From Holy Sites to Web Sites: Hindu Nationalism, from Sacred Territory to Diasporic Ethnicity
Abstract
There is apparently a contradiction between the Hindu nationalists’ deep attachment to the national territory that they look as a sacred land (punyabhoomi) and their transnational agenda that has resulted in the development of a dense network of affiliates across the globe. This contradiction finds its explanation in the ethno-religious conception of the nation that the Hindutva movement is cultivating since its inception in the 1920s. Not only do the borders of the Hindu territory not coincide with that of the Indian state because Hindu sacred sites are located in neighboring countries like Nepal, but also Hindus of the diaspora are seen as members of the national community, even if they are not citizens of India. This chapter will focus on the specificities of the ethno-religious nationalist discourse of the Hindutva forces as well as on the techniques it has deployed to relate to the Hindu diaspora in the West as well as in other regions of the world.