SOAS Research Online

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors address limitations of rights and entitlements for adherents under various types of law, especially in relation to different forms of discrimination. They explore the practical effects of this basic essentialising at various points later, accepting in principle that this ambivalently instrumentalised essentialism, seems to be an important part of Hinduism. The heavily politicised discourses related to Hinduism and Hindu law and their role in India today are not merely a matter of Hindu nationalist projects and ongoing struggles over the universality of human rights. Given that many aspects of Hindu law are – as they have always been – secular in nature rather than purely religious, it remains thus a huge but unfortunately rather common conceptual mistake to treat everything ‘Hindu’ or ‘Muslim’ merely as religious. The dynamics of belonging and of status for and among Hindus involve much awareness, in theory and practice, about pluralities and their navigation at all levels.