Did RSS really participate in Freedom struggle?

Did RSS Participate in Freedom Movement? Ram Puniyani Freedom movement was an all inclusive movement with the participation of people of all religions and regions. Its underlying premise was pluralism and the concept of Secular Democratic India, which bound all the people in the bonds of fraternity. Those who were for Muslim and Hindu nationalism kept aloof from this movement for ideological and political reasons. Since last few decades the Hindu nationalists have been claiming that they also participated in the freedom movement and that it’s only the Congress-left historians who are trying to paint them in a negative picture vis a vis the struggle for independence. Rakesh Sinha presents the fantasies of RSS participation in freedom movement. His major sources for this claim are from the British intelligence reports. His claims that RSS took part in Civil Disobedience movement of 1930 and that the movement got invigorated due to Hedgewars’ participation in the same are a pure figment of imagination. It is true that Mr. Hedgewar did take part in this movement and was jailed for that, but that was purely at personal level to be able to meet the people who might support his agenda of Hindu Rashtra. There is not a single writing of his or of RSS exhorting the people to participate in the same. On the contrary there are authoritative references of his discouraging those who wanted to participate in the struggle for freedom. What was the RSS leadership attitude to events regarding freedom movement becomes clear from the quote from M.S. Golwalkar’s, the second Sarsanghchalak of RSS, says he, “There was some unrest in the mind due to the situation developing in the country from time to time. There was such unrest in 1942. Before that there was the movement of 1930-31. At that time many other people had gone to Doctorji (Hedgewar). The delegation requested Doctorji that this movement will give Independence and Sangh should not lag behind. At that time, when a gentleman told Doctorji that he was ready to go to jail, Doctorji said ‘definitely go, But who will take care of your family then? That gentleman replied , “I have sufficiently arranged resources not only to run the family expenses for two years but also to pay fines according to requirement’, then Doctorji told him ‘If you have fully arranged for the resources then come out to work for Sangh for two years.’. After returning home that gentleman neither went to jail nor came out to work for the Sangh.” On similar lines during 1942 when the turmoil began Golwlkar issued instructions that routine work of Sangh should continue and nothing should be done to annoy the British, “In 1942 also there was a strong sentiment in the hearts of many. At that time too routine work of Sangh continued. Sangh vowed not to do anything directly.” (Both these Quotes from Shri Guruji Samgra Darshan, Vol IV, page 39-40)This ideologue of RSS clearly spells that fighting against British has not been part of their agenda, “We should remember that in our pledge we have talked of freedom of the country through defending religion and culture, there is no mention of departure of British from here.” The same is confirmed by C.P. Bhishikar’s biography of Golwalkar, Shri Guruji-Pioneer of a new Era, “It was with this clear understanding that the Sangh, as an organisation, decided not to plunge into the movement. Right from the beginning, the Sangh has decided to observe certain constraints in some matters.” (Page 47) “Right from the beginning, the Sangh has decided to observe certain constraints in some matters. So, when Doctorji decided to participate in the satyagraha, he directed the Swayamsevaks to keep out of it and conduct the Shakha work with regularity. He had kept the Sangh as such out of the agitation.” (page 48)” Now Sinha wants us to believe that lakhs of volunteers of RSS participated in 1942 and many of them were punished severely by British. Sangh is known for its disciplined volunteers, so did RSS volunteers defy their SarsanghChalak to be part of the movement led by Gandhi? Even the British intelligence which was the basis of British circular warning the officers of political nature of Sangh needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as that was the interpretation of administration which was contrary to what RSS itself has always maintained that is a cultural organization and not a political organization. Till quite late there were no claims of about participation in the struggle for India’s Independence. It is only once RSS/BJP inched closer to political power that such claims started being made. One of the earliest attempts in this direction has been that of our ex Prime Minister Vajpayee. In the wake of 1998 general elections he had issued an appeal for seeking votes, he wrote that not only was he working for RSS at shakha level, he also participated in the freedom movement! . His claim was around Bateshwar incident where he was arrested. Soon after his arrest he gave a confessional statement in the court. This statement of his helped him getting released from jail and it also named the leaders of Bateshwar campaign, which was part of Quit India Movement. In this confessional statement Vajpayee says that he had nothing to do with the damages caused to property which was done by the people who had gone to hoist the tricolor on the building. He confesses that he was not part of the procession and was a mere onlooker. Consequent to his apology he was released from the jail. Mr. Sinha has fertile imagination and so he can claim that RSS participation in the Quit India movement was the proverbial last straw for British rulers. The fact is that that RSS routine work of Shakhas and camps continued as usual despite some people feeling uncomfortable about the same. Followers of Gandhi-Congress were on the streets and in jails. Now RSS is trying to insert itself into the slot where it does not belong. Ideologically Hindutva political organizations, despite their inner differences were mainly intent on undermining Muslim nationalism and for that goal had no problem in cooperating with British. All their efforts were to ignore the diversity of the nation manifested in Gandhi’s central slogan of Hindu-Muslim unity. Today a new construct is being brought to fore for electoral goals, and that is to erase the fact of their absence from the freedom struggle. At deeper level how could RSS be part of the movement for Indian nationalism, as RSS aim is totally in contravention to that as it stands for Hindu nationalism?

Kovind, Dalits and Indian Nationalism

Kovind, Dalit Politics and Hindu Nationalism Ram Puniyani By nominating Ramanth Kovind as the Presidential candidate, BJP has tried to play the politics of tokenism to the hilt. Mr. Kovind is a dalit from UP. While many names were doing round from BJP parivar, finally they settled down for a person who is dalit in name and Hindu nationalist in ideology. Last three years of Modi Sarkar has not only seen rising violence against Muslims, religious minorities but also against dalits in particular. Starting from banning of Periyar Study circle in IIT Madras, to creating a situation where Rohith Vemula, a dalit research scholar, had to take his life, to ‘cow-violence’ against dalits in Una, the dalits as a social group have come under severe attack, which is by product of Hindu nationalist politics. Apart from this; there are also instances where the a Central minister equated dalits to dogs, a BJP leader, UP BJP vice President Kripa Shankar Singh said that Mayawati was worst than a prostitute. Incidentally he was apparently reprimanded but through back door his wife was given the ticket for assembly elections and later was made a minister in Yogi cabinet in UP. To add salt to the injury one saw the horrific anti-dalit violence against dalits in Saharanpur as Mr. Yogi came to power and upper caste are feeling more powerful. When the Bhim Army under Chandrasekhar protested against the attack on dalits, the young Dalit leaders were arrested while to attackers were left off with minor charges. This move of nominating Kovind, seems to be a superficial attempt to assuage the deep injury inflicted upon the dalits of the society. One recalls here that after the Gujarat carnage, orchestrated on the pretext of Godhra train burning, and the deep wounds inflicted upon Muslims in Gujarat Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam was chosen by BJP to be the President of India. It was another tokenism, which did not change the deeper anti minority dynamics in the society. This is what tokenism is supposed to be doing, creating an impression that one is offering a helping hand. Mr. Kovind has been a RSS swayamsevak; he has donated his ancestral house for RSS work. His opinions as reflected in many of his statement show that he regards Islam and Christianity as alien religions. This came out when he was participating in the debate on Rangnath Mishra commission report, when the issue of reservations for dalits converting to Islam or Christianity came up for discussion. Mr. Kovind says that education should have primacy over reservations, undermining reservations for dalits. As a part of BJP, Kovind has been trying to woo the non-Jatav Dalits in UP in particular. BJP-RSS have won over many a dalits. Likes of Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, who has been compromising the interests of dalits for the sake of personal power, said that all those who oppose Kovind should be regarded as anti dalit! What does it mean to be a dalit leader today? There are many of the likes of Kovind and Paswan who seal their lips when atrocities against dalits are going on and are rising. The dalit leadership is in the dilemma today. Many of Ramvilas Paswan variety of dalit leaders are aligned with Hindu Nationalist politics of BJP-RSS as it gives them perks and power. But there is a large number of others who are engaging in the protests against the system on the issues of survival and dignity of the dalits, for their rights as equal citizens. For the dalits the major achievement has been the coming into being of Indian Constitution, a document giving them theoretical equality. It gives them the ground on which they can stand and struggle for their rights. On the other hand the politics of RSS has been opposing Indian nationalism, in favor of Hindu nationalism. RSS politics has been upholding the scriptures which have provisions of caste hierarchy inherent in them. As such Hindu nationalism has come a long way during last close to a century or so. Is it a coincidence that RSS came up in the context of the rising protests by dalits in the form of non Brahman movement in Vidarbha region of Maharshtra. This movement was against the social structure which gave primacy to landlord Brahmin. The movements based on equality have been running parallel to the freedom movement. The dalits were articulating their needs through agitations and movements for equality. Hindu nationalism upheld the age old system; it upheld the caste structure in a subtle way. In due course, especially after the decade of 1990s the politics of RSS-BJP has been opposing reservation and equality for dalits. It has operated at multiple levels to co-opt the dalits in to their political fold. Adding on to Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which has been working for Hidnukaran of Adivasis (Hinduisation), Samajik Samrasta Manch (Social harmony forum) came up to oppose the struggles for Samata (equality) in favor of ‘harmony amongst castes’. Through cultural mechanisms it has been trying to propagate that dalits have been defending Hinduism against the attacks from Islam. Lately RSS combine has been making attempts to pay respect to Ambedkar, by calling him Great Hindu, by observing his anniversary at grand scale etc. Ambedkar’s politics and Hindu nationalist politics are polar opposites. Ambedkar stands for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity while Hindu nationalism is for the hierarchical values of Vedic times. Through social engineering dalits have been made to participate in destruction of Babri Masjid and also to participate in anti Muslim violence. How do assess Mr. Kovind? The politics of a person is not just guided by birth, dalits propagating and working for Hindu nationalism are harming dalits in a serious way, while even non dalits upholding the path of Ambedkar are truly working for uplift of dalits! Mr. Kovind must have taken the oath of RSS, which calls for primacy of Hindu nation. Indian Constitution is for Indian nationalism. What will he uphold as President of India, the former or the latter?