Christendom and Hindutva

Abstract

The Council of Nicaea took place at Constantine's initiative to harmonize religious belief and law into a state-subscribed orthodoxy. From a socio-political viewpoint, the council appeared to use a standardized version of Christianity as an instrument of the empire. The focus in this paper is not on Constantine's initiative or its impact on the non-conforming minorities; rather, it uses this impact as a lens for reviewing an emerging Hindu empire in India. For much of its independent history, India was largely successful in keeping Hindutva's 19th-century undercurrents at bay from polity. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, exposed the shallowness of the Indian experiment with secularism. As Hindutva embraces politics, it also exercises social control. In this sense, Hindutva is no different from Christendom, especially when viewed from the perspective of the impact it has on the minorities: a new act on citizenship, dissent-violence, and reconversions. What this shows is that colonial despotism continues even today.