Becoming Hindu Messengers: Boro Engagement with Religious Nationalism in Northeast India

Based on ethnographic research among the Boros in western Assam, this article examines how Hindu nationalist organizations interact with tribal communities in Northeast India. It explores how these organizations, together known as the Sangh Parivar, strive to transform tribal individuals into becoming Hindu messengers, and how these individuals navigate their roles within the Sangh. Amid the Sangh’s claims to be an egalitarian organization that fosters brotherhood and camaraderie among its members, experiences of tribal Sangh activists reveal the complex, contested, and multi-dimensional aspects of Hindutva nation-building in Northeast India. By analyzing Sangh strategies such as offering social services (seva) and moral teachings (sanskaar) to tribal communities, the article shows how the Sangh Parivar views tribal groups as inferior and in need of civilizational integration and social assimilation. The experiences of members of marginalized communities within the Sangh Parivar reveal the strategies the organization uses to adapt to local conditions and extend its appeal to communities historically excluded from its imagined Hindu collective.