A Hindu Champion of Pan-Islamism: Lajpat Rai and the Khilafat Movement

Lala Lajpat Rai is increasingly viewed in historiography as a “Hindu nationalist” with a strong affinity with Savarkarite Hindutva. This article demonstrates that during the Khilafat movement, Lajpat Rai articulated a secular Indian nationalism that was sensitive to Muslim religiosity and Indian Mus...

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Published in:The Journal of Asian studies Vol. 81; no. 4; pp. 689 - 705
Main Author: Bhargav, Vanya Vaidehi
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.11.2022
Duke University Press, NC & IL
Subjects:
Affinity
Asian studies
Culture
Extraterritoriality
Hindus
Historiography
History
Islam
Islamic countries
Leadership
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Muslims
Nationalism
Religion
Religiosity
Secularism
Statehood
India
Hindutva
Lajpat Rai
Islam
Khilafat movement
Muslim world
First World War
secular Indian nationalism
Hindu nationalism
pan-Islamism
ISSN:0021-9118, 1752-0401
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Lala Lajpat Rai is increasingly viewed in historiography as a “Hindu nationalist” with a strong affinity with Savarkarite Hindutva. This article demonstrates that during the Khilafat movement, Lajpat Rai articulated a secular Indian nationalism that was sensitive to Muslim religiosity and Indian Muslims’ extraterritorial sympathies toward the caliphate and the Muslim world. Pigeonholing the entire thought of Lajpat Rai as “Hindu nationalism” obscures a historical-intellectual juncture when a Hindu political figure like him enthusiastically supported pan-Islamism as necessary for Indian nationalism. This article complicates scholarship that portrays Hindu responses to the Khilafat movement as consisting solely of fear and counter-consolidation. More importantly, by unveiling Rai's Khilafat-era nationalism, it uncovers the intellectual and political possibility of firmly holding a Hindu identity and articulating conceptions of Indian nationhood that are at ease with Islam and the wider Muslim world.
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ISSN:0021-9118
1752-0401
DOI:10.1017/S0021911822000511