India's Young and Well-Educated Are Marching to the Beat of Hindu Nationalism

https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/indias-young-and-well-educated-are-marching-to-the-beat-of-hindu-nationalism/93992?utm_source=SM&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_name=Organic&fbclid=IwAR3yc_z-5WmU5yI8_sasOYsX4ifp6W5i5Gqcqj2Yt5nRHMjHKR3kC8mU81A
A group of 15 men proudly salute a saffron flag hooked firmly onto an iron rod. The flag belongs to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the right-wing Hindu nationalist group that claims it has more than 6 million direct or affiliate members and is the ideological mothership of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Our flag is our guru, our identity,” says 30-year-old dentist Vikram Dhillon, a resident of Supreme Towers, a high-rise apartment complex in Noida near New Delhi.
It’s a sentiment the RSS — whose early leaders publicly admired Hitler and Mussolini — feared it was losing a decade ago among Indian youth, a group that is becoming increasingly urban, globalized and middle class. But a 21st-century upgrade, from a new uniform to modern recruitment tactics, is helping draw young engineers, doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, bankers and journalists into the fold, especially in upscale neighborhoods where supporters traditionally felt the need to hide their allegiances.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity also helps, RSS leaders say, at a time when nationalist forces are bringing once-fringe conversations to the mainstream globally. As Modi seeks reelection — results will be declared this Thursday — these new recruits are emerging as some of his biggest cheerleaders.