientific investigation relies on primary sources – his interviews and talks with insiders of the movement and ideological statements of the leaders themselves – and secondary sources such as the writings of its proponents. Further, what makes his work unique is that he covers the ideological formulations given by those across organisational loyalties including those outside the Hindu Mahasabha, the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS.

Hindu Nationalism

In tracing the evolution in the concept of Hindu Nationalism, the author explains how Sri Aurobindo’s idea of nationalism was different from the version propounded by the RSS and BJP. Sri Aurobindo, Dr. Elst says, identified the Freedom Movement as a struggle for the “Hindu cause”. His idea of nationalism was closely linked to the need for protecting Sanatana Dharma. To him, India was merely the ‘geographical setting of the civilisation which gives expression to Sanatana Dharma’. The author likens the relationship between India and Santana Dharma to that of a vehicle and its load – while Santana Dharma is the precious load, India is the vehicle that carries it; the vehicle (India) not being more important than the load (Sanatana Dharma).

The RSS on the other hand conceived of Hindu nationalism by keeping the country itself front and centre, thereby, advocating for a more territorial type of nationalism as opposed to Sri Aurobindo’s espousal of civilisational nationalism. In an earlier chapter too, Dr. Elst points out how this manifests in the Sangh’s political ideology – the simple devotion to Motherland – and that the lack of a more sophisticated articulation of nationalism is one of the reasons that makes it a subject of varied interpretations by the more articulate forces.

Hindu Rashtra

The more controversial topic is the Hindu State or Hindu Rashtra. Contrary to popular misconception, the author says that Hindutva as a movement dedicated to establishing a Hindu Rashtra is a claim which is better claimed by organisations other than the BJP (such as the Hindu Mahasabha, VHP and RSS). The BJP is more concerned about specific issues that affect Hindus but falls short of advocating for a Hindu State.

To the BJP, the establishment of a Hindu State is not unfinished business. Rather, it is a completed project either because according to it, there is no need for India to become a Hindu Rashtra as India already is. Being Hindu and Indian are, therefore, seen as a distinction without a difference.

But Dr. Elst punctures holes in the BJP’s case by asking an important question – if India was already a Hindu Rashtra like the leaders claim it to be, why have BJP leaders shied away from explicitly using the term? So clearly, the terms Hindu and nation are not co-terminus, he argues.

By stating negatively, what the Hindu Rashtra is not (it is not a religious concept and not a political concept) rather than stating what it is, the clear conceptualisation of the Hindu State has become muddled in needless confusion. However, the author provides a simple way to untangle the meaning – etymologically, Rashtra comes from the word Raj (governance) and the suffix ‘tra’ (denoting instrumentality). So, Rashtra is nothing but ‘State’ (and not nation as is the RSS’ position). Dr. Elst argues that taken in this sense, Hindu Rashtra then becomes a more tangible and achievable goal as every nationalist movement aims to establish a State for the nation.

Talking about Deendayal Upadhya’s conception of Integral Humanism, Dr. Elst says that while there has been excessive emphasis on territoriality, Integral Humanism forms the other end of the spectrum i.e., the conceptualisation of a Hindu political vision as per universalistic terms. But in any case, none of these conceptions which deviate from what was originally put forward by Swami Vivekananda or Sri Aurobindo accommodate the deeper civilisational concerns.

Refusal to Acknowledge Hindus as Victims

In his chapter on specific Hindu grievances, the first of many grievances he alludes to is that Hindus are being killed. And that Hindus are victims of targeted violence, is either not acknowledged in public discourse or is dismissed as fictitious. The reader will notice that with the recent post-poll violence in West Bengal and targeted political killings, not much has changed in this regard. In fact, it has probably become worse. Hindus in Bengal were not just killed but were victims of the complete absence of the Rule of Law as the state machinery stood by and did nothing. Having said that, it should be noted that while Dr. Elst mourns the near-total absence of legitimacy attributed to Hindu victimization in mainstream media, such is not the case today. RepublicWorld, Times Now and ZeeNews are a few media outlets that come to mind which reported on the violent developments in Bengal. There are also growing, exclusively Centre-Right news portals like Swarajya which proved to be a platform for shaping public discourse around the issue. Furthermore, a vocal Hindu social media user base which Dr. Elst could not have accounted for given that the book was written in 2001 when social media was not yet a thriving space for political and public opinion, did a decent job of keeping the momentum alive, howsoever short-lived it may have been. Civil society too did not shy away from pursuing justice for the Hindu victims by taking legal recourse which resulted in the Calcutta High Court’s order, constituting an SIT and cases of murder and rape being handed over to the CBI. These developments at least allow the Hindu victims to stand vindicated though it has to be seen if their trust in the State’s democratic institutions will be restored.

Sangh Parivar’s Anti-Intellectualism

Finally, Dr. Elst reserved his most honest and pointed criticism for the Sangh’s anti-intellectualism. The Sangh’s success in organizing and mobilizing the masses and cultivating a large cadre of on-ground volunteers dwarfs in its efforts to organize and mobilize public opinion. The lack of a sustained effort to produce literature and nurture the culture of thinking (through a dedicated think-tank or otherwise) has been one of the reasons for the Hindu revivalist movement remaining largely underdeveloped, he says. This becomes embarrassingly obvious when one compares it to its Marxist counterparts. Such a comparison is merited even today if the overwhelming support for “Dismantling Global Hindutva” and the lack of an organized counterattack from within and outside the Sangh Parivar, is anything to go by. However, it must be conceded that the “Dismantling Global Islamic Communist Jihad” conference organized by BJP leader Kapil Mishra’s Hindu Ecosystem was a pleasant surprise and hopefully the start to persistent efforts at shaping discourse.

Dr. Elst explains how this consistently anti-intellectual stand has had serious consequences – be it living on borrowed categories and becoming a prisoner of those categories (such as the word ‘secularism’ and the BJP’s weak defence of its ‘positive secularism’ by going out of its way to not seem anti-minority) or its inability to make a solid historical Hindu case for reclaiming Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya.

In conclusion, this book serves as the perfect guide for anyone who wants to articulate their thoughts and arguments on Hindutva better. In addition to elaborating on the ideas and concepts which are specific to understanding Hindutva, Dr. Elst also dedicates enough space in his book to clarifying ordinary terms whose meaning is distorted, making it problematic to even use in the context of Hindutva. Hence, his glossary of terms such as fundamentalism, communalism, secularism, traditionalism etc. establishes a good understanding of the basics for the reader who can then use it to navigate his thoughts on the topic better.

But what truly adds weight to Dr. Elst’s work is the fact that he lets the primary sources speak for themselves, without imputing any motives to them. In his doing so, he not only approaches the study with objectivity but also demonstrates commendable scholarship – one that is unmatched in its deftness at handling subjects that are grossly misunderstood.