26 "Presenting" the Past
establish rapport with this cultural stream to be part of the Indian culture.
The Gandhian universalists, on the other hand, would contend that reli-
gion, for non-Hindus, is predominantly a way of worship and not a way
of life. Furthermore, Hinduism is also a way of worship, with dogmas,
rituals, and supernatural beliefs. When Buddhism and Jainism challenged
the authority of the Vedas and the Vedic rituals, there occurred the differ-
ence between Hindu religion and Indian culture representing respectively
the Vedic doctrine and the secular aspect of life that all religions in India
accepted as their own and contributed to. So a Muslim does not have to
look at the Hindu mythologies exactly as a Hindu would.
Hindutva nationalism is a careful mixture of both the derivative dis-
course and the appropriation of indigenous factors. The thoughts and
activities of Swami Shraddhananda (1856-1926), Madan Mohan Malaviya
(1861-1946), Bhai Paramanand, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966),
Har Dayal (1884-1933), Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889-1940), Shyama
Prasad Mookerjee (1901-1953), M.S. Golwalkar (1906-1973), and others
contributed to Hindu revivalism. Nationalism for the Hindu revivalists
was a vehicle for the crystallization of the cultural ascendancy of Hindu-
ism, and the political and economic policies of the nation were envisaged
with reference to the Hindu philosophy. The non-Hindu communities
would not be given any preferential treatment in anything. Nor would
there be a call for the abolition or reform of the oppressive caste system. To
the contrary, the restoration of the Vedic principles demanded a purified
value system. On the economic front, the state would be fiscally strong,
but it should not interfere in economic life. There was a disinclination to
take a critical and radical attitude on the issue of property or land rights.
As opposed to the individualistic, rational, and material trends of the
West, the Hindu revivalists believed in traditional, organic, and associative
outlook. Though bent upon reviving the old scriptures, they offered a sci-
entific interpretation of their teachings. They were not opposed to science,
and in fact they traced the germs of modern science back to their old books.
They were not averse to progress, but wanted that to happen in conformity
with the religious teachings. This Hindu ideology had a romantic longing
for the spirit of the past. With Savarkar's publication of Hindutva in 1923
and Golwaikar's assuming the leadership of the RSS in 1940 came a more
coherent ideology and leadership for the Hindu revivalism.
Then there was Muslim nationalism and nationalists such as Syed
Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), and
Muhammad Ali (1878-1931), who started off as nationalists and later fluc-
tuated in response to the demands of communal politics. Khan claimed
that "our land of India is like a newly wedded bride whose two beau-
tiful and luscious eyes are the Hindus and the Musalmans," and their
mutual concord would determine if the bride would remain resplendent,
or squinted and partially blind. However, he became suspicious of the