Hindu as political identity was forged from demographic panic, not religion

Evidence

When reformers began to use the word ‘Hindu’ to describe themselves and their organisations, it had less to do with religion than with trying to forge a unified political constitution out of a divided people. This explains the reformers’ constant references to the ‘Hindu nation’ or the ‘Hindu race’. This political Hinduism later came to be called Hindutva. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 149

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the origin of Hindutva as a deliberately political construction responding to census-driven demographic fear.
• XREF: connects to: Colonial religious voter registration manufactured demographic anxiety in Hindus — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 171