Ideological and Structural Transformation of the Hindu Nationalist Organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the end of the XX and the beginning of XXI centuries

Abstract

The article examines the ideology of Hindu nationalism in the domestic politics of modern India through the prism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh socio-political activities. The author determines the relations of the organization with its branches and mechanisms for regulating internal conflicts between them. The purpose of the article is to consider and analyze the ideological and structural transformation of the organization at the end of the XX and the beginning of XXI centuries, in particular, the strategy for the inclusion of Indian Muslims in the Hindu nationalist mainstream. The article uses descriptive, historical-genetic, chronological, comparative and structural-functional methods. The author analyses the development of Hindutva ideology in the works of V. D. Savarkar and M. S. Golvalkar; the campaigns for the rapprochement of the Hindu and Muslim communities conducted by the organization and its branches, as well as the structural and ideological transformations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Sangh Parivar. The article pays particular attention to the attitude of Hindutva ideologues towards minorities, specifically Indian Muslims. At the end of the XX century significant political and economic changes in India contributed to the complication of Indian society, which affected both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Sangh Parivar’s membership and ideological orientation. New branches have emerged to defend the interests of groups that were not previously in the orbit of the organization’s interests. At the same time, the successes of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main political asset of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the desire to consolidate them prompted the search for additional electoral support from the Muslim part of the country’s population. The changes demonstrate the organization’s willingness to change both structurally and ideologically in order to gain mass support in changing India. However, despite the changes, some bias towards Indian Muslims and concerns about inclusion of new Muslim branches remain.