Hindutva Explores IITs  c̅ a Message of Inclusivness and Global Peace.

National Conference on ‘The Eternal Relevance of Hindutva’ Held at IIT Delhi.

Upananda Brahmachari | HENB | New Delhi | Jan 9, 2026:: A national-level academic conference titled “The Eternal Relevance of Hindutva” was held on Sunday at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, bringing together academicians, scholars, and public figures from across the country to deliberate on Hindutva as a civilizational and philosophical framework. The event was organised by the World Association of Hindu Academicians (WAHA).

The conference was attended by faculty members and researchers from multiple universities and institutions, reflecting a growing academic engagement with India’s cultural and knowledge traditions. Delhi Cabinet Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh attended the programme as the chief guest, while K K Aggarwal, President of South Asian University (SAU), Delhi, delivered the special address.

Setting the context of the conference, Nachiket Tiwari, faculty member at IIT Kanpur and a prominent WAHA leader, outlined the organisation’s objectives and elaborated on the meaning of Hindutva. Addressing the gathering, Tiwari said that misconceptions surrounding India, Hindu identity, and Indian culture could be addressed primarily through academic engagement rather than media narratives.

India, Hindus, Indian culture

“India, Hindus, Indian culture—there are many misconceptions surrounding all of this. And the main responsibility of removing these misconceptions can only lie with a teacher,” he said. Emphasising the role of intellectual networks, Tiwari argued that sustained academic collaboration was essential to shaping broader public discourse. “People think that this problem will be solved by changing the media. But the mind of the media changes only when the mind of the teacher changes, when the mind of the intellectual changes,” he noted.

Explaining the theme of the conference, Tiwari described Hindutva as a concept rooted in human values rather than narrow political interpretations. “Hindutva means Hindu-ness—manushyatva, human-ness. These days, many political interpretations have made the term meaningless,” he said, adding that Hindutva represents a shared civilizational consciousness spread across Hindu society.

Speaking to HENB, Sanjoy Roy, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Delhi University, said the conference aimed to underline the responsibility of teachers and academicians in preserving and advancing India’s cultural and knowledge systems. “The purpose was to understand the role of teachers and academicians to preserve and work for our Indian culture, our knowledge system, and to bring Hinduism forward,” Roy said. He added that participants came from institutions in Indore, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Kanpur University, and other academic centres.

According to the organisers, the conference sought to explore Hindutva as an eternal civilizational framework that has guided Bharat’s cultural, ethical, and philosophical traditions for millennia. Discussions focused on themes such as social harmony, cultural continuity, and the relevance of dharmic values in addressing contemporary societal challenges.

A number of distinguished speakers and dignitaries addressed the conference, including Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Kumar Nema, Deputy Director, IIT Delhi; Alok Kumar, International President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP); Kishor Makwana, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC); Prof. (Dr.) K G Suresh, Director, India Habitat Centre; Prof. (Dr.) Uma Kanjilal, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU; Prof. (Dr.) Sushma Yadav, former Vice Chancellor of BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Haryana; and Prof. (Dr.) Kuldeep Chand Agnihotri, former Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh, along with several eminent academicians and thinkers.

Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 in IIT (BHU)

Observers noted that premier educational and research institutions such as the IITs are increasingly becoming platforms for structured academic engagement with civilizational ideas, including Hindutva, particularly in the context of contemporary challenges related to polity, economy, social harmony, and environmental concerns.

The IIT Delhi conference also comes in the backdrop of similar academic initiatives in recent months. Last month, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and IIT (BHU) jointly hosted programmes under Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0, aimed at strengthening cultural and intellectual linkages across regions. On December 2 last year, academic sessions at BHU highlighted how shared civilizational threads within India’s diversity contribute to national identity. One such session, held at the Pt. Omkarnath Thakur Auditorium on “Kashi in Tamil Imagination: Mahakavi Subramania Bharati and His Legacy,” was attended by over 200 student delegates from Tamil Nadu along with participants from other parts of the country.

Together, these initiatives signal a broader trend of academic institutions engaging with India’s cultural heritage through conferences and scholarly dialogue, positioning civilizational studies as an integral part of contemporary academic discourse.

Reframing Hindutva in Academic Discourse

The conferences also highlighted a significant shift in scholarly engagement with the idea of Hindutva. While several foreign academic institutions and universities have, in recent years, attempted to project Hindutva through a lens of suspicion—often portraying it as a source of social dichotomy amid what critics describe as a broader current of Hinduphobia—leading Indian educational and research institutions, including the IITs, are increasingly presenting Hindutva as a civilizational ethos rooted in inclusiveness, harmony, and global peace. This evolving academic narrative, participants noted, seeks to reclaim Hindutva as a universal message of human values and coexistence rather than a divisive construct, reaffirming its relevance in addressing contemporary global challenges.
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Writer can be contacted at upananda.br@gmail.com