Hindutva Watch

Members of Akhila Bharatha Christha Mahasabha submitted a memorandum to the Director General and Inspector General of Police seeking protection for the peaceful celebration...

Indian Police Arrest Pastors and Newly Married Couple at Wedding Reception ( Persecution.org )

Christians November 30, 2022

Nine Christian pastors were arrested and jailed on false charges of conversion activities in Azamgarh, in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on...

Dalits/Tribals

Dalit activist shot dead in UP ( National herald India )

November 29, 2022

keeps Dalits from accessing disaster relief ( The New Humanitarian )

Dalits/Tribals November 29, 2022

KERALA, India When devastating floods hit India’s western state of Kerala in 2018, Seena’s family had nowhere to go. After water submerged their home, Seena,...

Rajasthan Dalit man beaten, forced to drink urine for demanding payment for work ( India Today )

Dalits/Tribals November 25, 2022

A Dalit electrician from Rajasthan’s Sirohi district was beaten, made to drink urine, and garlanded with shoes for demanding payment for his work, the...

Institutionalising Hindutva

Hindutva in Legislative

Madhya Pradesh BJP Government Announces Committee to Implement Uniform Civil Code ( The Wire )

December 2, 2022

Hinduva in Executive

In Mainpuri, Muslims Battling Police Excess Wonder Where Samajwadi Party Is ( The Wire )

November 29, 2022

Hindutva in Judiciary

‘May Disturb Communal Harmony’: Court Stays Distribution, Sale of Book on Tipu Sultan ( The Wire )

November 23, 2022

Hindutva in media

youtube facebook right wing hate speech ecosystem yogi adityanath yati narsinghanand ( The Caravan )

December 2, 2022

Hindutva in Education

Project to ‘rewrite’ Indian history a milestone in 4 decades of RSS efforts ( The Federal )

November 26, 2022

Hindutva Abroad

Rights body condemns Global Hindu Heritage Foundation for raising funds in US ( Muslim Mirror )

December 2, 2022

TIMELINE

Hindutva Timeline1

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

CAA Is Discriminatory and Arbitrary Because It Excludes Tamil, Muslim Refugees: DMK ( The Wire )

November 30, 2022

Union to bring Bill to allow NPR updation via birth and death database: Report ( Maktoob Media )

November 27, 2022

CAA-NPR-NRC: The Law Is Being Weaponised Against the Constitution ( The Wire )

November 24, 2022

Amit Shah Directs Officials to Detect, Detain and Deport ‘Illegal Migrants’ in Each State ( The Wire )

November 14, 2022

Amit Shah directs officials to identify 100 ‘infiltrators’ in every State and deport them ( The Hindu )

November 13, 2022

BJP committed to implementing CAA, matter of time its rules are framed: Himanta Sarma ( Indian Express )

November 12, 2022

Kashmir

November 29, 2022

Hindutva in Media

IFFI jury chief slams ‘The Kashmir Files’: ‘Propaganda, vulgar… shocked, disturbed’ ( Indian Express )

DESCRIBING THE controversial movie “The Kashmir Files” as “propaganda” and “vulgar”, Israeli filmmaker and a jury chief at the International Film Festival of India...

November 27, 2022

Kashmir

Jamaat-e-Islami In Kashmir’s assets worth Rs 90 crore seized ( Maktoob Media )

The State Investigation Agency of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday listed 11 properties of banned Muslim outfit Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir in Anantnag district of...

November 26, 2022

Kashmir

7.72 Lakh Voters Added in J&K in Highest Increase in Electoral Rolls ( News Click )

Srinagar: In the highest-ever increase of 10.19% in the electoral rolls of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), around 7.72 lakh voters were added after the completion of...

November 21, 2022

Kashmir

India: Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez must be immediately released ( Amnesty ) (

The undersigned organisations call for the immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested one year ago on November...

November 20, 2022

Kashmir

Kashmir: Police Raids Houses of Several Journalists in Probe Against Online Threats ( The Wire )

New Delhi: Kashmir Police raided the houses of several journalists on Saturday, November 19, in an investigation into online threats to around a dozen journalists...

Bihar: 2 weeks after a Muslim youth was lynched in Muzaffarpur,...

November 15, 2022

PATNA (BIHAR) — Two weeks after a 23-year-old Muslim youth was lynched by a mob in Mahartha village in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, police are...

Four years have passed, but Bengal’s anti-lynching Bill yet to be made a law...

November 6, 2022

Bihar: Muslim Youth Beaten to Death in Muzaffarpur over Interfaith Love Affair ( Clarion...

November 1, 2022

“We still don’t know why he was killed,” says children of Muslim man lynched...

October 15, 2022

Mob of 20 Kills Muslim Man in UP Village in Alleged Attempt to ‘Scare...

October 15, 2022

Communalism

College lecturer refers to Muslim student as terrorist, student calls him out ( The News Minute )

November 28, 2022

Mysuru: Dome-like structures removed from bus stop after BJP MP claimed design resembled a mosque ( Scroll )

Communalism November 28, 2022

Civic authorities in Mysuru on Saturday removed two domes from a bus stop, twelve days after a local Bharatiya Janata Party MP claimed that the structures...

Ex Bureaucrat, Rights Activist Ask EC to Act Against Amit Shah’s Remark on Gujarat Riots ( The Wire )

Communalism November 27, 2022

New Delhi: Eminent citizens and rights activists have urged the Election Commission to treat Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent statement during an election rally in Gujarat,...

hate speech

The Wire: SC Grants Bail to Jitendra Narayan Tyagi in Haridwar Hate Speech Case

My Book on RSS Seeks to Unite Communities Against Lies and Hate—Devanuru Mahadeva

Afraid of Angering BJP, Facebook Ignored Hate Speech Rules for Party’s Anti-Muslim Posts: Report

How the Indian Government Watched Delhi Burn

‘Bullets will surely work if someone doesn’t listen to reason,’ says Adityanath in Delhi rally

Hindutva icon SP Mookerjee empowered Muslim League, did not protest Art 370

HW Social Media

Delhi Pogrom

Delhi PogromNovember 29, 2022

‘I’m a victim of custodial violence’: Khalid Saifi tells HC in bail plea in 2020 Delhi riots case ( Indian Express )

United Against Hate member Khalid Saifi, booked in the 2020 North East Delhi riots “larger conspiracy case”, told the Delhi High Court on Monday...

Jamia violence: Court asks Delhi Police to explain one-year delay in...

November 27, 2022

2020 Delhi riots: Court acquits accused of charges of rioting, arson...

November 25, 2022

Delhi Riots: HC dismisses ex-AAP councillor Hussain’s plea challenging framing of...

November 25, 2022

Delhi riots: Family await justice after court orders FIR in acid...

November 23, 2022

Delhi riots: Behind many acquittals, absence of diary entry, eyewitnesses and...

November 21, 2022

Sangh Parivar

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persecution

Institutionalising Hindutva

Hindutva in Legislative

TIMELINE

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

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

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is formed by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar

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

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?”

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

Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha changes name to Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha

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

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