Hindutva Watch

In a recent incident, Johirul Islam, a 30-year-old man, was illegally apprehended from his house by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and was...

NIA charges 68 Muslim activists for ‘conspiracy to establish Islamic rule by 2047’ (Maktoob)

Hindutva in Executive March 18, 2023

The NIA has charged 68 former leaders of the Popular Front of India in two separate cases in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The chargesheets, which...

Christians

Conversion Racket Or Targeted Violence? Christians Living In Fears Of Persecution (Outlook)

March 14, 2023

Additional charges keep pastor in jail in India (The Alabama Baptist)

Christians March 13, 2023

By Leigh Pritchett FATEHPUR, India — A pastor in India was granted bail in January, but his jail time has been extended because Hindu extremists...

114-Year-Old Christian Hospital In Uttar Pradesh Faces Harassment ( India Tomorrow)

Christians March 11, 2023

Fatehpur: A Christian hospital that has served a northern Indian city for more than a century faces closure after it became a victim of religious...

Dalits/Tribals

Uttar Pradesh: Dalit Woman Mercilessly Thrashed With Sticks in Bahraich, Two Arrested After Video Goes Viral ( Latestly )

March 6, 2023

Karnataka: Dalit homes set on fire for dancing in procession ( Sabrang )

Dalits/Tribals March 6, 2023

A shocking incident of caste discrimination was reported from Karnataka on Sunday where two homes belonging to Dalit were set ablaze by villagers as...

Gujarat HC upholds acquittal of 8 accused in ‘attack’ on Dalit RTI activist ( Indian Express )

Dalits/Tribals March 6, 2023

The Gujarat High Court on Monday dismissed appeals against the acquittal of eight people who had allegedly attacked a Dalit RTI activist from Bhavnagar,...

Institutionalising Hindutva

Hindutva in Legislative

Bhiwani Horror: Does Haryana Cow Slaughter Law Have Role to Play in the Killings? ( News Click )

February 23, 2023

Hindutva in Executive

UP: Govt Funds for Hindu Festivals Is the Latest Attempt by the BJP to Politicise Religion (The Wire)

March 19, 2023

Hindutva in Judiciary

Supreme Court orders removal of mosque from Allahabad High Court premises in three months (The Tribune)

March 13, 2023

Hindutva in media

Hindusthan Samachar will be one of ‘multiple sources’ of news for Prasar Bharati, I&B ministry tells Rajya Sabha (News Laundry)

March 17, 2023

Hindutva in Education

India’s academic freedom declined strongly since Modi became PM: Report ( Maktoob Media )

March 3, 2023

Hindutva Abroad

‘Overseas Friends of BJP’ activist, who received Modi in Australia, arrested on rape charges ( TELANGANA TODAY)

March 17, 2023

TIMELINE

Hindutva Timeline1

December 9, 2022

BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena introduced a private member’s Bill in Rajya Sabha, seeking the constitution of a committee to prepare and implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). This is being done to revoke Muslim personal law.

December 8, 2022

BJP returns to power in Gujarat with a thumping majority of 156 seats. The BJP fought elections on a communal and divisive Hindutva agenda.

November 9, 2022

District magistrates of 31 districts and the home secretaries of nine states given powers to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians coming to the country from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

October 29, 2022

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced the formation of a committee to implement a uniform civil code (UCC) in the state

October 13, 2022

India’s Supreme Court failed to deliver a verdict on whether Muslim students can wear the hijab in schools and colleges, with two judges expressing opposing views. One judge upheld a Karnataka high court order from March 2022 that said the hijab was not “essential” to Islam.

September 2022

Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS) pledges to expand its ‘Shakha’ base to 100,000 by 2025 to coincide with its centenary. The RSS currently has around 60,000 Shakhas across the country.

August 15, 2022

Gujarat government with approval from the Union Home Ministry, approved the premature release of 11 Hindu extremists who were convicted for the gangrape of a pregnant Muslim woman Bilkis Bano and murder of 14 members of her family, including her 3 year-old daughter, during 2002 Gujarat pogrom.

June 27, 2022

Journalist and independent fact-checker Mohammad Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after a complaint by a social media user with regard to a tweet from 2018. On 20 July 2022, the Supreme Court of India granted him interim bail.

June 25, 2022

Activist Teesta Setalvad who campaigned for decades to hold Hindu nationalists accountable for their role 2002 Gujarat pogrom arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) over allegations of fabricating evidence against PM Narendra Modi’s role in the pogrom.

June 24, 2022

Indian Supreme Court rejects Zakia Jafri’s appeal against the exoneration of then-state Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom.

June 12, 2022

Young Muslim activist Afreen Fatima’s house was illegally demolished by the Uttar Pradesh government after her father was arrested by the police over allegations that he ‘masterminded’ protests over anti-Islam remarks.

June 10, 2022

Two Muslim teenagers were killed by police in Ranchi, Jharkhand during a protest against BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammed.

April 2022

The month was marked by brutal violence against Muslim families, homes, and places of worship in at least 8 Indian states. In Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, one Muslim man was murdered by the Hindu extremists. Across BJP-ruled states, the local authorities arrested Muslims and later illegally demolished their houses over the allegations of participating in violence.

January 12, 2022

Gregory Stanton, the founder and director of US-based NGO Genocide Watch issues a Genocide Alert for India’s 200 million Muslims.

November 29, 2021

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum predicted that India is the second-most likely, of all countries in the world, to witness mass killings soon. The project said that there is 14.4% chance of a mass killing beginning in India in 2021 or 2022.

October 2021

Between October 20-30, the members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) in Tripura took multiple rallies across the state and attacked Muslim homes, shops, and places of worship.

August 2021

Gregory Stanton, the founder, and director of US-based NGO Genocide Watch, who has modelled 10 Stages of Genocide, put India on the 8th stage, i.e. persecution of a community. The remaining two stages are extermination and denial.

March 24, 2022:

BJP ruled Uttarakhand becomes first state in India to announce implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The move is an attempt to target Muslim personal laws.

March 15, 2022

A high court in India’s Karnataka state while upholding Hijab ban ruled that the hijab is not “essential” to Islam. The ruling will have implications across the country.

March 10, 2022

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins state elections in four Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur, renewing fears of an escalation in the anti-minority persecution.

January 2022

In India’s Karnataka state, Muslim female students who wear hijab were banned from schools and colleges after the BJP ruled state government issued an order putting a blanket ban on wearing Muslim religious clothing. Later, the state High Court also issued an interim order banning Hijab in schools and campuses.

December 17, 2021

Between December 17 and 19, a large number of Hindu monks came together at Haridwar, Uttarakhand for an event called the ‘Dharma Sansad’ or ‘Religious Parliament’, where they gave the call for an anti-Muslim genocide and killing 2 million Muslims.

28 May 2021

BJP government allows Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians, and Buddhists from neighboring countries who are residing in 13 districts of India to apply for citizenship

12 December 2019

Citizenship Amendment Act comes into existence, opening a path for discrimination against Muslims, triggering massive violence across the NorthEast

09 November 2019

Supreme Court of India hands the Babri Masjid site to Hindus despite acknowledging that demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 was a crime, as was its defiling by forcibly installing a Hindu idol there in 1949

05 August 2019

Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution that provided a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir revoked, fulfilling a long-standing demand of the RSS-BJP

20 June 2019

Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had exposed Narendra Modi’s complicity in the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a fabricated case of custodial killing. The judges refused to allow Bhatt to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, nor allowed the defense to bring any witnesses

23 May 2019

Narendra Modi wins his second term

26 May 2014

Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister of India

May 2004

Vajpayee loses Lok Sabha election; Manmohan Singh becomes prime minister

September 2002

Narendra Modi becomes the chief minister of Gujarat

February-March 2002

At least 2,000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat in a pogrom carried out by RSS-BJP-VHP affiliated mobs after Modi blames Muslims in Godhra for a train fire that killed 59 passengers, including Kar Sevaks returning from Ayodhya

23 January 1999

Bajrang Dal militants burned alive Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons while they were sleeping in their car.

16 February 1998

BJP emerges as the single largest party in Lok Sabha election again, with its highest-ever 182 seats. Vajpayee forms a coalition government with a majority

27 April 1996

For the first-ever time, BJP emerges as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha election-winning 161 seats. Vajpayee becomes prime minster but resigns after 13 days as he fails to get a majority

6 December 1992

RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal vigilantes raze Babri Masjid to the ground. BJP leaders including Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti are booked for making communal speeches leading to the demolition

June 1991

Congress emerges as the single largest party in Lok Sabha election, BJP reaches three-figure for the first time with 120 Lok Sabha seats

1991

Durga Vahini an “arm” of the Bajrang Dal, is founded under Sadhvi Rithambara, a self-styled female monk who had emerged as a principal rabble-rouser against the Babri Masjid

10 November 1990

BJP emerges as the third-highest party in Lok Sabha election with 85 seats; lends outside support to Vishwanath Pratap Singh who replaces Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister

30 October / 2 November 1990

16 Kar Sevaks are killed in police firing after they attack Babri Masjid

23 October 1990

Then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav’s government arrests Advani and stops Rath Yatra

25 September 1990

Then BJP President Advani launches a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in favor of the Ram temple

2 December 1989

BJP withdraws support from central government leading to VP Singh’s resignation

9 November 1989

VHP lays the foundation of a Ram temple on land next to the Babri Masjid following permission from then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government

February 1986

Faizabad District Judge Hari Shankar Pandey orders unlocking of the Babri Masjid and allows worship by Hindus

1984

VHP launches its movement to claim Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid as the birthplace of Lord Ram

1984

Bajrang Dal is founded as a youth wing and vigilante outfit for cultural indoctrination

December 1984

BJP is decimated winning only two seats in Lok Sabha election that were called by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi after the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. Congress under Rajiv wins 400 plus seats

1983

VHP organizes “ekatmata yatra” with the purpose of forging “Hindu unity” against Islam and Christianity

January 1980

Janata Party wins only 31 seats which include RSS/former BJS MPs, as Indira Gandhi wins a landslide in Lok Sabha elections and returns as prime minister

6 April 1980

Bharatiya Janata Party is formed by RSS/former BJS members splitting from Janata Party on the issue of dual membership

1979

Janata Party breaks apart after former BJS leaders such as Vajpayee and Advani refuse to disavow their connections with the RSS. Charan Singh becomes prime minister with outside support from Indira Gandhi’s Congress party but his government collapses after 24 weeks as Indira Gandhi withdraws support.

23 March 1977

Janata Party wins the Lok Sabha elections in a landslide with RSS/former BJS leaders winning the largest number of seats at 93 of all constituents of Janata Party. Morarji Desai is named prime minister for the first time. RSS/former BJS members Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani become national ministers.

23 January 1977

Janata Party is formed as Bharatiya Jana Sangh merges into it after Indira Gandhi calls Lok Sabha election

1975-77

RSS chief Deoras writes an apology to Indira Gandhi from prison. Atal Behari Vajpayee is allowed on parole after reportedly promising good behavior

25 June 1975

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights; many opposition leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan and other from the RSS-BJS were arrested

1974

Jayaprakash Narayan brings Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) into his mass movement, bringing legitimacy to RSS for the first time since Gandhi’s assassination

1974

Jayaprakash Narayan forms Lok Sangharsh Samiti as the platform leading his mass movement against Indira Gandhi and names RSS’s Nanaji Deshmukh as his successor if he is arrested

1974

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights. Many opposition leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan and others from the RSS-BJS were arrested

5 June 1973

Golwalkar passes away at Nagpur. Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras becomes RSS’s third Sarsanghchalak (Supreme leader)

26 February 1966

Savarkar passes away

1964

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is founded by Golwalkar in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda as president

21 October 1951

Bharatiya Jana Sangh is formed with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as president

November 1949

RSS mouthpiece Organizer criticizes Indian Constitution writing: “…In our constitution, there is no mention of that unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”

July 1949

Ban on RSS is lifted after Golwalkar promised then Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel that RSS would have a written constitution, forego politics and “remain devoted purely to cultural work”, and respect the Indian tricolor

10 February 1949

Savarkar is acquitted of charge of conspiracy in Gandhi’s assassination

December 1948

Golwalkar is arrested after RSS announces a movement against its ban

5 February 1948

Savarkar is arrested and charged with conspiracy for Gandhi’s assassination

4 February 1948

Indian government bans RSS. Its ban notification says that RSS was carrying out “undesirable and even dangerous activities” and that RSS members had “indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunition. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military. These activities have been carried on under a cloak of secrecy …”

30 January 1948

Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a former RSS member

15 August 1947

India is partitioned and India and Pakistan become free nations

14 August 1947

RSS mouthpiece Organizer rejects Indian tricolor saying the tricolor will “never be respected and owned by Hindus… a flag having three colors will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.”

1943

Hindu Mahasabha joins hands with Muslim League to form a government in NWFP.

1942

Hindu Mahasabha boycotts Quit India. Savarkar writes a memo, “Stick to your posts,” saying Mahasabha members who were “members of municipalities, local bodies, legislatures or those serving in the army to stick to their posts” and not join Quit India Movement.

1941

With Savarkar’s approval, Hindu Mahasabha joins the Krishak Praja Party-led Progressive Coalition ministry of Fazlul Haq in Bengal

21 June 1940

Hedgewar passes away; M. S. Golwalkar becomes RSS’s second Sarsanghchalak or supreme leader.

1940

Savarkar declares open support for Hitler’s treatment of the Jews at the Hindu Mahasabha annual conference, saying: “There is no reason to suppose that Hitler must be a human monster because he passes off as a Nazi or Churchill is a demi-God because he calls himself a Democrat. Nazism proved undeniably the saviour of Germany under the set of circumstances Germany was placed in.”

1939

M. S. Golwalkar publishes “We or our nationhood defined”. In it, he writes: “To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races — the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.”

1935

Moonje establishes Central Hindu Military Education Society at Nashik claiming its “training is meant for qualifying and fitting our boys for the game of killing masses of men with the ambition of winning victory with the best possible causalities of dead and wounded while causing the utmost possible to the adversary”

1934

All India Congress Committee passes a resolution forbidding Congress members from becoming members of the RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, and Muslim League

1934

Moonje and Hedgewar discuss plan to militarize Hindus along Italian and German lines. Moonje tells Hedgewar: “This ideal cannot be brought to effect unless we have our own swaraj with a Hindu as a dictator like Shivaji of old or Mussolini or Hitler of the present day in Italy or Germany… But this does not mean that we have to sit with folded hands until some such dictator arises in India. We should formulate a scientific scheme and carry on propaganda for it.”

1931

Hindu Mahasabha leader Balakrishna Shivram Moonje tells fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini that he is impressed with his fascist youth organization that indoctrinated boys as young as six-years-old

1930

Hindu Mahasabha decides to not join Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement

1929

Hedgewar writes to RSS shakhas to worship the bhagwa (saffron) as the national flag, following a resolution by Indian National Congress that called upon Indians to observe January 26, 1930 as Independence Day by displaying and honoring the Tricolor

1928

Savarkar’s pamphlet is reprinted as “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?”

1925

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is formed by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar

1924

Malaviya defends organized conversions of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism calling it “reconversion”

1923

At Mahasabha’s annual session at Varanasi, Madan Mohan Malaviya claims the population of Hindus was decreasing, saying, “if Hindus cease to exist, who will protect the sacred thread (janeu), religion, Vedas, Puranas, cows and Brahmins?”

1923

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar writes “Essentials of Hindutva”, an ideological pamphlet that argues against Hindu-Muslim compatibility and says India belongs to Hindus

1921

Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha changes name to Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha

1915

Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha is formed at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and Madan Mohan Malaviya is named president; Malaviya emphasizes Hindu solidarity and social reform

1909

Punjab Hindu Sabha, the forerunner to Hindu Mahasabha, is founded. It claims its objective is safeguarding the interests of Hindu community

Weaponizing Citizenship

Inside India’s largest detention centre: ‘It is better to die than live with no hope’ (Scroll)

March 7, 2023

Centre confusing people in name of CAA: Mamata ( Muslim Mirror )

January 31, 2023

Detention centers can never be a legitimate state response to migration and no human being is illegal: Public statement ( Maktoob Media )

January 31, 2023

Foreigners’ Transit Camp In Assam Receives First Batch Of 68 Detainees ( NDTV )

January 28, 2023

BJP wants delimitation, CAA, 1951 cut off date for foreigners: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ( The Economic Times )

January 22, 2023

Three years since anti-CAA protests: Law and lawlessness ( Indian Express )

January 21, 2023

Kashmir

March 19, 2023

Kashmir

‘Bulldozer politics’: Modi’s demolition drive fuels Muslims’ fears in Kashmir (The Guardian)

By Aakash Hassan and Hannah Ellis-Petersen Suhail Ahmad Shah stood despairingly before the wreckage that for two decades had been his livelihood. Just hours before, he...

March 16, 2023

Kashmir

Gandhi Peace Foundation told to cancel Kashmir meet (The Telegraph)

By Pheroze L. Vincent Delhi police on Wednesday made the Gandhi Peace Foundation cancel a meeting on the crackdown on the media in Kashmir, days...

March 13, 2023

Kashmir

At A Time Of Economic Distress, J&K Land Eviction Drive Imperils Livelihoods (Article 14)

By AUQIB JAVEED Srinagar: On 4 February 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir administration seized a four-storey commercial building owned by Shuaib Wani in the Rampora,...

March 8, 2023

Kashmir

Kashmir letters cast doubt on claims Nehru blundered by agreeing ceasefire (The Guardian)

By Anisha Dutta India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was urged by his most senior general to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan in 1948, the Guardian...

March 8, 2023

Kashmir

Passport Denials and Travel Bans Are Now Part of Life in J&K (The Wire)

By Irshad Hussain Srinagar: When it comes to travel, residents of Jammu and Kashmir undergo a process unlike many others across the country. Former chief minister Mehbooba...

Three held after Bihar man lynched for ‘carrying beef’ (The Hindu)

March 11, 2023

By AMARNATH TEWARY Three persons have been arrested after a man from a minority community was beaten to death by a mob allegedly over suspicion...

Muslim man beaten to death by Hindu nationalists in Bihar (Maktoob)

March 9, 2023

Hate Watch: 4 mob lynchings later, Bihar government’s deafening silence ( CJP )

March 3, 2023

Calcutta cook lynched in Bihar weeks before marriage ( The Telegraph Online )

February 25, 2023

One killed and two Muslim youths injured in Gaya mob lynching ( India Tomorrow...

February 24, 2023

Communalism

Hindus only: How religious nationalism has spread through India’s villages ( Religion News )

February 15, 2023

Sakal Hindu Samaj holds protest against plot for burial ground ( Indian Express )

Communalism February 13, 2023

Nearly 2,000 people belonging to various Hindu outfits assembled at a rally in Aarey Ram Mandir at Marol in Andheri (East) to protest against...

Love jihad, land jihad enter Mumbaikar lexicon ( Mid-Day)

Communalism January 30, 2023

A group of Hindutva organisations, supporters and individuals turned up at Shivaji Park, Dadar on Sunday morning. Different groups—with men, women and some children—gathered at...

hate watch

4 months, 50 rallies in Maharashtra, one theme: ‘Love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ and economic boycott (The Indian Express)

Halal meat ban ahead of Ugadi festival will continue this year: Muthalik (Udayavani)

Hate speeches: Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police register 7 FIRs for property damage, stone pelting (The Times of India)

Maharashtra: Sakal Hindu Samaj holds rally supporting decision to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar (Indian Express)

If we come back to power, we will also close all madrasas in the state – Karnataka BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal (The Hindustan...

Have Closed 600 Madrasas in Assam, Intend to Close Them All: Himanta Biswa Sarma (The Wire)

HW Social Media

Delhi Pogrom

Delhi PogromMarch 17, 2023

Jamia violence case: Delhi HC adjourns plea against trial court order discharging 11 accused (TwoCircles)

By Huneza Khan NEW DELHI — The Delhi High Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on the police’s plea against the trial court’s order discharging 11 accused...

3rd Year of Delhi Violence: How Battle for Justice is Turning...

March 16, 2023

Delhi pogrom: 7 men accused of killing Muslim man get bail,...

March 7, 2023

2020 Delhi riots: Muslim man’s murder accused gets bail ( Muslim...

March 4, 2023

The trials of an Indian witness: how a Muslim man was...

March 2, 2023

India terror law haunts Muslims jailed since 2020 for Delhi riots...

February 28, 2023

Sangh Parivar

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Institutionalising Hindutva

Hindutva in Legislative

TIMELINE

BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena introduced a private member’s Bill in Rajya Sabha, seeking the constitution of a committee to prepare and implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). This is being done to revoke Muslim personal law.

BJP returns to power in Gujarat with a thumping majority of 156 seats. The BJP fought elections on a communal and divisive Hindutva agenda.

District magistrates of 31 districts and the home secretaries of nine states given powers to grant Indian citizenship to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians coming to the country from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced the formation of a committee to implement a uniform civil code (UCC) in the state

India’s Supreme Court failed to deliver a verdict on whether Muslim students can wear the hijab in schools and colleges, with two judges expressing opposing views. One judge upheld a Karnataka high court order from March 2022 that said the hijab was not “essential” to Islam.

Rashtriya Swaymsevak Sangh (RSS) pledges to expand its ‘Shakha’ base to 100,000 by 2025 to coincide with its centenary. The RSS currently has around 60,000 Shakhas across the country.

Gujarat government with approval from the Union Home Ministry, approved the premature release of 11 Hindu extremists who were convicted for the gangrape of a pregnant Muslim woman Bilkis Bano and murder of 14 members of her family, including her 3 year-old daughter, during 2002 Gujarat pogrom.

Journalist and independent fact-checker Mohammad Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments after a complaint by a social media user with regard to a tweet from 2018. On 20 July 2022, the Supreme Court of India granted him interim bail.

Activist Teesta Setalvad who campaigned for decades to hold Hindu nationalists accountable for their role 2002 Gujarat pogrom arrested by the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) over allegations of fabricating evidence against PM Narendra Modi’s role in the pogrom.

Indian Supreme Court rejects Zakia Jafri’s appeal against the exoneration of then-state Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom.

Young Muslim activist Afreen Fatima’s house was illegally demolished by the Uttar Pradesh government after her father was arrested by the police over allegations that he ‘masterminded’ protests over anti-Islam remarks.

Two Muslim teenagers were killed by police in Ranchi, Jharkhand during a protest against BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammed.

Gregory Stanton, the founder and director of US-based NGO Genocide Watch issues a Genocide Alert for India’s 200 million Muslims.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum predicted that India is the second-most likely, of all countries in the world, to witness mass killings soon. The project said that there is 14.4% chance of a mass killing beginning in India in 2021 or 2022.

Between October 20-30, the members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) in Tripura took multiple rallies across the state and attacked Muslim homes, shops, and places of worship.

Gregory Stanton, the founder, and director of US-based NGO Genocide Watch, who has modelled 10 Stages of Genocide, put India on the 8th stage, i.e. persecution of a community. The remaining two stages are extermination and denial.

BJP ruled Uttarakhand becomes first state in India to announce implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The move is an attempt to target Muslim personal laws.

A high court in India’s Karnataka state while upholding Hijab ban ruled that the hijab is not “essential” to Islam. The ruling will have implications across the country.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins state elections in four Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur, renewing fears of an escalation in the anti-minority persecution.

Between December 17 and 19, a large number of Hindu monks came together at Haridwar, Uttarakhand for an event called the ‘Dharma Sansad’ or ‘Religious Parliament’, where they gave the call for an anti-Muslim genocide and killing 2 million Muslims.

BJP government allows Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians, and Buddhists from neighboring countries who are residing in 13 districts of India to apply for citizenship

Citizenship Amendment Act comes into existence, opening a path for discrimination against Muslims, triggering massive violence across the NorthEast

Supreme Court of India hands the Babri Masjid site to Hindus despite acknowledging that demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 was a crime, as was its defiling by forcibly installing a Hindu idol there in 1949

Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution that provided a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir revoked, fulfilling a long-standing demand of the RSS-BJP

Narendra Modi wins his second term

Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister of India

Vajpayee loses Lok Sabha election; Manmohan Singh becomes prime minister

Narendra Modi becomes the chief minister of Gujarat

At least 2,000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat in a pogrom carried out by RSS-BJP-VHP affiliated mobs after Modi blames Muslims in Godhra for a train fire that killed 59 passengers, including Kar Sevaks returning from Ayodhya

Bajrang Dal militants burned alive Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons while they were sleeping in their car.

BJP emerges as the single largest party in Lok Sabha election again, with its highest-ever 182 seats. Vajpayee forms a coalition government with a majority

For the first-ever time, BJP emerges as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha election-winning 161 seats. Vajpayee becomes prime minster but resigns after 13 days as he fails to get a majority

RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal vigilantes raze Babri Masjid to the ground. BJP leaders including Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi, and Uma Bharti are booked for making communal speeches leading to the demolition

Congress emerges as the single largest party in Lok Sabha election, BJP reaches three-figure for the first time with 120 Lok Sabha seats

Durga Vahini an “arm” of the Bajrang Dal, is founded under Sadhvi Rithambara, a self-styled female monk who had emerged as a principal rabble-rouser against the Babri Masjid

BJP emerges as the third-highest party in Lok Sabha election with 85 seats; lends outside support to Vishwanath Pratap Singh who replaces Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister

16 Kar Sevaks are killed in police firing after they attack Babri Masjid

Then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav’s government arrests Advani and stops Rath Yatra

Then BJP President Advani launches a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in favor of the Ram temple

BJP withdraws support from central government leading to VP Singh’s resignation

VHP lays the foundation of a Ram temple on land next to the Babri Masjid following permission from then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government

Faizabad District Judge Hari Shankar Pandey orders unlocking of the Babri Masjid and allows worship by Hindus

VHP launches its movement to claim Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid as the birthplace of Lord Ram

Bajrang Dal is founded as a youth wing and vigilante outfit for cultural indoctrination

BJP is decimated winning only two seats in Lok Sabha election that were called by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi after the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. Congress under Rajiv wins 400 plus seats

VHP organizes “ekatmata yatra” with the purpose of forging “Hindu unity” against Islam and Christianity

Janata Party wins only 31 seats which include RSS/former BJS MPs, as Indira Gandhi wins a landslide in Lok Sabha elections and returns as prime minister

Bharatiya Janata Party is formed by RSS/former BJS members splitting from Janata Party on the issue of dual membership

Janata Party is formed as Bharatiya Jana Sangh merges into it after Indira Gandhi calls Lok Sabha election

RSS chief Deoras writes an apology to Indira Gandhi from prison. Atal Behari Vajpayee is allowed on parole after reportedly promising good behavior

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights; many opposition leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan and other from the RSS-BJS were arrested

Jayaprakash Narayan brings Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) into his mass movement, bringing legitimacy to RSS for the first time since Gandhi’s assassination

Jayaprakash Narayan forms Lok Sangharsh Samiti as the platform leading his mass movement against Indira Gandhi and names RSS’s Nanaji Deshmukh as his successor if he is arrested

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights. Many opposition leaders, including Jayaprakash Narayan and others from the RSS-BJS were arrested

Golwalkar passes away at Nagpur. Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras becomes RSS’s third Sarsanghchalak (Supreme leader)

Savarkar passes away

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is founded by Golwalkar in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda as president

Bharatiya Jana Sangh is formed with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as president

Ban on RSS is lifted after Golwalkar promised then Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel that RSS would have a written constitution, forego politics and “remain devoted purely to cultural work”, and respect the Indian tricolor

Savarkar is acquitted of charge of conspiracy in Gandhi’s assassination

Golwalkar is arrested after RSS announces a movement against its ban

Savarkar is arrested and charged with conspiracy for Gandhi’s assassination

Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a former RSS member

India is partitioned and India and Pakistan become free nations

RSS mouthpiece Organizer rejects Indian tricolor saying the tricolor will “never be respected and owned by Hindus… a flag having three colors will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.”

Hindu Mahasabha joins hands with Muslim League to form a government in NWFP.

Hindu Mahasabha boycotts Quit India. Savarkar writes a memo, “Stick to your posts,” saying Mahasabha members who were “members of municipalities, local bodies, legislatures or those serving in the army to stick to their posts” and not join Quit India Movement.

With Savarkar’s approval, Hindu Mahasabha joins the Krishak Praja Party-led Progressive Coalition ministry of Fazlul Haq in Bengal

Hedgewar passes away; M. S. Golwalkar becomes RSS’s second Sarsanghchalak or supreme leader.

All India Congress Committee passes a resolution forbidding Congress members from becoming members of the RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, and Muslim League

Hindu Mahasabha leader Balakrishna Shivram Moonje tells fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini that he is impressed with his fascist youth organization that indoctrinated boys as young as six-years-old

Hindu Mahasabha decides to not join Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement

Hedgewar writes to RSS shakhas to worship the bhagwa (saffron) as the national flag, following a resolution by Indian National Congress that called upon Indians to observe January 26, 1930 as Independence Day by displaying and honoring the Tricolor