> To what extent do you think it is correct to refer to this phenomenon as
> "nationalism?" Pardon my ignorance, but isn't "Hindu nationalism"
something
> like "Catholic nationalism," an oxymoron?
It is Hindu nationalism, since for Hindu nationalists, India is a nation of Hindus. Non Hindus such as Indian Muslims and Christians are foreigners and deserve to be a) treated as second class citizens, if not expelled/exterminated, or b) reconverted in Hinduism. For this kind of politics viz. fascistoid politics, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains form part of Hinduism, being its offshoots, while Jews and Parsis are honoured guests.
Thus the idea is to unite Hindus against imaginary internal enemies (Muslims and Christians) and reconstitute the Indian state. It would be a form of bourgeois class rule through domination (fascism) rather than hegemony (liberal democracy that India has been for almost 50 years).
Ulhas