Hindu-nationalist philosophy that holds minorities in India, notably Muslims and Christians, should accept Hindu culture as pre-eminent. It runs against India's secular constitution but underpins the RSS and its large family of affiliated organisations, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Hindutva has seeped into public life; even politicians who oppose the BJP see advantage in portraying themselves as committed Hindus. Some long-prized objectives of the movement have been achieved, such as the deeply divisive construction of a temple on the ruins of a destroyed mosque in Ayodhya (approved by India's Supreme Court). Many Muslims live, in practice, as second-class citizens.
Fourteen of India's 28 states have passed anti-conversion laws since 2017, all under BJP-led governments. These laws punish "allurement" to convert, require months of advance notice and public registration, and invite third-party objections. The movement behind them is known as ghar wapsi ("homecoming")—the idea that because the ancestors of converts were originally Hindu, conversion to "foreign" religions like Islam or Christianity denies their "real" Indian identity. A return to Hinduism is not classified as conversion at all. A related trope is "love jihad", a conspiracy theory alleging that Muslim men systematically lure Hindu women into marriage to convert them to Islam. Chhattisgarh's 2026 law carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for "mass or forced conversions". India's Supreme Court is considering whether these laws flout constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of conscience.
Surprise due today. Also the rent.