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Abstract
This paper examines developing Hindu identity in a British context. It focuses on a recent initiative known as Sewa Day, an annual day dedicated to the provision of sewa, or service, as small-scale social action in local communities. Hindu nationalist organizations such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh have been central to promoting and taking part in Sewa Day. The paper asks what purpose is served by the drive to promote social action in this way, arguing that it represents a significant attempt to project Hindus as model citizens, contributors to what the UK government has termed the ‘Big Society’. The paper explores the implications of this project in terms of its ability to re-situate the politics of Hindu nationalism in relation to dominant registers of civic virtue.
Notes
1. For further discussion of this point, see Zavos (Citation2012).
2. Jenny Taylor (Citation2002) has explored the UK state government's interest in religion in this context from the late 1980s onwards. She explores ways in which the Thatcher government sought to involve the Anglican Church in urban regeneration initiatives like the Action for Cities programme. In 1992, the Inner Cities Religious Council (ICRC) was ‘part of a conscious effort by the Government to improve relations with the Church. We hope that it will… give the Church and other religions a positive role to play in policy making’ (ICRC chair and government minister Robert Key, quoted in Taylor Citation2002, 96). The idea of religion as a means of reaching out to minority communities was signalled at this time by Douglas Hollis, a Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official who was instrumental in setting up the ICRC: ‘in order to have dialogue with these ethnic communities, by far the best instrument for communicating with them… and enabling them to represent their needs to government, was through their faith linkages’ (quoted in Taylor Citation2002, 92).
3. The connection to Mitzvah Day was reinforced by the inclusion of its founder, Laura Marks, on the Sewa Day advisory board.
4. Interview with local organizer, 25 September 2011. All interviewees quoted in this paper shall remain anonymous.
5. All projects I visited during the 2012 event.
6. Views expressed to me independently by several participants in both the 2011 and 2012 events.
7. The 2012 Annual Report states that Lloyds Banking group has adopted Sewa Day as part of its corporate volunteering strategy (Sewa Day Citation2012, 4).
8. Mostly as members of affiliated organizations, although sometimes through more informal connections.
9. The Sewa UK (Citation2012) website claims to have donated £10,000 to Sewa Day in Citation2012. Reported total donations to Sewa Day during that year were £37,015 (Sewa Day Citation2012).
10. Information provided by a member of the core team in an interview on 10 January 2012; These connections are also evident in formal administrative roles. For example, one individual is registered as a trustee of both Sewa Day and the Kalyan Ashram Trust, a UK-based organization linked to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh and actively supporting the work of the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, a Sangh organization that works in tribal welfare.
11. Since 2011, the initiative has had some presence in other countries. See note 15.
12. As the National Hindu Students Forum (NHSF Citation2013) website states:
Over the years we have worked with and built up a good relationship with several charities. However, through first hand experience we had chosen one particular charity that stands out to be our sponsored charity. Fourteen years on we are pleased to still be able to support them. That charity is Sewa International. A non-political non-governmental organization helping those regardless of class, creed or religion.
13. A Year of Service was designed to showcase the social service work of religious communities in Britain. It was initiated as part of the 2012 Jubilee celebrations by the DCLG (Winter Citation2013). Sewa Day withdrew from the initiative in May 2012 citing a lack of transparency in the allocation of funds related to the project (see Ganguly Citation2012b).
14. This point was made by several volunteers whom I spoke to at Sewa Day 2011, as well as by a member of the core team in a personal interview on 10 January 2012.
15. The ‘flag’ countries are the UK, the USA, South Africa, Indonesia and Australia. Clicking on one of these flags, or indeed one of the listed countries, leads to the main website. The key difference is in the ‘project finder’, where projects related to specific countries are listed. The vast majority of projects are UK-based.
16. Out of a total of 106 projects noted on the site on 23 September 2011, forty were clearly identifiable as being run by Sangh organizations (mostly Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Sevika Samiti and National Hindu Students Forum).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
John Zavos
JOHN ZAVOS is Senior Lecturer in South Asian Studies in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester.