Democracy to Theocracy

“Sir, “Sir, what is Hindutva?” a young woman asked me after a lecture in Lahore, her eyes reflecting a mix of curiosity and alarm. Moments later, another student followed with a more pressing question: “If we don’t understand the mindset of today’s India, how can we even begin to plan our future?” Their questions were not merely academic or rhetorical. They captured a growing realization in Pakistan and across the region that the India we once knew is no more. Something fundamental has shifted. India is no longer the secular, pluralistic republic envisioned by its founders. Under the steady hand of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological engine, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India is transforming into a state where religious identity determines legitimacy, and dissent is framed as disloyalty. The ideology driving this transformation is Hindutva.

To understand Hindutva is to recognize the deep ideological fault line that now runs through Indian society and politics. It is imperative to draw a sharp distinction: Hindutva is not Hinduism. Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest, most diverse religions, known for its spiritual expansiveness, philosophical depth, and historical tolerance. It offers a vast pantheon of deities, a plurality of texts, and diverse paths to salvation. In contrast, Hindutva is political absolutism masquerading as cultural pride. It seeks to erase India’s multifaith character and redefine national belonging along religious lines. It excludes, isolates, and ultimately dehumanizes those who do not conform, especially India’s 200 million Muslims, who are increasingly made to feel like strangers in their own land.

The origins of Hindutva trace back to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who coined the term in 1923 in his pamphlet, “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?” His definition of belonging was chilling: only those who were hidus and saw India as both their fatherland (Pitrubhumi) and holy land (Punyabhumi) were Indian. By this logic, Muslims and Christians, who had lived for centuries were not Indian because they were not Hindus. What may have once seemed a fringe idea eventually grew into a muscular movement. Savarkar’s dream of Akhand Bharat, an undivided Hindu nation stretching from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Sindh to Assam, became more than a nostalgic fantasy. The RSS, founded in 1925, was the perfect vehicle for this vision. It functioned as a cultural militia, training millions in ideological discipline and fostering a deeply communal worldview. That dream, once confined to the margins of Indian politics, now sits at the apex of power.

The demolition of the 16th-century Babri Masjid in 1992 by a Hindutva-fueled mob was more than a symbolic act. It marked the beginning of India’s transformation into a majoritarian democracy. A decade later, in 2002, the state of Gujarat witnessed a pogrom against Muslims under the watch of then-Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Over 1,000 people were killed, and thousands more were injured/displaced. Modi’s administration was widely criticized for its failure to intervene, with some accounts suggesting tacit approval. Yet instead of being held accountable, Modi rode the wave of Hindu nationalism to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2014. Since then, India’s political landscape has been systematically reshaped. As documented by the “Council on Foreign Relations”, the BJP has eroded minority protections, rewritten school curricula, suppressed critical media, and empowered vigilante groups that attack in the name of cow protection or religious purity. The government’s attempt to erase or distort uncomfortable truths reached new heights in 2023 when it blocked a BBC documentary examining Modi’s role in the Gujarat riots and banned its circulation on social media.

The events following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack exposed the dangerous implications of this ideological shift. Rather than respond with caution, the Indian government and media unleashed a frenzy of disinformation and inflammatory rhetoric, blaming Pakistan without evidence and pushing the region to the brink. The world’s largest democracy behaved less like a rational state and more like a regime intoxicated by its own propaganda. The crisis revealed not only the intensity of anti-Muslim sentiment but also how Hindutva has captured institutions, turning newsrooms into echo chambers and diplomacy into belligerence. When truth becomes subordinate to ideology, stability becomes a casualty.

Pakistan cannot afford to misread the nature of this threat. What we are witnessing is not conventional nationalism, nor simply an electoral strategy. It is a theological radicalism that sees Pakistan not merely as a geopolitical rival but as a civilizational enemy. Hindutva doesn’t just want territorial control. It seeks to dominate narratives, suppress alternate histories, and rewrite the very idea of South Asia. It uses trade and diplomacy as tools of coercion, isolates Pakistan on global forums, and pursues psychological warfare through misinformation campaigns. The dream of Akhand Bharat is not just ideological, it is geopolitical and increasingly militarized.

And yet, the international community remains largely silent. Lulled by India’s market potential and distracted by its democratic façade, global powers have chosen to look away. This silence is not neutral, it is complicit. But Pakistan does not have the luxury of indifference. The world may be content to ignore the warning signs, but we cannot. The stakes are existential, and the costs of complacency could be irreversible.

We must now pivot from reactive diplomacy to a proactive strategy. This moment calls for moral clarity and national unity. Pakistan must sharpen its diplomatic posture, amplifying the reality of Hindutva’s threat through every available platform, from the United Nations to civil society exchanges. We must strengthen internal cohesion, fortify our institutions, and ensure that our national narrative is grounded in facts, not fear. Culturally, we must challenge the monopoly of Hindutva by engaging global diasporas and platforms, reminding the world that Pakistan is not the problem; Hindutva is.

There is no room for nostalgia. The India of Gandhi is gone. The India of Godse now wields power, unapologetically and ruthlessly. History does not reward nations that sleep through strategic inflection points. It honors those who anticipate, adapt, and act with clarity. For Pakistan, the path forward is not easy, but it is clear. We must confront the truth, resist the drift toward silence, and prepare for a future in which vigilance is not optional, but compulsory.

Aamir Zulfiqar Khan
The writer is a senior public policy expert who has served as Inspector General of Police, Punjab, Islamabad and National Highway & Motorways Police. He can be reached at amzkhan.lhr@gmail.com