This second view has a very specific idea of the territory of India. It originates from the beliefs of independence activist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. An atheist and a staunch rationalist, ironically, Savarkar had, in the early years of the twentieth century, coined the term ‘Hindutva’. The term, he believed, referred to a collective Hindu identity as an imagined nation. For Savarkar, a Hindu is one who inhabits the land ‘from the Indus to the seas’. India, for him, was the ‘matribhoomi’ or motherland, ‘pitribhoomi’ or fatherland, and also the ‘punyabhoomi’ or Hindu holy land, whose sanctity is established by the rivers and mountains where pilgrims worship their gods. Therein lies Savarkar’s distinction between Hindus on the one hand, and Muslims and Christians on the other: ‘For though Hindustan to them is (pitribhoomi) fatherland as to any other Hindu, yet it is not to them a (punyabhoomi) holy land too. Their holy land is far away.’7 Thus, the notion of nationalism came to be associated with the boundaries of an imagined ancient territory having a homogeneous Hindutva identity.
The form of nationalism propounded by Savarkar was developed further in free India. The Hindu right-wing organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), took forward Savarkar’s vision of reinstating an imagined nation made up of those whose punyabhoomi it is. The RSS strengthened its presence and established an annual event—to be held on 14 August and called the Akhand Bharat Sankalp Diwas—for the formation of a reunited India. The event brought local people into the folds of their beliefs.8 In 1966, the second RSS chief, M.S. Golwalkar, wrote in his book Bunch of Thoughts:
Our epics and our Puranas also present us with the same expansive image of our motherland. Afghanistan was our ancient Upaganasthan. The modern Kabul and Kandahar were Gandhar. Even Iran was originally Aryan. Its previous king . . . was guided more by Aryan values than by Islam. The Zend-Avesta, the holy scripture of Parsis, is mostly the Atharva Veda. Coming to the east, Burma is our ancient Brahmadesha. The Mahabharata refers to Iraavat as being involved in that great war . . . In the south, Lanka has had the closest links and was never considered as different from the mainland.9
This view of nationalism refers to the greatness of India in another era and, indeed, another territorial boundary. Led by the right-wing political class, it unearths, strengthens and brings back many ancient Indian traditions and practices to contemporary times. While I find nothing wrong with a revivalist approach, its efficacy and legitimacy in a liberal environment depends on how these ancient traditions are presented and offered to ordinary citizens.
For instance, in 2014, the prime minister of India, at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, proposed the establishment of an International Day of Yoga. Whatever an ‘International Day of Yoga’ meant, the proposal was dealt with in a democratic manner at the UNGA. It was discussed over several rounds of informal consultations convened by an assertive Indian delegation, and in the following year, 2015, the UNGA designated 21 June as the annual International Yoga Day.
Thereafter, in India, citizens woke up to messages sent by the ‘Ministry of AYUSH’, asking them to practise yoga. This new Ministry of AYUSH was created in 2014 by the government that had come to power at the centre that year. It was the same government that had established, via a democratic process, the International Yoga Day at the UNGA. The endeavour of this ministry was to promote Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy, for which AYUSH is the acronym. Here is a sample of the messages from the government asking me to practise yoga, which I received on my cellular phone in New Delhi:
18 June 2015, 6.17 a.m.
Practice Yoga: It works on the body, mind, emotions and energy. Live life to its full potential. Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
19 June 2015, 3.04 a.m.
Practice Yoga: It can make you feel active, energetic and positive. Live life to its full potential. Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
20 June 2015, 3.04 a.m.
Rejuvenate with Yoga: It enriches the consciousness and makes one alert, aware and active. Live life to its full potential. Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
21 June 2015, 3.05 a.m.
Rejuvenate with Yoga: It helps to achieve control over the mind and flexibility of the body. Live life to its full potential. Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
Firstly, I considered it a breach of my privacy. I had not provided my private cellular phone number to the government, so how did the government procure it and find it appropriate to send me messages in the wee hours of the morning? Second, signing off as the ‘Government of India’ makes any message seem obligatory. The message did not specify or provide a disclaimer that this was a suggestion, and that I could use my discretion to do or not to do yoga. Third, the entire drive—via phone messages, political speeches, and the prime minister himself performing yoga at a public event—to make yoga compulsory made me uncomfortable. I practise meditation and do various forms of fitness activities every day. However, I am uneasy if yoga or any other form of wellness is foisted upon me, as if it were a badge of my nationalism.
Let us take another example. There has been a recent emphasis by several Indian government officials on the ‘saffronization’ of education.10 This has often meant recalling and glorifying11 ancient Hindu cultural history in the education curriculum of our children, raising a storm of malaise and anxiety among parents who would like their children to get a more contemporary and balanced education.
This anxiety, aggravated by the overall low level of trust in public institutions in India,12 led citizens to suspect the
