Hindu ( pronunciation (help·info); Devanagari:हिंदू) refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion (i.e. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism). In common use today, it refers to an adherent of Hinduism.

With more than a billion adherents, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 940 million, live in India. Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Fiji and the island of Bali.

The word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, first mentioned in the Rig Veda, was the historic local appellation for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.

The Brihaspati Agama says:

The usage of the word Hindu was further popularized for Arabs and further west by the Arabic term al-Hind referring to the land of the people who live across river Indus and the Persian term Hindū referring to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustān emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".

Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939 in Chennai, India sometimes spelt Subramaniam Swamy) is an Indian politician, academician and an economist. He is the President of the Janata Party of India. He also presently serves as chairman of the SCMS Board of Governors of the SCMS Group of Educational Institutions in Kerala.

Swamy has previously served as member of the Planning Commission of India and Cabinet Minister of India. He has written extensively on foreign affairs dealing largely with India-China, India-Pakistan and Indo-Israel relation and is also a published author.

In November 1978, Swamy was member of the Group of Eminent persons called to Geneva to prepare a report of the United Nations (UNCTAD) on Economic Co-operation between Developing countries (ECDC).Swamy simplified trade procedures and formulated a new export strategy which became the forerunner of trade reform adopted subsequently. In 1994, Swamy was appointed as Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade by then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. This was perhaps for the first time that an Opposition Party member was given a Cabinet rank post by the ruling party.

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (Urdu: ذاکر عبدالکریم نائیک; born 18 October 1965) is an Indian public speaker on the subject of Islam and comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), a non-profit organisation that owns the Peace TV channel based in Dubai, UAE. He is sometimes referred to as a televangelist. Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a doctor. He has written two booklets on Islam and comparative religion. He is regarded as an exponent of the Salafi ideology; he places a strong emphasis on individual scholarship and the rejection of "blind Taqlid", which has led him to repudiate the relevance of sectarian or Madh'hab designations, all the while reaffirming their importance.

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik was born on 18 October 1965 in Mumbai, India. He attended St. Peter's High School in Mumbai. Later he enrolled at Kishinchand Chellaram College, before studying medicine at Topiwala National Medical College and Nair Hospital and later the University of Mumbai, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS). His wife, Farhat Naik, works for the women's section of the IRF.

Swaminathan Gurumurthy (Tamil: சுவாமிநாதன் குருமூர்த்தி;Hindi: स्वामिनाथन गुरुमूर्ती) is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a journalist and a chartered accountant in India.

He is a strong proponent of the traditional Indian economic wisdom that was a part of every home and village model but he was also associated with some of the biggest corporate deals in India.^{[citation needed]}

Gurumurthy was born in a small village, 160 kilometres South of Chennai (formerly Madras). He had his schooling in a local school and higher education at the Vivekananda College, Chennai. Unable to realize his dreams to study law, he chose to become a Chartered Accountant. After completing the course in 1972, he joined an auditing firm and was allotted the job of maintaining the books of some of the companies of the press baron, Ramnath Goenka. Impressed by this young accountant, in 1975, Goenka offered a job, which Gurumurthy declined.^{[citation needed]} In 1976, he started his own firm, Guru & Varadhan, which was financially supported by the Goenka family.^{[citation needed]} He was drawn into RSS since his college days and continues his affiliation with the organisation and has had an important role in many assignments. He is a leading member of the think-tank of Sangh Parivar.

Akbaruddin Owaisi (born 14 June 1971) is an Indian politician and a MLA. He belongs to All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin and is its floor leader in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Akbaruddin Owaisi was born in Hyderabad to Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi on 14 June 1971. His elder brother is Asaduddin Owaisi, Member of Parliament representing Hyderabad constituency. Akbaruddin Owaisi discontinued his MBBS study midway to help his father, Late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi retain the Chandrayangutta assembly constituency by winning the elections in 1999. Akbaruddin was first elected to the state Assembly in 1999 and served as a deputy to his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi, who was leading the MIM in the House. In 2004, Akbaruddin became the floor leader of MIM in the Assembly upon Asaduddin’s election to Lok Sabha from Hyderabad. He was relected in 2009 and now leads the seven-member MIM in the House. Akbaruddin has been very vocal about the land mafia grabbing Wakf properties in the assembly Akbaruddin survived an attempt on his life in april 2011 when a 12 member team of land mafia attacked him ,he was shot thrice and recived multiple stabs but managed to survive ,the whole episode was recorded on camera and made Akbaruddin a survival hero. Akbaruddin owaisi is also the managing director of Owaisi hospital which was setup by his late father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi for the welfare of the poor .