ABSTRACT
It is widely acknowledged that the presence and power of the Hindu-right are here to stay in contemporary India. Even in Northeast India, often viewed as a recalcitrant periphery from the gaze of the Indian state, the diffusion of the Hindu-right ideology has found fertile ground. Their activities are not only limited to party politics – with many of the Northeastern states now under the political orbit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – but their presence is also in cultural and social spheres, where once the distinctness of one’s identity was proudly asserted and now appears increasingly compromised. What are the implications and challenges and indeed what are Hindutva futures in this vastly complex and tempestuous region called the ‘Northeast’? This entry takes a programmatic approach to understanding the activities of the Hindu-right. In doing so, it explores how one might examine the overarching ideas of their ideology.
