Thread by @SortedEagle

In post-partition Bharat, the RSS has remained the only prominent flag-bearer of the concept and the ideology Hindu nationalism. Influenced by V. Savarkar, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a doctor in the city of Nagpur founded RSS in 1925. Later, the RSS’ political wing, Jan Sangh….

…founded by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951 carried on the mantle (At present in the BJP avatar).
Much before the concept of Hindutva became associated with the Hindu Right Wing, the term was coined in Bengal for the revival of Hinduism.

In 1892, for the first time ever, the term “Hindutva” was invented or conceptualised by Chandranath Basu, a Bengali litterateur in his magnum-opus-Hindur Prakrita Itihash. This apparently is the “first recorded” use of the word “Hindutva”.
Born in 1826, Rajnarayan Basu,

..an educationist, litterateur and intellectual established Jaitya Gaurab Sampadani Sabha in Midnapore, & Savjibani Sabha in Calcutta for promoting Hindu nationalism. His writing Hindu Dharmera Sresthta’, in 1879 was also on the lines of Hindu revivalism.

The first congregation of the Hindus took place in West Bengal. In 1867, Nabagopal Mitra, a playwright, poet, essayist & a patriot started a political & cultural festival called-“Hindu Mela.” The objective as stated in various articles was to “instil a sense of national pride….

….among the people of Bengal and India.” As records indicated, in 1875, Rabindranath Tagore, who was then 14-years-old recited his first poem-Hindu Melar Upahar.” This incidentally was the first poem published in the name of Rabindranath Tagore.

In 1853, Girish Chandra Ghosh founded the newspaper-‘Hindoo Patriot’. During the 1857 war stories published in the paper indicated that the rebels “harmed their own cause by placing their trust in the leadership of Mughals”.

"Vande Mataram”, pronounced in Bengali as Bande Mataram (Mother I bow to thee), appropriated by the right wingers was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1876. His novel “Anandamath” (in which he included the poem) written in 1882 is open to many interpretations.

Even before the first partition(1905) Bengal witnessed the rise of nationalist organisations. Most prominent among them was the Anushilan Samiti or the Body Building Institution. It was established by the local Bengali youths and akharas in Bengal.

The Anushilan Samiti was led by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barindra Ghosh and was influenced mainly by Hindu Shakta philosophy- as established by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Swami Vivekananda. Incidentally Shaktisim is worship of Hindu goddess Shakti-power or energy.

Today, particularly the recently concluded high voltage Bengal elections. The verdict is out, the flag-bearers of the Hindutva were defeated. But did Bengal & Bengali bhadraloks reject Hindutva? Or is BJP’s rise from 4 to 76 seats could possibly be a signal of history repeating?