State and Civil Society under Siege: Hindutva, Security and Militarism in India

A comprehensive analysis on the rise, assertion and dominance of the New Hindu Right forces in civil society

From its forgettable electoral performance of 1984 to its historical victory in 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) story has been fodder for many political and academic debates. In this book, the authors show how the Hindu Right uses security, both external and internal, as a strategy for political mobilisation and eventual electoral success. It further explains the organisational and ideological penetration of the Sangh Parivar into the civil domain through strategies of securitisation. Deriving data from original sources, writings of leaders and their autobiographies, speeches, government documents, reports, pamphlets and manifestos of various Hindutva organisations, the work follows the growth of the Hindu Right forces and its trajectory over the years, taking a close look into its philosophical settings and political strategies.

The book assumes significance in light of the massive electoral success of BJP in the 2014 elections.