ABSTRACT
Migrant communities often hold on to their religious moorings as they relocate to new regions, countries or settings. Migration may even increase the importance of religion in the lives of migrants because religion offers a powerful vehicle for the preservation of self-identity challenged by the turbulence inherent in the experience of migration (Bauman and Saunders 2009). In the context of Denmark, an emerging Indian diaspora consciously began, from the early 1970s onwards, to re-embed and practise what they saw as key aspects of Hinduism. While Hindu religious activities during the 1970s were often conducted irregularly and in premises rented on an hourly basis, the 1980s witnessed an increasing consolidation of activities centred on the Danish wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The VHP is a key organisation in the Hindu nationalist movement promoting Hinduism the Hindutva way. Indeed, Hindutva, or ‘Hinduness’, is the core idea behind the VHP’s ideology. Hindutva denotes a distinct Hindu cultural identity, inheritance and essence, and a love of the holy motherland Bharat, or India. According to the VHP, Hindutva is the heart of the Hindu nation, in which ‘alien’ non-Hindu Indians like Christians and Muslims can never be equal members. Instead such culturally ‘threatening’ minorities should be compelled to live under the prescription that India is primarily to be a strong ‘Hindu nation’ to which they must practically demonstrate unconditional obeisance. Hindutva and Hindu nationalism have repeatedly led to widespread and highly organised violence against Muslim and Christian minorities in India (Hansen 1999, Brown 2006: 164–6, Bhatt and Mukta 2000: 408). Hindutva has similarly attracted the support of many Indians outside the subcontinent, particularly in the West. In this chapter we trace the emergence, consolidation and decline of Hindutva in Denmark from the mid-1980s to today.
