India as a secular state: The challenge of Hindu communalism

by Guest Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:34 am

I am reading an interesting book called "India as a secular state" by Donald Eugene Smith. The most interesting chapter for me is one titled "The challenge of Hindu Communalism". Smith has an interesting thesis. He compares Hindutva Chaddi ideology of the RSS/Sangh Parivar with the politics of nativism in nineteenth century america.

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Nativism gained its name from the "Native American" parties. In this context "Native" does not mean indigenous or American Indian but rather those descended from the inhabitants of the original Thirteen Colonies. It impacted politics in the mid-19th century because of the large inflows of immigrants from cultures that were somewhat different from the existing American culture. Thus, nativists objected primarily to Irish Roman Catholics because of their loyalty to the Pope and also because of their supposed rejection of republicanism as an American ideal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativism_(politics)

by Guest Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:36 am

The immigration of large numbers of Irish and German Catholics to the United States in the period between 1830 and 1860 made religious differences between Catholics and Protestants a political issue. Violence occasionally erupted at the polls. Protestants alleged that Pope Pius IX had put down the failed liberal Revolutions of 1848 and that he was an opponent of liberty, democracy and Republicanism. One Boston minister described Catholicism as "the ally of tyranny, the opponent of material prosperity, the foe of thrift, the enemy of the railroad, the caucus, and the school."[10][11] These fears encouraged conspiracy theories regarding papal intentions of subjugating the United States through a continuing influx of Catholics controlled by Irish bishops obedient to and personally selected by the Pope.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Nothing

India as a secular state: The challenge of Hindu communalism

India as a secular state: The challenge of Hindu communalism

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