Dharmo rakshati rakshitah : Hindutva movements in the UK

Bhatt, Chetan

doi:10.1080/014198700328999

Cited by 34 publications

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“…Analysts of Hindu nationalist sympathies in the Indian diaspora have focused on factors of racial, political, economic, and social marginalization in the new homeland that, the argument goes, have provoked Indians to turn towards ethnic markers of identity in order to achieve a sense of belonging and recognition (Bhatt 2000). This viewpoint is helpful in trying to discern the motivations of many overseas Hindus who tacitly or openly support Hindutva programs and politics.…”

Section: Juggling Discourses and Publicsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…While few have published analyses of the Exhibitions, their perception of BAPS as a contributor to the promotion of Hindutva or Hindu nationalist sentiments is reaffirmed by the language and content of the Exhibitions which are openly universalizing and unselfconsciously reifying of "Hinduism." For Chetan Bhatt (2000), Parita and Sandhya , BAPS's efforts to showcase and promote Hinduism as a distinct religion with clear geographic location, doctrines, and ecumenical qualities are indicative of its Hindutva affinities. These critics and others who have analyzed the intersection of the South Asian diaspora and some of its members' attraction to religious nationalist agendas argue that BAPS, owing to is financial strength and Gujarati membership, is attempting to "hegemonize the space of Hindu representation in the UK" (Bhatt 2000: 588).…”

Section: Mapping Devotion With Religionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Satsangis who are familiar with scholarly analyses of BAPS are aware of the charges that BAPS is underwriting a possibly benign but "Puritannical" Hinduism at best, or endorsing more extreme visions of a monolithic and ethnically cleansed vision of India's past at worst (Bhatt 2000;. On several occasions when I asked Swaminarayan leaders to talk about the Exhibitions, they have shared the view that these additions to the shikharabaddha mandirs were the result of requests from both Swaminarayan satsangis and outside visitors for explanatory details.…”

Section: Mapping Devotion With Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public Engagement and Personal Desires: BAPS Swaminarayan Temples and their Contribution to the Discourses on Religion

Kim

2009

Hindu Studies

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Section: Juggling Discourses and Publicsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Mapping Devotion With Religionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Mapping Devotion With Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Public Engagement and Personal Desires: BAPS Swaminarayan Temples and their Contribution to the Discourses on Religion

Kim

2009

Hindu Studies

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“…544Á545) The subtext of the speech is that Hindus are nothing like that. This view of Hinduness is part of a postcolonial understanding that portrays Hindus in the West as hard-working, law-abiding, family-oriented, morally upright and economically successful (Bhatt 2000). These values are meant to increase the status of an explicit Hindu community in its dealings with the British state.…”

Section: Approaching Security and Securitisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Security, subjectivity and space in postcolonial Europe: Muslims in the diaspora

Kinnvall

Nesbitt‐Larking²

2009

European Security

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In this article, we call into question the assumptions that undergird conceptions of boundary, territory, community and ethno-cultural belonging in the constitution of European security. Both the term 'human security' as defined by development and human rights scholars and 'securitisation' as conceptualised by critical security studies concern the socio-psychological aspects of security. Yet, few attempts have been made to seriously discuss the psychological effects of securitisation on subjectivity and space. There is, as we will argue, a tendency in much literature to use concepts of 'existential security', 'fear', 'needs' and the 'politics of belonging' Á obviously connected to the human mind and individual emotionality Á without much space being devoted to the investigation of these concepts in terms of socio-psychological processes. We intend to fill this gap by discussing security and securitisation in terms of the psychology of subjectivity and space among young Muslims in Europe. Our principal argument is that through openness to the political psychology of subjectivity and space, and the (de)securitisation of both, we are able to develop more adequate maps of the European experience of danger and opportunity.

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“…According to Rudert (2004), women undertake their own initiatives and form their own spaces. For Bhatt (2000), Mukta (2000), and Shukla (1997Shukla ( , 2003, BAPS's efforts to showcase and promote Hinduism as a distinct religion with clear geographic location and doctrines are indicative of its Hindutva affinities. These scholars, and others, who have analyzed the intersection of the South Asian diaspora and some of its members' attraction to religious nationalist agendas, have argued that BAPS, owing to its financial strength and Gujarati membership, is attempting to "hegemonize the space of Hindu representation in the UK" (Bhatt, 2000, p. 588).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sect Culture and Social Service

Pandya

2016

Sage Open

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This article is based on fieldwork with a branch of the popular Hindu sect, the Swaminarayan, in Gujarat, India. The branch is called the Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). It has spread throughout the world. I examine its cultural nuances and its seva, that is, its social service and outreach work. Seva implements the mandate for, and ideology of, social service and entails aspects of volition and institutionalized service. My aim has been to see how the sect culture, which is essentially inward-bonding, undertakes seva within the larger, beneficiary populace. I argue that two aspects of BAPS's seva are prominent and peculiar to it, namely, perpetuating sect culture and remembrance of the spiritual heads. I propose that seva is a practice of BAPS to enable sect proliferation and create a space for itself in the civil society.Keywords sect, social service, seva, Swaminarayan, BAPS 2 SAGE OpenHindu sect in India, a branch of which is formally named Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, and less formally, BAPS.2 I propose that seva, or social service of the sect, is a strategy to simultaneously reach out to a larger beneficiary populace and impress upon the social milieu its own culture, ideology, and remembrance of the spiritual heads as epitomes of virtue. The Swaminarayan sect was founded in the early 19th century, and the BAPS was founded in the early 20th century. In addition to BAPS, currently there are other branches of Swaminarayan under its umbrella tradition. The sect's founder, Lord Swaminarayan, was born in Chhapiya, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1781. Prompted by spiritual yearnings, he left home to wander, eventually arriving at Loj in Saurashtra, India, at the ashram of Ramanand Swami (a proponent of the non-dualist school of Indian philosophy), where he endeavored to establish a sect. During his lifetime, owing to his clairvoyance and premonitions, Swaminarayan was venerated as the Godhead. 3 He propagated the Navya Vishishtadvaita philosophy 4 and the Saguna form of Vaishnavite worship. 5 Hence, in the traditional images of the deity, Krishna, he urged devotees to see images of his own self as the truly realized one. Sect formation and foundation of the institution based on it are attributed to Swaminarayan's disciple and spiritual successor, Gunatitanand Swami, and later, a householder initiated into asceticism known as Mahant Pragji Bhagat. This involvement by a person of a lower caste initially sparked a caste-based schism within the early followers of the sect, but this was resolved later through an untold divine realization experienced by the Pragji Bhagat, which then led to the idea of establishment of the branch known as BAPS. Formally, it was registered during the headship of Shastriji Maharaj in 1907. There has since been a passing on of spiritual succession, with Lord Swaminarayan being the accepted Purushottam, and the subsequent spiritual leaders as Akshar, through whom Lord Swaminarayan continues to persist. The current sp...

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Dharmo rakshati rakshitah : Hindutva movements in the UK

Cited by 34 publications

References 0 publications

Public Engagement and Personal Desires: BAPS Swaminarayan Temples and their Contribution to the Discourses on Religion

Public Engagement and Personal Desires: BAPS Swaminarayan Temples and their Contribution to the Discourses on Religion

Security, subjectivity and space in postcolonial Europe: Muslims in the diaspora

Sect Culture and Social Service

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