Soliloquy

The Republic of Hindutva, for better or worse, is an academic text which showcases the intrigues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as well as its sister organisations (known collectively as the Sangh Parivaar) in Indian politics and how it came about to scheming for its political wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in every election since Narendra Modi became its face. 

Author Badri Narayan gives deep insights into how well the association is organised, and how one often gets confused with religious extremism that it gets a bad rep for.

The RSS, contrary to popular belief, remains an organisation hell-bent on strengthening the sentiment of Hindutva at the grassroots and Narayan has significant proof to show why it does not encourage communal tensions or stoke collaborative fires anymore. 

The Congress, or any party that remains on tenterhooks with the BJP, says Narayan, is fighting with an idea of the RSS which has grown old whereas the said organisation has reinvented itself after the foray of social media and the BJP’s immense power in public relations.

For someone like me- with left-of-centre tendencies- the book is a surprisingly smooth read. A lot of the misconceptions I had about the RSS being a militant organisation with proclivities to instigate anxieties between communities got dispelled and a message of a lot of the social work undertaken by its pracharaks (volunteers) to uplift poverty got across. 

The RSS continues to be an organisation that persists in dividing popular opinion (including mine), but the role it has played in forming successive BJP governments at the centre since 2014 cannot be neglected. This is, in essence, what the book conveys.

Despite Narayan’s fieldwork and research being exceptional, the phrasing used is arid and quite dry at times. This explains why I had to deduct two stars from it. I would recommend it more to an academic although a casual student of Indian politics will also be able to make good use of it.

Rating: 3/5

If you like my work, please visit my website to get in touch with more of my writing. You can follow me on Twitter as well. Also, sign up for the newsletter to get regular updates coming your way. Would love to get in touch with you!