Thread by @SaffronDiaries

🔴Thread: Indian Right Wing Think Tanks

In the Book Saffron Republic by @ChatterjiAngana. Thomas Blom Hansen examines the role of right-wing think tanks in shaping and promoting the ideology of #Hindutva in India.

The chapter argues that think tanks like the #RSS and its affiliates have played a critical role in the mainstreaming of #Hindutva ideology in Indian politics and society. These think tanks have provided a platform for the articulation and dissemination of #Hindutva ideas...,

...and have helped to build a network of activists and supporters who promote the ideology through various means. It argues that the #BJP has been successful in implementing #Hindutva policies and initiatives through its of the #Indian government, and that the think tanks...

...have played a crucial role in this process. The chapter further examines the various strategies employed by these think tanks to promote #Hindutva ideology, including the use of media, education, and cultural institutions.

It argues that the think tanks have been successful in creating a pervasive and influential #Hindutva discourse that has helped to legitimize and normalize the ideology in #Indian society. From authoring reports that highlight the #Modi government’s policies to creating...

...platforms where key #BJP ministers can articulate their views on contentious issues such as #Article370, the National Register of Citizens (#NRC) and #TripleTalaq this new “right intelligentsia” is giving the #BJP and its backers the ‘intellectual ammunition’ it has...

...traditionally known to lack. The right-wing think tanks are tightly integrated with #SanghParivar organizations and ideologies. The #saffron connection exists at multiple levels. Almost all the think tanks have senior #Hindutva leaders in leadership positions.

Their events routinely feature Hindu nationalist leaders and ideologues as speakers and ‘distinguished guests’. The #RSS head @DrMohanBhagwat, and senior leaders @SureshBJoshi Krishna Gopal, and @DattaHosabale
; #Hindutva ideologue #SubramaniamSwamy; and #BJP ministers...

...
@AmitShah, @rsprasad, @nsitharaman, M. J. Akbar, @PiyushGoyal ,@sureshpprabhu,@SushmaSwaraj and @arunjaitley are among those who have participated in think tank events in recent years. Finally, the chapter discusses the implications of the mainstreaming of #Hindutva for...

...#Indiandemocracy and pluralism. It argues that the promotion of #Hindutva ideology has led to a growing climate of intolerance and polarization in #India, and that it has undermined the country's commitment to secularism and diversity.