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The RSS Goal of Hindu Rashtra: - Savera
The RSS Goal of Hindu Rashtra: - Savera
The CPI(M) is bringing out a series of six booklets entitled RSS Against
India.
They include (1) The RSS role in India’s freedom movement and its
communal role in independent India (2) the RSS concept of Hindu
Rashtra and its approach to caste, gender and adivasis (3) The “beef “
politics of the RSS (4) the RSS understanding of neo-liberal economic
policies and of the working classes (5) the RSS distortion of Science
and History (6) speeches of General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and
Polit Bureau member Md. Salim in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha
respectively during the debate in Parliament in November 2015, on
“Constitution Day”and on “Growing Intolerance.”
Several of the essays in these booklets quote from the published writings
of RSS founders particularly from the writings of M.S.Golwalkar, the
second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS. It may be asked what relevance
do these writings have to an analysis of contemporary activities of the
RSS. These are texts which remain the fountainhead of RSS ideology,
and continue to determine its world view and practice. Three quarters
of a century may have passed since Golwalkar’s We—or our
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Nationhood Defined and a Bunch of Thoughts were written, but it also in large measure enjoyed during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s time, but
their toxic concepts have been articulated by RSS Chiefs throughout it actually is in a position of control in this Government. When a roll call
this period including the present RSS Chief, Mohan Bhagwat’s statement of Ministers is taken for the presentation of a report card to RSS leaders,
that Hindustan is for Hindus. In all these years not in a single statement, it is clear who is calling the shots. It is therefore necessary to expose
writing or text in any of the publications of the RSS or its political wing the RSS, its links to the Government and the extra constitutional power
the BJP has there been even a semblance of a distancing, leave alone a it wields today.
rejection, of any of the formulations made by RSS founders. On the
contrary, the present Prime Minister has written a biographical Further, Narendra Modi was a pracharak, a full time worker of the
profile of Golwalkar in his book “Jyotipunj” describing Golwalkar as RSS owing total allegiance to its ideology, its theories and practice. For
one of his inspirations. Therefore the quotations used in the booklets to a pracharak to become the Prime Minister of India is a big step forward
illustrate RSS ideology, some repeated, are relevant to an understanding in the RSS project. Gujarat 2002 was a result as well as an experiment
of the “core “ of this organization, which has been inspired by videshi of the Hindu rashtra project under his leadership in which he was fully
fascists--Hitler’s Nazis and Mussolini’s Blackshirts. backed by the RSS. In 2013-2014, when differences arose in the BJP
as to who should lead the party’s bid for power in the 2014 Lok Sabha
The question may also be raised that are these exposures of the RSS at elections, it was the RSS which not only backed Modi’s candidature but
all necessary and do they not inadvertently enhance its importance? directly intervened to silence the opposition of L.K.Advani and other
The RSS, as many of the essays in these booklets show, appeals to the senior leaders. The Prime Minister’s refusal to take any action against
lowest denominator in human behavior in inciting violence against “the those who are his colleagues in the RSS and are now in positions of
other.” In doing so it seeks to exploit religious feelings and utilises power in the BJP in spite of their repeated communally provocative
traditions and beliefs based on social and gender inequalities that still actions and statements is a reflection of his loyalty to the RSS. For
influence a substantial section of our people. Hindutva as preached by India’s Prime Minister it is RSS first.
the RSS is a political concept coined by V.D.Savarkar, far from the
world of ordinary Hindu believers. Those fighting against the utilization It is thus necessary to provide the facts, the deeds and the analysis of
of religion for political ends need to be conscious of the dimensions of what the RSS actually represents. We hope this series will be useful in
the battle. the struggle to safeguard and strengthen the principles of secularism,
democracy and equality.
Religion as a political tool is used by fundamentalist forces of various
hues and in the name of various religious faiths. The role of Muslim
On behalf of the central publications team we express our gratitude to
fundamentalist forces who are increasing their reach among sections
the authors of these essays, and to the comrades and friends of the
of Muslim youth are a matter of deep concern and they need to be
Party who helped bring out this series. We also thank the cartoonists
isolated and fought back.
for permission to use their work.
These forces are encouraged by majoritarian Hindu fundamentalists
who falsely claim to represent the nation. These apparently opposing
forces strengthen each other and divert attention from the basic problems Brinda Karat
of the people. Polit Bureau Member
With the advent of the BJP Government led by Narendra Modi at the
centre, the RSS not only has free access to the levers of power, which
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written a book painting him as a spiritual giant and visionary.
This ‘nation’ has lived in this land for “lakhs of years” as Golwalkar
puts it, defying all known scientific evidence. It was a land of
munificence, of spiritual geniuses, of divinity. Then the Hindus became
complacent and numb, and the great land became “infested with
murderous bands of despoilers” for the “last thousand years or less”.
This led to a decline of the Hindu people.Clearly, Golwalkar is
blaming the Muslims for the so called decline. Now, the task is to rebuild
The RSS Goal of Hindu Rashtra and re-establish the great Hindu Nation.
The first defining characteristic of the Hindu Rashtra is that only Hindus
Savera can be part of it:
(I)n this country, Hindusthan, the Hindu Race with its Hindu
Religion, Hindu Culture and Hindu Language, (the natural
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, little did Indians voting for Modi led family of Sanskrit and her off-springs) complete the Nation
BJP know that they actually voted for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak concept: that, in fine, in Hindusthan exists and must needs
Sangh (RSS). Modi himself was a fulltime worker (pracharak) of this exist the ancient Hindu nation and nought else but the
organization for over three decades. Most of the ministers are its long Hindu Nation. All those not belonging to the national i.e.
standing members as are a large number of the BJP’s MPs. It is the Hindu Race, Religion, Culture and Language, naturally
ideology and thinking of RSS that imbues all these people, from the fall out of the pale of real ‘National’ life. (p.99)
Prime Minister Modi downwards. It is their holding the reins of power
that has emboldened dozens of shady outfits, all over the country to put In this gem of Golwalkar, you can begin to see not only the supremacist
into violent practice what the RSS has been propagating for the past 90 colouring, the barely hidden violent hostility towards other faiths, but
years. And, it is this that has created an atmosphere of strife and mistrust also the Sanskritised and Brahminical outlook. The Hindu Rashtra
in India’s social fabric, threatening to tear apart people’s unity and drag consists of people speaking languages of the Sanskrit family – that
the country into medieval darkness. leaves out the Dravidian language family and most of the tribal languages.
This would later translate into continuous hankering by the Sangh
But what do the RSS and its cohorts want? What kind of India do they Parivar outfits including the BJP and its precursor, the Jan Sangh, for
plan to build? What kind of society do they have in mind? And why is it imposition of Hindi.
so dangerous, so incendiary? Let us try to understand this.
But what stands out is that all those who are not Hindu will fall outside
The ‘Hindu’ Nation the pale of national life. Later Golwalkar puts it even more directly:
The ultimate objective of the RSS is to build a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu At the outset we must bear in mind that so far as ‘nation’ is
Nation). M.S.Golwalkar the longest serving RSS supremo and source concerned, all those, who fall outside the five-fold limits of
of most of its ideology wrote a book “We – Or Our Nationhood Defined” that idea, can have no place in the national life, unless
laying out in detail the RSS vision of the ‘Hindu’ Rashtra. Modi has they abandon their differences, adopt the religion, culture
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and language of the Nation and completely merge actively instigating and participating in communal violence, like the Gujarat
themselves in the National Race. So long, however, as they killings in 2002 when Modi was the chief minister.
maintain their racial, religious and cultural differences,
they cannot but be only foreigners, who may be either In the RSS view, ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’ are narrowly and
friendly or inimical to the Nation. (p. 101) erroneously defined as valid only so long as their objective is the
glorification of Hinduism. Any other activity is anti-national and such
In other words, the non-Hindus – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, people traitors. This is what Golwalkar says on this:
Buddhists and many tribal communities – must either accept Hinduism
or face life as a second-class citizen or worse. Lest there be any ..only those movements are truly ‘National’ as aim at re-
confusion, Golwalkar spells it out clearly, calling them ‘foreign races’: building, re-vitalizing and emancipating from its present
stupor, the Hindu Nation. Those only are nationalist
….the foreign races in Hindusthan must either adopt the patriots, who, with the aspiration to glorify the Hindu race
Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold and Nation next to their heart, are prompted into activity
in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those and strive to achieve that goal. All others are either traitors,
of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e., of and enemies to the National cause, or, to take a charitable
the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to view, idiots. (p. 99-100)
merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly
subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, The Theocratic State
deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment
-not even citizen’s rights. (p. 104-5) What these thoughts of Golwalkar spell out, is a vision of a theocratic
state, with its official guiding principle, the Sanatan Dharm
Golwalkar was writing this book in the late 1930’s when the Nazi party (the mainstream ritualistic interpretation of Hindu scriptures and
led by Adolf Hitler was on the cusp of seizing power in Germany. mythology). What would this theocratic state be like?
Naturally, Golwalkar was very impressed by what the Nazis were doing
to the Jews, and he spells out his approval: There are some very contemporary examples of countries ruled by
religious fanatics. Afghanistan during the Taliban rule (1992-2001) was
Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of one, and more recently the ISIS held area in Syria and Iraq is another.
the Semitic Races—the Jews. Race pride at its highest has The Islamic law was the guiding principle for governance and policy
been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well- making in these countries. Very similar are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having (where women can’t go out alone and got the right to vote just recently),
differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one or Iran, although the latter has embraced some modern elements in its
united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn polity. Even Pakistan officially has Islam as its guiding principle since
and profit by. (p.88) Gen. Zia-ul Haque’s reign (1978-88). Another mutant of the theocratic
state is Israel, forcibly created and functioning on the basis of strict
Now we can fully understand the RSS view of Muslims – either they Hebrew principles. All these states practice extreme forms of violence,
should embrace Hinduism (“gharwapasi”) or face extermination. That not only against a targeted religious or ethnic minority, but they also
is why repeatedly BJP leaders call for people protesting against their violently suppress followers of the state religion too.
communal views to leave India and go to Pakistan. That is why they
leave no stone unturned to incite violence against minorities in India, The experience of these theocratic states also shows that they are unable
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to control divisions and strife within the people who are of the same What about the people?
religion. Muslim majority East Pakistan suffered at the hands of the West
Pakistani rulers till they gained independence to form Bangladesh in 1971. So, in this vision of the Hindu Rashtra, where do the people fit in? What
Nepal, the only declared Hindu state in the world was governed by a do they do, how do they live, what is the aim of life? According to the
ruthless monarchy that tyrannized its own people, leading to a 10-year RSS, as spelt out by Golwalkar, the purpose of life is to lead a religious
long armed uprising which threw out the monarchy and established a existence and ultimately attain moksha (eternal bliss, free of the cycle
republic. Worldwide experience shows that religion cannot become the of existence). He roundly and extensively condemns the pursuit of
basis of making a modern country with diverse people. physical pleasures and things. He calls them necessary evils that one
should not obsess about. This takes care of any demand or aspiration of
Perhaps, it might be said that we are going too far in thinking that the the common people to break the bonds of extreme poverty,
RSS is wanting such a Hindu state in India. But make no mistake: this unemployment, disease, ignorance and all manner of oppression.
is what they want. This is what Golwalkar’s thoughts, the guiding
principles of the RSS-BJP, show. This is why, just after Independence, Details of economic policy to be followed by the Hindu Rashtra are
Organiser the mouthpiece of RSS demanded that instead of the sketchy and childish. Golwalkar rails against heavy industrialization
Constitution, the Manumsriti be enacted as the law of the land (see (Vol.9 p.59) and wants the villages to become self-sufficient (Vol.5 pp
issues dated 30th November, 1949 and 25th January 1950). 13-14). He stresses use of cow dung for boosting production (Vol.5 pp
Manusmriti is a treatise said to be written by the sage Manu laying 65-68). He sheds the usual tears over poverty and criticizes those who
down the Hindu principles of individual and collective life. It includes merely raise slogans for eradicating it. Then, in an incredible display of
shocking prescriptions against women and dalits, so much so that either naiveté or deviousness, he recommends that for eliminating poverty,
Dr.Ambedkar publicly burnt a copy of the Manusmriti as an act of every Hindu should keep aside a fistful of grain every day for the poor
protest. and hungry (Vol.5 p.92)!
Golwalkar says that democracy is a Western construct which is not But what is the solution? He writes (Vol.5 pp 263-265) that the only
suitable for India. The Hindu Rashtra, he writes (Shri Guruji Samagra way of eradicating poverty is for people to stop being selfish and start
Vol.5 pp.89-90), should be justly governed by a group of people who working harder, with greater honesty, adding to national resources. This
are selfless and self-sacrificing. Not only does this apparently naïve is the foundation on which the great Hindu Rashtra will be built and
view hide a fascistic vision but it also invokes the age-old varnashram become a beacon of hope for the whole world! What this means is that
(four caste) system wherein the rulers were Brahmins, mythically thought the vast laboring classes should blindly work for the ‘nation’ without
to be poor but all knowing, and they ruled over the warriors and the getting upset about more wages or facilities, just receiving enough for
traders, and of course the whole laboring classes. their immediate survival needs. The rest of the wealth they create can
be spread around.
Interestingly, the RSS is itself organized in this fascistic manner. There
are no elections in the RSS. The supremo – sarsanghchalak – is What about capitalists and landlords who monopolise vast means of
appointed by the predecessor. All sarsanghchalaks till date have been production like land and machinery, and capital? Golwalkar suggests
Brahmins. Below him are state or region level supremos, and so on that ‘a change of heart’ is what is expected from them so that they stop
down to the shakhapramukh. There are military drills, parades and collecting wealth and start sharing it (vol.2 p. 100-101)! This is the
march-pasts, a special salute, a uniform, singing of ‘patriotic’ songs – Gandhian type solution, a favorite of all apologists of capitalism and
all like the Nazis, down to the khaki shorts and black cap. exploitation. Golwalkar calls it an ‘Indian’ solution – in fact it is neither
10 11
Indian nor a solution to the relentless class exploitation that is the hallmark
of all human societies.
This glossing over the nuts and bolts of the economic realities, the intense
exploitation under which millions in India labour, just to fill the coffers of
landlords and industrialist, looks naïve but seen in the context of RSS’s
other pronouncements about the greatness of Hinduism reveals the true
nature of the Hindu Rashtra. It is merely an instrument to fool the
people, drive them into the blind alley of religious fanaticism. All the
while, a fascistic control will be exercised so that the economic and RSS and the National Movement
social elite, those who own land and industry, the upper castes and their
camp followers can make merry and reap the profits of this pious
population. Nalini Taneja
Can the RSS succeed?
This terrifying vision of a theocracy rooted in unscientific and medieval In the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi's murder, under pressure from
ideas if presented to the people of India in its true form will be rejected widespread popular anger and the Central Government ban, the RSS in
lock, stock and barrel. The world, and India, have gone far beyond order to get the ban lifted and perhaps retrieve some loss of image and
what a group of well-heeled upper caste men thought decades ago in credibility, was forced to declare that it was not a political organization
Nagpur. The people of India have successfully fought against and thrown : that it was, in fact, a social-cultural organization. It is primarily a social-
out one of the most powerful colonial empires ever seen. In this they cultural organization, with numerous political affiliates. Its everyday
forged a unity that cut across religions, castes and ethnic or linguistic cultural activism has been the basis, the foundational element, in its
divides. It is true that the dreams of an equitable society based on reason fascistic agenda of the Hindu Rashtra.
and fraternity have not yet been realized because the ruling classes of
Independent India have continued to sow division among people. But For the RSS the freedom movement stands incomplete until a Hindu
the people know, through their daily life and experience that religion Rashtra is established, the efforts for which were given a firm
cannot be the path of collective emancipation. If that was the case no organizational base with the formation of the RSS in 1925. The core of
Hindu worker would suffer brutal exploitation and humiliation at the this Rashtra is hegemony of the Brahmanical social order, in all its
hands of his Hindu employer, no dalit would be raped or killed by Hindu aspects.
landlords.
The blueprint for a homogenous, militarised notion of the nation,
But we have to fight and defeat the spread of RSS and its cohorts completely elite, hegemonised by the upper caste, was ready before
because in their drive to attain their goal, the RSS and its fronts like the Independence. A transformation, as fundamental as we see today, of
BJP will continue to bleed India, spread divisive hatred and poison and religion itself and of festivals and rituals, and the hate-filled campaigns
try to break the unity of people. This drive has gained momentum because on cow, population, conversions, temples, diet, on a secular
of the BJP coming to power. They see this as a mandate to penetrate understanding of history,were part of the mobilisational strategy of the
deeply into the society, subvert all its democratic institutions and create forces of Hindu communalism during the entire course of the nationalist
conditions for extending their rule by hook or by crook. upsurge.
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I or an exclusionary Hindu Rashtra, which would retain the ideals of the
oppressive caste system reflected in the Manusmriti:
The RSS (Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh) came into being in the era of
the aggressive nationalisms of the twentieth century in Europe and a …the foreign races in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu
triumphant socialism in the Soviet Union – a fertile soil for revolutionary culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence
anti-colonial movements as well as for the authoritarian, fascist Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification
movements. of the Hindu race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation and must
lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may
The historic impact of the Russian revolution of 1917 was quite visible. stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claim-
Bhagat Singh and his comrades and all other progressive, socialist and ing nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treat-
communist groups in the country, and sections of the Congress, were ment not even citizen’s rights. There is, at least should be, no other
inspired by this heritage. Revolutionary nationalism and the creation of course for them to adopt. We are an old nation: let us deal, as old
communist groups, culminating in the formation of the Communist Party nations ought to and do deal, with the foreign races who have
of India, was a part of this process. chosen to live in our country. (We-or Our Nationhood Defined)
The RSS represented the opposite pole: it took its inspiration from the It actively promoted contentious and sectarian issues in social, everyday
fascist powers in Italy and Germany, along with their authoritarianism, life. There was a proliferation of gauraksha samitis, and militant
racism, ideas of a ‘golden past’ to justify their reactionary social and assertions of its sacredness.These aggressive campaigns against cow
political agenda, and the much celebrated preoccupation with an Aryan slaughter were turned into hate propaganda against the Muslims.
identity. This was combined by it with selected elements from the Campaigns over conversions, based on British census that recorded
revivalist thought of the nineteenth century in India and from colonial religious affiliations, were used for aggressive shuddhi campaigns and
perceptions of Indian history and society. The RSS promoted a vision creation of paranoia over Hindus becoming a ‘minority’ in ‘their own
of the nation diametrically opposed to that reflected in the aspirations of land’, much like today’s gharwapsi. Religious processions became
the left groups, and of Phule, Periyar, and Ambedkar. Its vision of the occasions for aggressive playing of music in front of mosques to coincide
nation contained nothing for the majority – the working people or the with namaz timings, and of course the familiar placing carcasses of
oppressed. The RSS was formed with the express purpose of confronting cows in temples and pigs in mosques is a ‘strategy’ that dates to pre-
the rise of the anti-caste movements and left ideology and groups in Independence days.
order to defend the existing social order (Varnashram dharma, caste
system). The Hindu ‘golden age’ and the ‘Muslim atrocities’ of the Mughals,
forced conversions, destruction of temples by Muslims, the veergatha
The 1920s and the 30s were decades of mass anti-colonial movements, of ‘thousands’ of years-old struggle of ‘Hindu martyrs’ against ‘foreign’
with the non-cooperation movement being its first nation-wide rule (with no respect even for chronology), identification of history, nation
manifestation. It is instructive to note the contrasting campaigns of the and self-hood, and all of it encapsulated within a Hinduism that was
Hindustan Republican Association (formed in 1924) and its manifesto already being given the modern shape of Hindutva, were themes regularly
‘The Revolutionary’ which declared its commitment to secularism and and routinely featured in their publications: Gita Press had been
revolution in 1925, and the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha. established in the 1920s, Hindu Panch was a vitriolic magazine, and
leaflets and public meetings were in abundance. By the 1940s there
In contrast to a secular republic, in which every one was envisaged as were a lot more magazines, and by late 1940s a number of newspapers
an equal citizen, the RSS and its political affiliates stood for Hindusthan
14 15
with a committed readership beyond their cadres. Hindi-Hindu- Conspiracy cases, the Meerut conspiracy case, in which Muzaffar
Hindusthan was created as a corollary to Urdu-Muslim-Pakistan. Ahmad got “transportation for life”, and the Kanpur Conspiracy case.
They formed their Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, for women and their various And what were the leaders and cadres of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha
fronts for students and youth to promote their own exclusionary vision doing? Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularized in Vidya Bharti texts
of the nation. They were extremely aggressive in defense of the caste and in RSS folklore as “Veer” Savarkar, even apologized to the British
system, even as they saw the gains to be made in creating ‘Hindu and collaborated with them. In 1907 (in his book on 1857) he was
unity’: they saw Congress as incapable of defending it in the form referring to 1857 as the first manifestation of Hindu-Muslim coming
propounded by the Vedas. “India first” in everything, from science to together, for a pragmatic reason, in an otherwise ‘centuries long conflict’
culture, was proclaimed by them even as they remained subservient in and the ‘continuing struggle of Hindus against the foreigners (Muslims)’.
their attitudes to the British: in fact they completely accepted and carried By 1913 he clearly and unambiguously broke away from India’s freedom
forward the colonial views on Indian history, as they do even today. movement and adopted a public position expressing this break. He
assured freedom for himself from the Andaman Jail promising good
The Muslims were an enemy to them, as they are today, despite the behaviour in the future: text of this, second, petition is printed in RC
fact of their having fought for freedom in large numbers, quite unlike Majumdar’s Penal Settlement in the Andamans, and its facsimile
the cadres of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha. Historiography is replete also in Frontline (April 7, 1995, p. 94). By 1924 he had elaborated on
with reference to the lakhs of Muslims who participated in the mass Hindutva (his book Hindutva), which treated the vast Muslim minority
movements of 1857, non-co-operation, civil disobedience and Quit India, as enemies (with a call to Hinduise all politics and militarise
and were imprisoned and martyred. In the Singapore Mutiny of 1915, Hindudom). He collaborated with the British, and routinely took
Muslim Sepoys of 15th Light infantry, inspired by the Ghadar movement, positions opposed to the mass movements against the British and
carried out the biggest mutiny after 1857, with 49 of them summarily Congress when it organized anti-British movements; he proudly
executed by being shot dead. Names like, Muzaffar Ahmed, Ashfaqullah subscribed to the two-nation theory in his presidential speeches to the
Khan, Hasrat Mohani, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Asaf Ali, Saiffuddin Hindu Mahasabha; and after independence his role in Gandhi murder,
Kitchlew, BadruddinTyabji, Abul Kalam Azad are only some of the of which he was absolved only for lack of corroborating evidence.
household names. Incidentally, there is an instance also of Vajpayee doing the collaboration
with the British during the Quit India movement; by becoming ‘approver’
Communists, also characterized as anti-national by the RSS were not leading to arrest of some freedom fighters (Manini Chatterjee, VK
only exemplary freedom fighters, but also organized the workers, Ramachandran, Frontline, Vol.15, No. 3, Feb. 7-20, 1998).
peasants and youth to fight not just the British, but also the Indian ruling
classes who oppressed them. There are thousands of them. In fact, The RSS’chief mode of intervention in the nationalist upsurge was to
two communists -Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Swami Kumarananda - instigate and engineer riots, bring ‘communal conflicts’ on par with
first moved a resolution for complete independence at the Ahmedabad nationalist slogans, to express agreement on the two nation theory on
session of the Indian National Congress (1921). It was the communists grounds of the ‘enemy within’. The propaganda and agitational methods
who led the Tebhaga and Telengana struggles and the Adivasi revolts in of its affiliates were focused on using violence to divide the Indian
Worli. people, and are well documented.
The fledgling Communist Party was under severe attack by the British. The dual membership of Congress-Hindu Mahasabha – Moonje, Madan
In the decade of the 1920s a series of cases were foisted on communist Mohan Malaviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Shyama Prasad Mookerjea, NB
leaders who were jailed and sentenced such as the Peshawar
16 17
Khare, to name only the most well known – ensured the influence of With the formation of the Jan Sangh in 1951, the RSS had already
the Hindu communalist perspectives within the Congress right wing formed its political party, disturbed not just by the massive public
and its pressure on Nehru and the socialists within the Congress in the support for Congress after the Gandhi murder, but also that communists
years preceding Independence. emerged as the second largest majority in the first elections in
independent India.
The RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were instrumental in the formation of
the Bhonsala Military School in Nasik-Nagpur region in Maharashtra South Asia has seen various kinds of fundamentalisms during the course
(1937), with the express aim of training Hindu cadres,also encouraging of the twentieth century, but nothing to compare, in size and reach, with
Hindus to join the British army: so that they may receive training, the campaigns for the Hindu Rashtra. Their Akhand Bharat meant in
establish good relations with the princely states with possible takeover/ practice essentially a divided India: the experience of Independence
penetration into their armies. They organized their cadres along the and the new India would certainly have been happier without the force
lines of the Nazi/fascist organisations; Golwalkar's We or Our that the ideas of the RSS and its affiliates have carried in our social
Nationhood Defined and Bunch of Thoughts, read like an inspiration milieu.
from the ideas of Hitler and Mussolini. They established actual links
with these organisations in Germany and Italy. Some of the worst Muslim The role of the RSS throughout its history has been one of communal
massacres took place in the princely states, the role of the RSS- divisiveness. While India was fighting for its freedom, the RSS and its
Mahasabha cadres being recorded in many scholarly researches organisations worked to destroy peoples unity, in the name of religion.
(Hyderabad, Jammu, Alwar-Bharatpur-Mewat, Patiala to name a few).
In Delhi, these organisations had a strong base even before Partition In other words the RSS stood against India.
and the influx of refugees in 1947 and their cadres were instrumental in
killing and hounding out thousands of Muslims not necessarily keen
on going to Pakistan. The forceful eviction of Muslims, the ‘rioting’,
the connivance of police and administrative officials in and around
Delhi, is described in detail in many books, as is their role in Bengal and
Punjab. The Communist Party documents of the time, including
Bleeding Punjab Warns (Dhanwantri and PC Joshi report), describe
the activities of the RSS in Punjab. The upsurge of popular movements
and the cries of inquilab zindabad – from Tebhaga, Telengana, Worli,
RIN mutiny, sailors’ protests in Karachi, Punnapra-Vayalar, the protests
against INA trials – were followed by the ‘partition riots’. The Muslim
League too was by then a force to reckon with, a factor in the politics
of the years immediately preceding independence, leading its demand
for Pakistan.
For RSS, the years 1946-51 were years of hate campaigns against
Muslims, the blame game for partition, virulent propaganda against Gandhi
and Ambedkar and Nehru, and against the communists.
18 19
The Nation according to RSS
While giving a distorted definition of the ‘nation’, the RSS seeks to build
an all-Hindu label on a social and economic order legitimised by scripture
that excludes a section of its own people (the sudras and atisudra
castes) from fundamental rights.1 And, while doing so, it usurps for
itself, an exclusive claim to nation-building and patriotism. India is to
become a Hindu nation, governed by laws laid down in ancient Hindu
scriptures – and the RSS (along with its parivar) will lead this change.
RSS Fraudulent Claims of
Nationalism The germ and essence of this perspective as summed up in Golwalkar’s
book is terrifyingly straight for ward. Aspiring to create a Hindu
nation on the lines of the supremacy of the German race and nation as
Teesta Setalvad visualised by Adolf Hitler, he has underlined the superior and inferior
races within India,
“The foreign races in Hindustan (read all Muslims and
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution says: “The state shall not deny to Christians) must either adopt the Hindu culture and language,
any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion,
within the territory of India.” must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of Hindu
race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation and must lose their
But, here is what M.S. Golwalkar, ideologue in chief of the RSS writes
separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or stay in the
in his book We-Or Our Nationhood Defined (1938): “The non-Hindu
country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming
in Hindustan must either adopt the Hindu religion…. or may stay in the
nothing, deserving no privileges far less any preferential
country wholly subordinate to the Hindu nation claiming nothing,
treatment - not even citizen’s rights. There is, at least should
deserving no privileges, far less an preferential treatment, not even
be, no other course for them to adopt.”
citizen’s right.” This book is the ideological fountainhead for RSS
members and followers. Golwalkar heaps fulsome praise for the way Nazis led by Hitler are
successfully implementing a similar program in Germany. Here is what
This perversion of the concept of India as a secular democratic republic
he writes:
defined in our Constitution to a theocratic and supremacist one is what
is straining to tear apart India today. To counter this grave threat, we “German race and pride has now become the topic of the day.
need to understand what the RSS is and what its history has been. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany
shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is only the political wing of the RSS. Races - the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested
Most of its leaders, who are now occupying Constitutional posts as here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is
Prime Minister or other Ministers, pledge their allegiance to the RSS. for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root,
Although it poses as a cultural organisation,the RSS is actually the core to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us
political outfit from where the notion of a ‘Hindu Nation’ flows, directing in Hindustan to learn and profit by.”
its various arms like the BJP etc. to act for this goal.
20 21
An Italian researcher Marzia Casolari has shown how, in the 1930s, who were once looking up to me as their guide. I am ready to
Hindu ultra-nationalism learnt from European fascism the policy of serve the government in any capacity they like, for as my
transforming ‘different’ people into enemies. Leaders of militant conversion is conscientious so I hope my future conduct would
Hinduism repeatedly expressed their admiration for authoritarian leaders be. By keeping me in jail, nothing can be got in comparison to
such as Mussolini and Hitler and for the fascist model of society.2 what would be otherwise. The Mighty alone can afford to be
merciful and, therefore, where else can the prodigal son return
RSS and the Struggle for India’s Freedom but to the parental doors of the government.’’
Going by the loud claims made by the RSS about its nationalism and The RSS and its role in India’s struggle for freedom is as shameful. The
patriotic fervour, you may think that it must have played a big role in RSS kept totally aloof from the many anti-British movements of the
India’s struggle for freedom. But, that is not the case. Although RSS 1930-40s, like the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930-31, the Quit
was founded in 1925, it has no heroes from the national movement India struggle of 1942, the Azad Hind Fauj, the 1945-46 upsurge around
because they were not in any way involved in fighting the British colonial the INA trials and the revolt of the Navy at Bombay. This is described
powers. in detail in the book Khakhi Shorts and Saffron Flags (Orient
Longman) written by historians after thorough research.
One of their icons is VD Savarkar, founder of Hindu Mahasabha from
which RSS split off. In 2002, two months after the genocidal carnage in Like all communal organizations, including Jinnah’s Muslim league, RSS
Gujarat, the first NDA government named the Andaman airport after grew after the communal holocaust of 1946-47 ignited by Jinnah’s call
him. Unlike other patriots like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Ashfaqullah, for direct action. The Calcutta killings of August 1946, that drove Gandhiji
who refused to ask the British Raj for mercy even at the cost of their to despair, was described as its ‘finest hour’ by the RSS.
lives, Savarkar, the father of the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, had actually
sought clemency while lodged in Andamans’ Cellular Jail. RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha opposed the
Quit India Movement
In his letter asking for forgiveness dated November 14, 1913, Savarkar
described himself as a ‘‘prodigal son’’ longing to return to the ‘‘parental Shyama Prasad Mookherjee (the founder of Jan Sangh, the precursor
.
doors of the government’’ 3 While referring to his earlier letter of to BJP) was the finance minister in the Bengal government headed by
clemency in 1911, Savarkar wrote: a member of the Muslim League, Fazal Haque. When Mahatma Gandhi
raised the slogan of “Quit India”, Mookherjee did not think fit to resign
‘’...if the government in their manifold beneficence and mercy
on August 9, 1942.4 On the contrary, he opposed the Quit India
release me, I for one cannot but be the staunchest advocate of
Movement in Bengal and made the following proposal:
constitutional progress and loyalty to the English government
which is the foremost condition of that progress. …. if we are “The question is how to combat this movement (Quit India) in
released, the people will raise a shout of joy and gratitude to Bengal? The administration of the province should be carried
the government, who knows how to forgive and correct, more on in such a manner that in spite of the best efforts of the
than how to chastise and avenge.’’ Congress, this movement will fail to take root in the province.
It should be possible for us, especially responsible ministers,
Savarkar went on to add:
to be able to tell the public that the freedom for which the
‘’Moreover, my conversion to the constitutional line would Congress has started the movement, already belongs to the
bring back all those misled young men in India and abroad representatives of the people. In some spheres, it might be
22 23
limited during the emergency. Indians have to trust the British, women to produce at least four children in the service of the faith and
not for the sake of Britain, not for any advantage that the nation9 .
British might gain, but for the maintenance of the defence
and freedom of the province itself. You, as governor, will The RSS driven hatred for Mahatma Gandhi and their involvement in
function as the constitutional head of the province and will be the killing is what explains their brazen worship of Nathuram Godse.On
guided entirely on the advice of your ministers.” January 19, 1998, in an interview published in Outlook, RSS
Sarsanghchalak, Rajju Bhaiyya justified Godse’s action thus: “Godse
The Hindu Mahasabha was in a coalition government with the Muslim was motivated by (the philosophy of) Akhanda Bharat. Uske mantavya
League in Sind and the Sind Assembly passed a resolution endorsing achhe thhe par usne achhe uddeshya ke liye galat method istemal
the demand for the creation of Pakistan. Mookherjee and other kiya (His intention was good but he used the wrong method for the
Mahasabha leaders did not think fit to resign from the government. right goal).”
Mahasabha president Savarkar, mentor of LK Advani, issued a directive
that they should stick to the government position and continue to perform India’s Home Minister Sardar Patel’s letter to the then RSS chief,
their regular duties and not resign.In fact, they even passed a resolution Golwalkar, following the assassination is telling. He says clearly that
on August 31, 1942 asking all Mahasabha members to remain at their “RSS men distributed sweets after Gandhi’s assassination“. The letter
jobs and oppose the Quit India Movement.5 dated September 11, 1948, is quoted in full in Desraj Goel’s Rahstriya
Swayamsevak Sangh. The entire text:
RSS and Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi
“.....You are very well aware of my views on the RSS. I have
Within months of NDA II coming to power in May 2014, this time expressed these thoughts at Jaipur in December last year and
headed by a man who began his political life as a pracharak, the RSS at Lucknow in January. The people had welcomed those views.
and the Hindu Mahasabha began to clamour for the valorisation of I had hoped that your people also would accept them. But
Nathuram Godse, the killer of Mahatma Gandhi. The Global Hindu they appear to have no effect on the RSS persons, nor was
Foundation had urged the Ministry of Human Resources Development there any change in their programmes. There can be no doubt
(MHRD) to ensure that Nathuram Godse is treated as a ‘national hero’ that the RSS did service to the Hindu Society. In the areas
who must be represented as such in Indian school text books.6 The where there was the need for help and organisation, the young
letter, completely distorting history states that Godse “fought for men of the RSS protected women and children and strove much
independence from the British.” The letter was posted on the home for their sake. No person of understanding could have a word
page of savetemples.org, the website of the “Mission to Save Hinduism of objection regarding that. But the objectionable part arose
and Hindu Temples”. Touted as a ‘Project of Global Hindu Heritage when they, burning with revenge, began attacking Mussalmans.
Foundation, (GHHF) USA’, the mission operates out of the ‘Save Temple Organising Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in
Office’ opened in Hyderabad city in June 2012. for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men,
women and children is quite another thing.
Soon after this NRI-driven advocacy, on December 11, 2014, BJP Apart from this, their opposition to the Congress, that too of
Member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj called Nathuram Godse a such virulence, disregarding all considerations of personal-
patriot7 . Following an uproar in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling party ity, decency or decorum, created a kind of unrest among the
remains in a minority, he was forced to apologise. The same Sakshi people. All their speeches were full communal poison. It was
Maharaj had days before spewed venom against madrasas8 and by not necessary to spread poison and enthuse the Hindus and
extension, Indian Muslims, and even more recently, exhorted Hindu organise for their protection. As a final result of the poison,
24 25
the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of will bow before this saffron flag,” he declared.
Gandhiji. Even an iota of sympathy of the Government or of
the people no more remained for the RSS. In fact the opposi- Even after Independence when the Tricolour became the National Flag,
tion grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men the RSS refused to accept it. The first time that the National Tricolour
expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s was unfurled at the RSS Headquarters was in 2000 after NDA came
death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Gov- to power.
ernment to take action against the RSS.
The RSS has only used the Tricolour to whip up frenzy against Muslims.
Since then, over six months have elapsed. We have hoped that In 1991(Ekta Yatra) it was Murli Manohar Joshi, another favourite in
after this lapse of time, with full and proper consideration the RSS hierarchy, who went to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk of
the RSS persons would come to the right path. But from the Srinagar, Kashmir. Uma Bharti carried a Tricolour because it was an
reports that come to me, it is evident that attempts to put fresh Idgah which was being targeted by Hindutva. On the other hand, it is
life into their same old activities are afoot....” important to note that the Hindutva cadres who went to demolish Babri
mosque in 1992 did not carry the Tricolour. They carried only saffron
RSS attitude towards India’s birth as a
flags which were subsequently hoisted there. The RSS is faced with a
new nation and its Flag
peculiar dilemma. For Hindus it has saffron flag and for Muslims
Organiser, the RSS, English organ in its third issue (July 17, 1947) was Tricolour.
highly disturbed by the Constituent Assembly’s decision to select the
The history of the RSS and its pride in that history is what permeates
Tricolour as the National Flag. It carried an editorial titled ‘National
and informs its actions in India today posing a challenge to the
Flag’, demanding that the saffron flag be chosen instead. The same
fudnamental pillars of India’s contituion.
demand continued to be raised in editorials on the eve of Independence
of India (July 31 editorial titled ‘Hindusthan’ and August 14, 1947 editorial
titled ‘Whither’) simultaneously rejecting the whole concept of a
composite nation. The August 14 issue also carried ‘Mystery behind 1 The sudra castes are the toiling castes, agrarian and artisan while the atisudras are
the Bhagwa Dhwaj’ (saffron flag) which while demanding hoisting of the ones called untouchable (Dalit) made exclusively to perform menial and manual
saffron flag at the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi, openly denigrated the tasks.
2 ‘Hindutva’s Foreign Tie-up in the 1930s - Archival Evidence’, Economic and
choice of the Tri-colour as the National Flag in the following words: Political Weekly, January 22, 2000.
3 The Letter is reprinted in a book, Penal Settlement In Andamans, published by the
“The people who have come to power by the kick of fate may Gazetteers Unit of Union ministry of education
give in our hands the tricolour but it will never be respected 4 The Genesis of the RSS, Govind Sahai
and owned by Hindus. The word three is in itself an evil and a 5 Ibid
6 http://www.sabrang.com/news/2014/ccxclupart1Nov15.htm,‘Godse is a National
flag having three colours will certainly produce a
Hero who must be Taught about in Schools’ — Global Hindu Foundation to
psychological effect and is injurious to a country.” Government of India, Teesta Setalvad
7 www.ndtv.com
RSS was always opposed to any recognition of India’s vast and rich 8 http://indianexpress.com/article/india/politics/bjp-unnao-mp-sakshi-maharaj-
diversity, be it diversity of language, faith or culture.Golwalkar, while claims-madrasas-offering-cash-rewards-for-love-jihad/
addressing a gathering in Nagpur on July 14, 1946, stated that it was the 9 http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/hindu-women-must-have-at-least-4-children-
says-bjp-s-sakshi-maharaj-645239
saffron flag which in totality represented their great culture. It was the
embodiment of God: “We firmly believe that in the end the whole nation
26 27
villages exhorting villagers to participate in the Shiv Jayanti procession
in Bhiwandi and this was the first year when villagers were mobilised
to participate by the Rashtriya Utsav Mandal, an offshoot of the Jana
Sangh, and the SS and the object of these organisations in bringing
villagers to participate was ‘to intimidate the Muslims’, the participants
carried lathis to which bhagwa (saffron) flags were tied, banners of
the three organisations, the Jana Sangh, the RUM and the SS, were
displayed by processionists.
The Sangh’s bloody trail The villagers shouted provocative, anti-Muslim slogans, behaved
aggressively, threw gulal on the Moti Masjid at Bangad Galli and Hyderi
mosque situated at the junction of Dargah Road and Sutar Galli aided
Teesta Setalvad by a passive police.”
Report of the Commission of Inquiry, Tellicherry Disturbance, 1971,
Justice Joseph Vithyathil:
Hindutva communal organisations have maintained that it is always the "In Tellicherry the Hindus and Muslims were living as brothers for
Muslims who start riots, forcing “justifiable retaliatory acts by Hindus centuries. The ‘Mopla riots’ did not affect the cordial relationship that
in self-defence”. But virtually every single officially appointed judicial existed between the two communities in Tellicherry. It was only after
commission to probe into the cause of riots in different parts of the the RSS and the Jana Sangh set up their units and began activities in
country has found the RSS and other majoritarian communal outfits Tellicherry that there came a change in the situation.Their anti-Muslim
guilty. We reproduce some excerpts below: propaganda, its reaction on the Muslims who rallied round their communal
Report of the Justice Jagmohan Reddy Commission of Inquiry organisation, the Muslim League, which championed their cause, and
investigating the Ahmedabad riots of 1969: the communal tension that followed prepared the background for their
disturbances."
“There was not only a failure of intelligence and culpable failure to
suppress the outbreak of violence but (also) deliberate attempts to Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Communal
suppress the truth from the Commission, especially the active Disturbances at Jamshedpur, April 1979:
participation in the riots of some RSS and Jana Sangh leaders.” “The evidence of government officials shows that after the communal
Report of the Justice DP Madon Commission of Inquiry into the riots of 1964, the Ram Navmi Festival, like other festivals, became the
Communal Disturbances at Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and Mahad of 1970: occasion for greater vigilance and alertness for the law and order
authorities; simultaneously, the number of Ram Navmi processions kept
“.....In his report to his superiors, the SP, Thane district has stated, “I on increasing till it had risen to 79 in the year 1979. In the run up to the
found that a section of Hindu elements, particularly the RSS and some communal build up before the elections prepared by the Intelligence
PSP men, were bent upon creating mischief. Their idea in accompanying Branch, Jamshedpur (dated March 23, 1979) there was special mention
the procession was not so much to pay respects to the Great Shivaji but made to the Divisional Conference of the RSS scheduled to be held on
to establish their right and, if possible, to provoke and humiliate Muslims.” March 31 and April 1 in which, among others, the RSS sarsanghchalak
was to participate.
"It was in 1970 that for the first time propaganda was carried on in
28 29
The dispute on the route of the procession (the administration after d) Training young people of the majority community in the use of
consideration had denied permission for the route to pass through Muslim weapons like daggers, swords and spears;
areas) became sharp and agitated reactions from a group of persons
e) spreading rumours to widen the communal cleavage and deepen
calling themselves the “Sanyukt Bajrang Bali Akhara Samiti” who
communal feelings by giving a communal colour to any trivial incident.”
systematically distributed pamphlets to heighten communal feelings and
had organisational links with the RSS. A call for the defiance of the The Srikrishna report on the communal violence in Bombay in 1993
authority and the administration when it refused permission for one of indicted BJP and Shiv Sena leaders as well as policemen. However no
the routes led to a violent mob protesting and raising anti-Muslim slogans action was taken by the Congress Government to implement the
and thereafter an incendiary leaflet doing the rounds of Jamshedpur recommendations of action against those responsible.
(issued on behalf of the “Sri Ramnavmi Kendriya Akhara Samity”) that
is nothing short of an attempt to rouse the sentiments of Hindus to a Liberhan Commission
high pitch and to distort events and show some actions as attacks on
After thousands of RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal workers, led by a galaxy of
Hindus that appear to be part of a design.
their leaders, forcibly demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6
A survey had already established that all policemen, havaldars, home December 1992, the central government set up a commission of enquiry
guards etc. were at heart ready to give support to them (Hindu headed by Justice M.S.Liberhan to investigate the matter. The
communalist organisations). This not only shows the extent of the commission submitted its report 16 years later in 2009, declaring that
planning that had been going on, but also how the people in general the demolition was “neither spontaneous nor unplanned” as claimed by
were being assured of protection from punitive action by the police due the Sangh Parivar. Various BJP leaders like LK Advani, Rajnath Singh,
to the alleged attitude of its subordinate formations.” Kalyan Singh etc were found guilty of the conspiracy by the
Commission. Another 6 years have passed , the cases have been diluted,
Justice Venugopal Commission of Inquiry into the Kanyakumari the courts have taken their own time and in all these years not a single
riots of 1982 (prolonged confrontation between Hindus and leader responsible for the crime of the demolition of the masjid, has
Christians): been punished.
“The RSS adopts a militant and aggressive attitude and sets itself up as As can be seen from the above list, in most cases none of the guilty
the champion of what it considers to be the rights of Hindus against have ever been brought to book, despite clear and undeniable evidence
minorities. It has taken upon itself to teach the minorities their place of their complicity in communal violence.
and if they are not willing to learn their place to teach them a lesson.
The RSS methodology for provoking communal violence is: The role of the RSS and cadres of the ruling BJP in the pogrom of 2002
in Gujarat has been well documented, 126 powerful perpetrators have
a) Rousing communal feelings in the majority community by the been so far punished and the ongoing proceedings in the Zakia Jafri
propaganda that Christians are not loyal citizens of this country; case seeks to establish criminal culpability at the highest political and
b) Deepening the fear in the majority community by clever propaganda administrative levels.
that the population of the minorities is increasing and that of the
Hindus is decreasing;
c) Infiltrating into the administration and inducing the members of the
civil and police services by adopting and developing communal
attitudes;
30 31
etc. has also spawned terrorist groups swearing by Hindutva.
There were bomb blasts in the Samjhauta Express ( Feb 18, 2007)
Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad (May 18, 2007) Ajmer Dargah Sharif ( Oct.
2007) Malegaon (Sept. 29, 2008) in which scores of innocent people
were killed or injured.
34 35
crore not be withheld from Pakistan, against the Government’s decision government to declare this a Hindu state. But he did not want it. And
to withhold payment until Pakistan’s aggression in Kashmir had been this story that Gandhi died saying Hey Ram is a fabrication of the
resolved. The Rs. 55 crore was part of the settling of post-Partition Congress. He said no such thing. The story that Gandhi died saying He
accounts between India and Pakistan). Immediately it must have struck Ram is the first use of Ram by the Congress for political purposes.
Nathuram – now put a fullstop. So that was the turning point.
✦ One criticism some people have made of Gandhi is that his
But there were many occasions on which people may have thought of interpretation of Hinduism was “effeminate” and that he did not
killing Gandhi. In the refugee camps. That he is the person who brought emphasise the “more manly, virile” aspect of Hinduism. What do
us disaster, so why not kill him? It many times happens… that the clouds you think about this criticism?
gather in the skies and we assume that in the next 15 minutes it will be You see, this is very much an ambiguity. For instance, he sent
a rainfall – and a heavy one. But the things are otherwise. Winds blow, telegrams to Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, all the warlords – to stop war.
don’t know from which side, and take away all the clouds… So what is And when Pandit Nehru asked him, “Shall I send the army to defend
required for that rainfall? That particular atmosphere, the particular the place?” he said yes, Why didn’t he send troops with charkhas?
degree of temperature to be connected with the particles of water in What is the sense then? You only teach others – you don’t adhere to
the cloud. And then they take the shape of water to drop on the earth… your principles.
So there might have been conspiracies and conspiracies, and the wind
might have come and blown them away. But when everything was just ✦ When Uma Bharati or Sadhvi Ritambara says that “we must
in order, this conspiracy proved to be fruitful. So far as the conspirators be more aggressive,” that Hindus have been cowards for too long,
were concerned. Fruitful in the sense, materialised. Their aim was that ahimsa is actually weakening the Hindus…?
achieved. I disagree. In my country I am never said to be aggressive. Let us
take the case – I have been attacked by malaria. The doctor gives me
✦ What was your involvement with (VD) Savarkar? some injections. The foreign attack of malaria has been diminished or
No question – we were all taking him to be our guru – a political wiped out. Should I say that I should be aggressive against malaria, that
guru. We read all his writings. So if we say we have understood Savarkar imposition of malaria is itself an aggression? So wiping it out can be a
to the fullest, it will be a folly on our part to ask him whether we should retaliation. In my country if I want to remove every germ of malaria
do it. A guru’s blessings are required for a weak-hearted person. from my body, I cannot be called aggressive.
Supposing the guru ties your hands (saying) – ‘You fools don’t do any
such thing,’ and some third person of his own does it, can we say, ‘Oh, ✦ In what ways do you find a continuity between the Hindu
we would also have done the same thing, but the guru tied our hands?’ Mahasabha and the BJP?
That would be shielding our own fear and defaming the guru. All of them have to come to the way of a Hindu Rashtra. All of
them. There is no alternative. There is going to be polarisation as Hindus
✦ What was Savarkar’s response to the murder? and Muslims mingle. And the stage will come like Bosnia.
The same as that of the general leaders. “I was aghast at the news
of the communication which reached me here” and so on. That was his ✦ There will be a civil war?
public response. It is bound to be. And these people only will bring it. Because of the
appeasement and infiltration of the Muslims – for the sake of the votes.
✦ Many writers have argued that Gandhi was responsible for The BJP is not bold enough to play the Hindu card straightforwardly.
bringing Hindu culture into the national movement and thereby They are not. Whatever you do, you cannot count on Muslim votes.
giving the movement a broader, more popular base. What do you One time you are doing this Ayodhya Ram Mandir. And then you are
think? begging votes from the Muslims. These things will not do.
Had it really been the case, Gandhi should have helped our
36 37
✦ What do you think of the cultural background of the people
involved in the social reform and nationalist movements? Many of
them seem to have come from the Chitpavan Brahmin community.?
This Brahminical class – Peshwas – right from the top, you will find
the revolutionaries – the link is all Brahminical. Mangal Pandey, for
instance, the first hero of the War of Independence, was a Brahmin.
Then you go to Maharashtra, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, who led a
revolt, and died after transportation to Aden in 1883. Then came the On the Ban on RSS-
Chapekar brothers, who killed (Walter Charles) Rand (authoritarian
chairman of the Plague Committee in Poona in 1897). Then Lokamanya
Government Communique Issued by
Tilak was a Brahmin. Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar, Ranade… Home Ministry Under Sardar Patel
✦ How do you explain that?
They were the thinkers and with a feeling of sacrifice to do something
for the nation. So one who has integrity does it. Maharashtra was In their resolution of February 4, 1948, the Government of India declared
not directly affected by Partition and yet it was Maharashtra which their determination to root out the forces of hatred and violence that are
had sympathy for the provinces that were cut and the atrocities that
at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the Nation and darken
were going on… Why should a Maharashtrian go to a place 2,000
her fair name. In pursuance of this policy the Government of India
miles away? It is called national integrity. This tradition has moved with
have decided to declare unlawful the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
that spirit, that idea behind it. These papers – you can call it yellow
journalism – they use the name Peshwai to defame, to put them in the in the Chief Commissioner’s provinces. Similar action is also being taken
class of Brahmins and Brahminism. That is the tradition because they in the Governor’s provinces.
want to appease the so-called weaker sections, or Bahujan Samaj as
they call it. As democratic governments, the Government of India and the provincial
governments have always been anxious to allow reasonable scope for
✦ You do not see any validity in those distinctions? genuine political, social and economic activities to all parties and
As I explained, at the time of Partition, no person was spared. All organisations including those whose policies and purposes differ from,
were slaughtered. Whoever comes as a target of the Muslim dagger is or even run counter to their own, subject to the consideration that such
the proved definition of Hindu. So we come together in the graveyard. activities should not transgress certain commonly recognised limits of
But while alive, we say, ‘No, I’m not a Hindu.’ The Muslim determines propriety and law. The professed aims and objects of the Rashtriya
who is a Hindu. It so happens – to give a simile, one who gets some Swayamsevak Sangh are to promote the physical, intellectual and moral
ancestral property without any trouble for himself just becomes well-being of the Hindus and also to foster feelings of brotherhood, love
spendthrift, goes in for some vices – because he does not know the and service amongst them. Government themselves are most anxious
value of it. Hindudom has come to these people like that. to improve the general material and intellectual well-being of all sections
of the people and have got schemes on hand which are designed to
✦ Which people?
carry out these objects, particularly the provision of physical training
All these people who criticise Hindutva. And, therefore, they do not
know the value of it. and education in military matters to the youth of the country. Government
have, however, noticed with regret that in practice members of the
(Frontline, January 28, 1994). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have not adhered to their professed
ideals.
38 39
Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried out by
members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the
country individual members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have
indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity, and murder
and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found
circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to
collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and
suborn the police and military. These activities have been carried out
under the cloak of secrecy, and the government have considered from
time to time how far these activities rendered it incumbent upon them
to deal wth the Sangh in its corporate capacity. The last ocassion when
the government defined this attitude was when the Premiers and Home
Ministers of provinces met in Delhi towards the end of November.
(NB: See AICC resolution on Private Armies, dtd November 15, 1947).
It was then unanimously agreed that the stage when the Sangh should
be dealt with as an association had not yet arrived and that individuals
should continue to be dealt with sternly as hitherto. The objectionable
and harmful activities of the Sangh have, however, continued unabated
and the cult of violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the
Sangh has claimed many victims. The latest and most precious to fall
was Gandhiji himself.