In an interview published in The Hindu on 21 June 2026, Romila Thapar —an eminent scholar renowned for shaping our understanding of ancient Indian history and for placing critical inquiry at the centre of Indian historiography—remarked:
“At the time of independence, being 15 years old, we were conscious of nationalism and the arrival of a free India. But we were not aware of Hindutva lurking in the background or making a bid for authority.”
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Thanthai Periyar had already recognized the presence of Hindutva forces within the freedom movement. According to this perspective, these forces became more active after the founding of the RSS in 1925 while simultaneously maintaining cordial relations with the British colonial administration.
It contends that the three major national political formations—the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, and the Jana Sangh (the predecessor of the BJP)—were, from their inception, led predominantly by elite Brahmin leadership.
From this standpoint, it may be argued that even prominent left-leaning historians such as Romila Thapar did not sufficiently recognize the influence of Hindutva within the freedom movement or within the Congress and Communist parties.
It contends that when the Communist Party split into the Right and Left factions during the Nehru era, the division was influenced by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Accordingly the migration of more Brahmin leaders to the Left weakened the communist movement in India, a trend, set in was reflected in West Bengal after three decades of Left rule. Unlike the Dravidian movement, these political forces did not directly confront Hindutva, Sanatan ideology, or the Manusmriti.
– S. Ramanathan
