by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions, Politics
By Amulya Ganguli,
If Rahul Gandhi participates in the meeting called by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to discuss the country’s future, he can take the opportunity to seek clarifications on the organisation’s worldview. The replies by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, to the Congress president’s questions cannot but have an impact on the outfit’s future in case a clear picture emerges about its attitude towards the various communities.
For instance, did K.B. Hedgewar, who founded the RSS in 1925, call the Muslims “yavan-snakes”? If so, is this still the view of the organisation or has there been a change? A related question can be on Hedgewar’s successor, M.S. Golwalkar’s categorisation of the Muslims as “Internal Enemies No.1”.
It is possible to link these uncharitable assessments of India’s largest minority community to V.D. Savarkar’s thesis that the only true sons of the soil are the Hindus since India is both their “pitribhu” (fatherland) and “punyabhu” (holy land).
In contrast, such organic and emotive connections cannot be ascribed to the minorities whose pitribhu may be India, but their punyabhu is in Makkah or Rome. It is presumably because of this reason that Golwalkar described Christians as “Internal Enemies No.2”.
At one stroke, the two Maharashtrian Brahmins had relegated the Muslims and Christians to the status of being “aliens” because of their religious affiliations to foreign lands. It goes without saying that this perception persists among the rank and file of the saffron brotherhood to whom the patriotism of these two communities are forever in doubt.
Hence, the observation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, Vinay Katiyar, that Muslims have no place in India because their natural “homes” are Pakistan and Bangladesh, while another BJP MP, Roopa Ganguly, has said that West Bengal’s partition in 1947 meant that only Hindus would live in the state and that the Muslims should go to East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. If both these statements deny legitimacy to the Muslim citizens of India, the reason can be traced to Savarkar’s views.
It is obvious that the RSS cannot claim to be abiding by the Indian Constitution if it subscribes to such opinions. Yet, disowning the two Hindutva luminaries will cut the ground from under its feet because these beliefs constitute the core of its philosophy.
At a time, however, when the RSS is reaching out to eminent people outside its fold, it cannot be long before some among the invited guests question the basis of the organisation’s belief system. Otherwise, it will seem that they have all been taken for a ride.
Up until now, the RSS has been cautious in its outreach. The most prominent among those (apart from A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who was the BJP’s choice for the President) who have been called to deliver a lecture to the RSS cadres is former President Pranab Mukherjee. Ratan Tata was next, but he chose not to speak.
Reports that the RSS is now thinking of inviting Rahul Gandhi and the communist leader, Sitaram Yechury, suggest that it is gaining in confidence about the exposure to diverse and contrary views. It is also considering holding “vaicharik kumbh” sessions with intellectuals in various cities with non-RSS individuals.
Perhaps the interaction with Pranab Mukherjee has told the RSS that it can successfully conduct its programme of interactions. There is little doubt that the former President hedged his bets while speaking in Nagpur lest his hosts be offended.
For instance, while ranging over Indian history, he made no mention of the Indus Valley Civilisation, presumably because it would have raised questions about whether it was Aryan, as the Hindutva group claims, or pre-Aryan which is the generally accepted view.
Similarly, he skipped over the entire Muslim period after referring to the Muslims as “invaders”, which would have gladdened saffron hearts, and made no mention of Akbar, whose title of “the Great” given by “secular” historians is contested by the present dispensation.
It will not serve any purpose, either for the RSS or its opponents, if everyone plays safe to keep the hosts in good humour. Instead, a reference will be perfectly in order by a guest to Hedgewar, who warned “others” not to “infringe on the rights of Hindus” since they must remember that “they are living in Hindusthan of Hindus”, and to Golwalkar and Savarkar.
The latest initiatives of the RSS are obviously intended to secure acceptance among a wider section of hoi polloi by demonstrating that it is not quite the ogre that its critics allege. But as in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s case, the flaunting of a gentler, kinder face may be construed as a mask unless the RSS formally dissociates itself from the anti-minority observations of its guiding lights like Hedgewar, Golwalkar and Savarkar.
There have been several occasions in history where a party has initiated major changes in its outlook. One of these was the British Labour Party’s decision to drop Clause IV of its constitution calling for the “common ownership” of the means of production. The communists, too, have done away with the concept of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Will the RSS follow suit by amending its basic ideology ?
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Amulya Ganguli,
It was an evening of pious homilies at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur where former President and now citizen Pranab Mukherjee was the guest of honour at a valedictory function.
While he dwelt on how pluralism and tolerance constituted the “soul” of India, the RSS sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, expounded on the organization’s vision which extended well beyond the Hindu samaj (society) with which it is usually associated to encompass all the children of Bharat Mata (Mother India).
There was no ‘paraya’ (outsider) in his view, nor any ‘dushman’ (enemy). Observers noted that there was no mention of a Hindu ‘rashtra’ (nation), the leitmotif of the RSS, in Bhagwat’s speech.
Was this a concession to a diehard former Congressman Mukherjee’s secular sensitivities or has there been a change of heart on the part of the RSS ? If the latter, it will mark a seminal change in the outlook of the 93-year-old organization and carries the potential of a political and social upheaval.
Arguably, Bhagwat’s claim about Mother India’s parentage of all Indians, irrespective of caste or creed, is on a par with Narendra Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikas” (For all, development for all) mantra. It is also the essence of the multicultural, multireligious secular concept, which is routinely derided as “sickular” by the saffron trolls.
However, just as the agenda of development for all hasn’t led to any marked diminution in the “darkness, fear and mistrust”, as Mukherjee said, in the minds of the minorities, as testified by, among others, former vice-president Hamid Ansari and the archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto, it remains to be seen whether Bhagwat’s outreach to everyone leads to Muslims not being called “Babur ki aulad” (children of the Mughal emperor, Babur) by Hindutva activists or to Christian missionaries not being accused of a relentless engagement with conversions.
How difficult a transformation in the attitudes of the average RSS supporter would be might be gauged from the way a saffron commentator on television latched on to Mukherjee’s reference to Muslim “invaders” and British colonisers to note how the former President’s views differed from the benignity of the secularists in associating Muslims with biryani and the British with cakes.
Notwithstanding the time it might take for the Hindu Right and the secular camp to evolve some kind of a commonality, it goes without saying that the initiative taken by the RSS to invite a person from the opposing camp, so to say, and also by the latter’s acceptance of the invitation bode well for the country.
It will be a matter of great relief all around if last Thursday’s interaction in Nagpur leads to a reduction in the present atmosphere of bitter polarization. The process might be a long-drawn one considering how for decades the two lines of thought of a composite culture (of Hindus, Muslims and others) on one hand and of cultural nationalism (one people, one nation, one culture) on the other have battled one another.
But the endeavour towards a consensus will be worthwhile if only it dissuades an M.P. like Vinay Katiyar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from saying that Muslims have no right to live in India or for an arrested suspect to justify the journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder on the grounds that she was anti-Hindu.
The test of the Nagpur bonhomie, therefore, will be to see whether there has been a mollifying impact on the Hindutva hotheads.
It has to be remembered, however, that although the RSS is the paterfamilias of the saffron brotherhood, there are other organizations – the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (which are a part of the Sangh Parivar) and Hindu Mahasabha (which is not) as well as others – which are ardent votaries of a Hindu ‘rashtra’ by, of and for Hindus where the minorities have to live as second-class citizens.
It will take more than two speeches in Nagpur, therefore, to save the pluralist “soul” of India.
What is more, since fundamentalism begets fundamentalism, the stridency of the Hindu version even if only by outliers like the VHP can encourage the bigots among Muslims or the Khalistanis among Sikhs to up the ante at the instigation of Pakistan.
Another fallout of the Nagpur interaction will be for the Left-Liberals to interpret a toning down of the saffron rhetoric as victory for the secular camp and a defeat for the Parivar. The Congress is already gloating over how Mukherjee held up the “mirror of truth” to the RSS although the party was at first extremely nervous about what their old stalwart would say on entering enemy territory.
Now that his history lessons were seen to be in line with the authorized version favoured by the Congress as opposed to the saffron interpretations, the party has heaved a sigh of relief. But the battle of wits is likely to continue.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mukul Sangma
Shillong : Slamming RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark that “anybody living in India is a Hindu”, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Tuesday said “India is a secular, democratic country and secularism is part of our constitution”.
“Their agenda is only to divide the Indian people on lines of religion and create communal tension. His statement (made in Tripura) is loud and clear that the motive is to that. We really need to ponder,” Sangma told IANS.
“It is totally unacceptable to say that anybody living in India is a Hindu. The whole world knows that India is a secular, democratic country and secularism is part of our constitution,” the veteran Congress leader said.
Sangma said that the nation must not allow such divisive forces to spread communalism as it is dangerous and pose a threat to India.
“Our secular ideals are under threat because of the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). We cannot allow these divisive forces to further penetrate and it is dangerous for any nation to be dictated by such forces,” he said.
Charging the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre of imposing the RSS agenda, Sangma said: “They (Modi government) have been driven by the RSS agenda and this government is implementing them.”
“Ever since they came to power, they have been implementing RSS ideology. It is time for people to be blunt and frank and express their concern,” the Congress leader said.
Sangma also said the Congress is firm and ready to defend the secular fabric of India.
“We should not lose focus. One after another, the hidden agenda of the BJP has come out. We should be able to properly articulate… and be ready to defend the future of this nation,” Sangma said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Mohan Bhagwat
Indore : Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that India is the land of Hindus but it does not exclude others.
“Hindustan is a country of Hindus. However, it does not mean that it does not belong to others. All those who were born in India, and their forefathers were from this land would be called Hindu. Hence, it is called Hindutva and not Hinduism,” he said on Friday while addressing college-goers at ‘Shankhnad’ event here.
If those living in Germany are Germans, those in America are Americans, in the same way, every person living in Hindustan is Hindu, Bhagwat said.
Despite its diversity, India has consistently exhibited unity, he added.
Bhagwat said public participation was crucial for development of the country and it could not be left solely to the government.
Progress of the government depended on the progress of society, he said.
Saying that change cannot be brought by force, Bhagwat asked for change in “vision, conduct, thinking”.
“We are moving in that direction speedily,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
Mohan Bhagwat
New Delhi : RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday discussed the issues related to constitutional amendments needed to integrate the troubled Jammu and Kashmir and also the present economic situation of the country with top intellectuals of the country.
Continuing his outreach programmes, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday met intellectuals from different walks of life and officials of different government and NGOs here at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.
The event, attended by Vice Chancellors of various central universities, heads of PSUs, top bosses of other government-run organisations and eminent personalities like doctors, former bureaucrats, lawyers and industrialists, was a indoor meeting.
The meeting of the RSS chief with the top intellectuals of the country assumes significance as the government is under attack within and from the opposition as well over the state of economy.
“After Vijaya Dashmi speech, Sarsanghachalakji meets people from different walks of life and discusses issues raised in his speech. He discussed the issues here also,” Manmohan Vaidya, the head of RSS Publicity Department (Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh) told IANS.
Bhagwat also got feedback from the invitees about the working of RSS and the improvement needed in the organisation.
Besides the RSS chief, senior functionaries like Bhaiyaji Joshi, Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabale, Manmohan Vaidya attended the meet.
Before reaching Delhi, Bhagwat met with a minor accident during his return from Vrindavan in the morning.
Bhagwat, since last few years, has been meeting industrialists, educationists, diplomats and intellectuals from different walks of life to strengthen the saffron organisation.
Recently, Bhagwat met diplomats of different countries here at a function organised by India Foundaion.
During his Dussehra speech, Bhagwat had raised concerns about constitutional provisions like Article 35(a), that empowers the state’s legislature to define Jammu and Kashmir residents and accord citizenship rights to them, for the “backward life” of these Hindu migrants and also Kashmiri Pandits, who migrated from the valley in early 1990s when an armed insurgency broke out in the state, saying their condition “remains as it is”.
—IANS
