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Within the reform movements, the Brahmo Samaj

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and Ramakrishna Mission accepted and assimilated

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many Western ideals. Gandhi, though in many ways

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traditional, was also amenable to Western

influence. The Arya Samaj, however, rejected and
opposed Westernisation and modernisation, and
sought to reclaim those who had converted to other
faiths. Thus they planted the seeds for Hindu
nationalism.

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K. V. Hedgewar, founder of the still influential RSS

The Hindu Mahasabha and the BJP

In 1909, Mohan Malaviha and other leading Arya Samajists founded the Hindu Mahasabha, the
Great Hindu Assembly, to give Hindus a political voice apparently denied to them by Congress.
The Mahasabha declared "Hindustan" as the land of the Hindus and demanded the right to
govern themselves according to Hindu law. After the partition of India in 1947, it championed its
reunification, expressed through the term Akhand Bharat, "Undivided India." Its greatest
advocate was Vir Savarkar (18831966) who coined the word "Hindutva" (Hindu-ness) to refer
to the sociocultural aspects of Hindu India differentiating them from "Hindu dharma," the religion
itself.

Famous Women within

The Hindu Mahasabha demonstrated a pro-Hindu leaning that only increased with partition in

Hinduism

1947. After the creation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and the reported violent eviction of

Hinduism in Britain Today

many Hindus, the Jana Sangha (People's Party of India) was formed with a strong pro-Hindu

Extras

bias. In 1980, a number of its splinter groups came together to form the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), which became a predominant political force in India. Some reports at the time suggested
that it played a major role in the upsurge of popular feelings that sparked the destruction of the
Babhri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992. It has repeatedly utilised the religious theme of Ramarajya, the ideal rule of Lord Rama as narrated in the Ramayana and advocated by Gandhi.

The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha)

Many members of the BJP are also closely connected to the RSS The Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangha ("National Self Help Association"). It was founded in 1925 by K. V.
Hedgewar, a long-serving member of the Hindu Mahasabha. He was succeeded by M.S.
Golakwar who declared that the Hindu nation had a divine mandate to re-spiritualise the world
through the agency of the RSS. Today, it has grown into perhaps the most powerful Hindu
organisation. It now claims a membership of over five million and declares its aims cultural
rather than political.

The VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad)

The Vishva Hindu Parishad, "Hindu World Council," was founded in 1964 by Swami
Chinmayananda in conjunction with other religious leaders. Its organisational structure was

determined in 1982 in Delhi, now home to its headquarters. The VHP aims to reawaken Hindu
consciousness and to promote co-operation between Hindus throughout the world. It
propounds a kind of universal Hinduism drawing extensively on the teachings of Vivekananda.
It is ideologically conservative but in practice quite progressive. Its writers often attempt to show
that Hindu thought is entirely consistent with modern technology and science, and even
predated them. The VHP, through its numerous initiatives worldwide, continues to have major
influence on the emerging identity of post-modern Hinduism.
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