In this debate speech, legal scholar and author J Sai Deepak challenges the widely held belief that Hindutva is a modern political ideology created in the 20th century. Responding to the motion “Does Hinduism need protection from Hindutva?”, Deepak reframes the question itself, arguing that Hinduism requires protection from secularism, not from Hindutva. <br /> <br />Drawing on 19th-century Bengali intellectual history, he traces the origins of Hindutva to figures such as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Chandranath Basu, Sri Aurobindo, and Swami Vivekananda, placing its emergence between the 1860s and 1909, well before Savarkar or the RSS. He presents Hindutva as a civilizational and spiritual response to colonial domin@tion and cultural erasure, rooted in Sanatana Dharma and inspired by Shakta traditions of resistance and self-assertion. <br /> <br />Referencing Sri Aurobindo’s Uttarpara Speech and Vivekananda’s Chicago address, Deepak argues that in the Indian context, national identity and spiritual tradition are inseparable, and that civilizational survival requires cultural self-awareness and strength. The speech also critiques the idea of Hindutva as merely political, positioning it instead as a historical survival instinct of Hindu civilization. <br /> <br />This video presents key excerpts from the debate, offering insight into one of the most contested ideas in contemporary Indian discourse <br /> <br />#JSaiDeepak #Hindutva #Hinduism #SanatanaDharma#IndianCivilization #IntellectualHistory #BengalRenaissance<br /><br />~HT.410~
