Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish Identities in Modern South Asia

What is it about?

The chapter seeks to find if the nationalist movements of Hindus, Jews and Muslims drew inspiration from each other, with Vivekananda’s historic speech at the Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893 in the backdrop. 1893 is also the year when the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defence Association was established. Just four years later the first Zionist Congress took place in Basle in 1897. It also aspires to probe the impact of Vivekananda’s above mentioned speech on the rise of Hindu nationalism, that of the Muslim Conference on the rise of Muslim nationalism in India, and that of the First Zionist Congress on the emergence of political Zionism among Indian Jews and compare them with each other. Since these historic events took place, each of the above-mentioned nationalist movements has come a long way. It has been pointed out how the Muslim League drew inspiration from Zionism, the very movement it opposed so vehemently. Hindus nationalists have long aspired to imitate the Zionists for the realization of their dream of a Hindu state in India and have always been the most vocal advocates for a stronger relationship between India and Israel. With the above-mentioned questions at its core, the chapter focuses on South Asia.

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Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash

Photo by Sonika Agarwal on Unsplash