The 'virile' Muslim male is a recurring trope in Hindu nationalist discourse, in opposition to which Hindutva adopts its hypermasculine stance. In their imagination, hypersexual Muslims were able to invade and rule over India, because the Hindu male was weak. Thus, Hindus need

to develop militaristic masculinity to compete with Muslims. Golwalkar wrote that Bharatmata needs "young, intelligent, dedicated and more than all virile and masculine men". The prime importance given to this masculinity is why the 'shakha' is so central to the RSS. Even in

popular communal stereotypes are supposed to be stronger because they eat meat, so Hindus must undergo rigorous physical training to compete with them. As is often the case, a lot of this masculine anxiety and feelings of inferiority were crystallised during the colonial period

when whole classes of Hindu men, particularly Brahmins were categorised by colonised rulers as effeminate, except certain 'martial races' among them. In contrast, the British discredited the other potential competitors to their dominance- the Muslims- as hypersexual. The British

male was, of course, the ideal combining both intelligence and virility. These colonial stereotypes are reproduced in Hindu nationalist discourse, and inserted into medieval history, where Muslims supposedly regularly violated Hindu women, and metaphorically Bharat Mata. This

continues to the present day supposedly in the form of love jihad. The love jihad discourse is this inseparable from the image of the virile Muslim man and enduring insecurities about Hindu masculinity, rooted in the humiliation of the colonial and medieval period.

Pretty basic thread but it's always fascinating how often the word 'virile' is used on Hindu Right Twitter.

"Muslim men are sensuous and are better at satisfying a woman's desire so Hindu girls fall for them...Therefore, if a Hindu girl experiences intimacy with a Muslim boy, she falls madly in love." -Meerut's anti love-jihad 'Godwoman'. https://amp.scroll.in/article/955971/this-book-shows-how-a-meerut-godwoman-is-trying-to-save-hindu-women-from-sensuous-muslim-men?__twitter_impression=true

Dunno why Hindutvadis are surprised & going after Shefali, this is a foundational theme.This is Golwalkar in Bunch of Thoughts
"What do we see today when we look at ourselves in a mirror? Do we find any sign of manliness & strength. Without an able body we can't achieve anything"