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The RSS: The Force Behind
Nanakshahi Change
WSN Bureau
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It was Sardar Patel of the Congress who
had written that “I am thoroughly convinced that the RSS men can
carry on their patriotic endeavour only by joining the Congress
and not by keeping separate or opposing.” It is Prakash Singh
Badal who has written that "I have always maintained that the
SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab and at the Centre is more than a
political arrangement. It represents the social and emotional
harmony of Punjab.” At a time when Akal Takht has already
declared RSS as the Enemy Number One of the Sikh Nation, with
what face does Prakash Singh Badal have an alliance with the
RSS-BJP? Clearly, the deeply entrenched RSS-backed forces have
succeeded in depriving the Quom of its distinctive Nanakshahi
Calendar. |
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 Sardar
Parkash Singh Badal is very proud of his relationship with the BJP.
It is something he defines as more than a political alliance. His
favorite phrase for this is "brotherly alliance": "Bharawan Di
Saanjh". He has never written a single article about Sant Jarnail
Singh Bhindranwale, or a single lament about Operation Bluestar. He
never picked up a pen to write about denial of justice to victims of
the 1984 genocide of the Sikhs, but as the World Sikh News brought
out in its last edition, he has written an article in praise of a
man who takes pride in being a lifelong member of the RSS -- AB
Vajpayee.
As per Badal,
“If I have to pick one national leader as the ultimate embodiment of
the widest political consensus in the country, it will have to be
Atalji.”
Since Prakash
Singh Badal's Akali Dal has a brute majority in the SGPC and has
ensured earlier this week that the Sikh Nation buckles before the
demands being orchestrated by deep RSS lobbies within the panthic
ranks and has changed the Nanakshahi Calendar, it is the best time
to engage with how the RSS past has been, and how such an
organization managed to stay lawful and accepted in India despite
leading an explicitly hatred-filled agenda.
 Twice in India
the RSS was banned. Once, on February 4, 1948, after the murder of
Mahatma Gandhi, and second time during the Emergency on July 4,
1975.
Here is what the
government communique of February 4, 1948, announcing the ban,
said:
“The professed
aims and objects of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh are to promote
the physical, intellectual and moral well-being of the Hindus and
also to foster feelings of the brotherhood, love and service amongst
them. Government themselves are most anxious to approve the general
material and intellectual well-being of all sections of the people
and have got schemes on hand which are designed to carry out the
objects, particularly the provision of physical training and
education in military matters to the youth of the country.
Government have, however, noticed with regret that in practice
members of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh have not adhered to their
professed ideals.
“Undesirable and
even dangerous activities have been carried on by the members of the
Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country
individual members of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak 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.”
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vintage Golwalker, the then chief of the RSS: “I tried my utmost to
see that between the Congress, which is capable of delivering goods
in the political field and is at present the ruling party, and the
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in the cultural field, …there be no bad
blood, there be only everlasting mutual love, one supplementing and
complementing the other, both meeting in a sacred confluence.” Of
course today they meet in a “confluence”, sacred or not, and also
joining this confluence is the Akali Dal of Badals. |
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Golwalkar
claimed that the RSS was law-abiding and would “carry on its
activities within the bounds of law”. He was arrested on February 1
and was released on August 6, 1948, but his movements were
restricted to Nagpur. Five days later he wrote to Nehru and Patel
complaining against the restrictions.
On September 27,
A.V. Pai replied from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat that
“Government have a great deal of evidence in their possession to
show that the RSS were engaged in activities which were
anti-national and prejudicial from the point of view of public good.
Just before the banning of the RSS he (Mr. Nehru) is informed that
the U.P. government sent you a note on some of the evidence they
have collected about such activities of the RSS in U.P. Other
provinces have also such evidence in their possession. Even after
the ban we have received information about the undesirable
activities of the old members of the RSS. This information continues
to come to us even now. You will appreciate that in view of this,
the government cannot consider the RSS as such a harmless
organisation from the public point of view.”
Golwalkar
demanded (November 3) an inquiry. By now the restriction had been
lifted for the sole purpose of permitting him to visit
Delhi
and lay his case before the government. However, his request for an
interview with Nehru was refused. While declining the interview,
Nehru (November 10) made a telling point: “It would appear that the
declared objectives have little to do with the real ones and with
the activities carried on in various forms and ways by people
associated with the RSS. These real objectives appear to be
completely opposed to the decisions of the Indian Parliament and the
provisions of the proposed Constitution, anti-national and often
subversive and violent.”
.jpg) Mark the words.
"Declared objectives have little to do with the real ones". Which
part of it is not true today? The BJP's newly appointed president
Nitin Gadkari has taken upon himself to defend Narendra Modi. He is
going all out to project Modi, under whose watch the killings of the
Muslims in Gujarat took place, as the Vikas Purash of India. It is
with such a party that Prakash Singh Badal is proud of his
association.
Even after the
ban, Patel was keen to absorb the RSS within the Congress. Yet, he
was not too forthcoming when his Hindu Mahasabhaite colleague in the
Cabinet, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, began pestering him to be soft on
the RSS and the Mahasabha. Patel wrote to Mookerjee on July 18 that
“our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these
two bodies, particularly the former (the RSS), an atmosphere was
created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy (Gandhi’s
assassination) became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that
the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in this
conspiracy. The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to
the existence of government and the state. Our reports show that
those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as
time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and
are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing
measure.”
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Clearly, this was the compromise between the Congress and the RSS.
Both catered to the radicalised, communal Hindu sentiments and did
not want to lose this important chunk of Indian electorate. With
Congress assuming a left of Centre position and leaving the right of
centre to the RSS-Janasangh or the modern day BJP, the entire
Hindutva flank can be covered. It is his cooperation, collusion and
teaming up with such a flank that Prakash Singh Badal is so proud
of. |
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That there is a
deeply entrenched soft Hindutva forever etched inside the Congress
is clear from Patel’s reply to Golwalkar less than two months later,
on September 11.
Addressing him
as “Brother Golwalkar” (the latter’s letter was addressed to
“Hon’ble Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel”), the Sardar recalled his speech
at Jaipur in December 1947 in which he had spoken very gently of the
RSS (“patriots who love their country”). He regretted that this had
no effect on the Sangh: “There can be no doubt that the RSS did
service to the Hindu Society.... But the objectionable part arose
when they, burning with revenge, began attacking Musalmans.
Organising the Hindus and helping them is one thing, but going in
for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women
and children is quite another thing.” He added: “All their speeches
were full of communal poison.” Patel reminded Golwalkar that RSS men
expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhi’s death. He
squarely charged that “as a final result of the poison the country
had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhi”.
But the Sardar,
nonetheless, made a strange proposal for reasons of his own: “I am
thoroughly convinced that the RSS men can carry on their patriotic
endeavour only by joining the Congress and not by keeping separate
or opposing.” He had the restriction lifted and Golwalkar came to
Delhi.
.jpg) Prakash Singh
Badal finds it easy to look for an enemy in the Congress and a
friend in the RSS-BJP. Why he cannot see what is visible to even the
political novices is beyond any understanding unless Badal is being
a hypocrite. Clearly, he is being one.
When the talks
did not succeed, on November 2, 1948, Golwalkar announced the
failure in public statements outlining his stand. Three days later
he replied to Sardar Patel’s proposal in terms which are very
significant. They were the basis on which he later supported the
creation of the Jan Sangh, the ancestor of the BJP: “I tried my
utmost to see that between the Congress, which is capable of
delivering goods in the political field and is at present the ruling
party, and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in the cultural field,
which has achieved success in creating a matchless spirit of
patriotism, brotherhood and selflessness among the people, there be
no bad blood, there be only everlasting mutual love, one
supplementing and complementing the other, both meeting in a sacred
confluence.”
So, even though
the talks had failed and Golwalkar was ordered to go back to Nagpur,
the intentions have come on record for the posterity. The Congress
till date has been delivering goods in the political field and the
RSS has been polluting the cultural field. The recent changes
effected in the Nanakshahi Calendar are the latest proof of this
cultural pollution.
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This what PM Nehru’s office wrote to the RSS
chief: “Government have a great deal of evidence in their possession
to show that the RSS were engaged in activities which were
anti-national and prejudicial from the point of view of public
good.” |
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Here is the
Indian Home Ministry's statement of November 14, 1948 recording what
had transpired in Golwalkar’s two interviews with Sardar Patel and
the former’s refusal to alter the Sangh’s ways: “The information
received by the Government of India shows that the activities
carried on in various forms and ways by the people associated with
the RSS tend to be antinational and often subversive and violent and
that persistent attempts are being made by the RSS to revive an
atmosphere in the country which was productive of such disastrous
consequences in the past.” It added: “He has written letters both to
the Prime Minister and Home Minister explaining inter alia that the
RSS agrees entirely with the conception of a secular state for India
and that it accepts the National Flag of the country and requesting
that the ban imposed on the organisation in February should now be
lifted. These professions of the RSS leader are, however, quite
inconsistent with the practice of his followers and for the reason
already explained above, the Government of India find themselves
unable to advise Provincial Governments to lift the ban.”
The government
issued a communique on
July 11, 1949,
announcing the lifting of the ban. It recorded the RSS leader’s
clarifications and said: “In the light of the modifications made and
clarifications given by the RSS leader, the Government of India have
come to the conclusion that the RSS organisation should be given an
opportunity to function as a democratic, cultural organisation owing
loyalty to the Indian Constitution and recognising the National Flag
eschewing secrecy and abjuring violence.”
 Clearly, this
was the compromise between the Congress and the RSS. Both catered to
the radicalised, communal Hindu sentiments and did not want to lose
this important chunk of Indian electorate. With Congress assuming a
left of Centre position and leaving the right of centre to the
RSS-Janasangh or the modern day BJP, the entire Hindutva flank can
be covered.
It is his
cooperation, collusion and teaming up with such a flank that Prakash
Singh Badal is so proud of. Badal's words as a study in
obsequousness:
"After the
elections, a BJP-led government was to be formed at the Centre with
Mr Vajpayee as Prime Minister. They were looking for allies. I
realized that this was a crucial and even a historic moment to undo
the feelings of mutual suspicion. The Shiromani Akali Dal had swept
the polls in
Punjab.
We went over to Mr Vajpayee's residence and announced unconditional
support to him. Vajpayeeji embraced me in front of a large gathering
that had come to his residence to express solidarity with him. A
picture of Vajpayeeji and me on Page 1 of a prominent national daily
the next morning did more to bridge the emotional chasm that had
been created between Hindus and Sikhs. It was an emotional moment...
I can never adequately explain what our coming together has done for
creating an atmosphere of mutual goodwill in
Punjab."
If this was the
Badals' turn for turning obsequous, they were only taking a leaf out
of the RSS own book. When the RSS was banned for the second time,
the letters that the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras had written to
Indira Gandhi during the Emergency were cringing: “I have heard the
speech you delivered on August 15, 1975, from the Red Fort,
Delhi
on AIR. The speech was balanced and befitting to the occasion and
has prompted me to write this letter to you,” he wrote on August 22.
He concluded: “I beseech you to rescind the ban imposed upon the
RSS.” Deoras wrote to Indira Gandhi again on July 16, praising her
foreign policy and renewing his plea on the ban. Both letters were
ignored.
 Deoras’ letters
to S.B. Chavan were as abject. He wrote on June 6, 1976, asking
Chavan for “release on parole with a view to clarifying certain
issues directly to you”. The entreaty was repeated on July 12, 1976.
None of the letters elicited a reply.
When the
Emergency was over, and the RSS prospered during the Janata era,
Prakash Singh Badal was among the key politicians that lent
credibility to the Janasangh. When the Janasangh walked out of the
Janata Party to form the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prakash Singh Badal
did not lose a single opportunity to underline his close links with
LK Advani or AB Vajpayee.
When the Akal
Takht in recent past declared the RSS to be the Enemy Number One of
the Sikh Nation, Prakash Singh Badal did his level best to get the
hukumnama deferred or withdrawn. So far he has only succeeded in not
letting this Hukumnama come to the forefront.
Now when the
Justice Liberhan Commission also says that the BJP and the RSS are
but one, and that there was no way the BJP can go out of the command
and control structure of the RSS, one thing is very clear: Punjab's
ruling Akali Dal of Parkash Singh Badal-Sukhbir Singh Badal has an
alliance with a party that is an appendage of the RSS, described by
the Akal Takht as Enemy Number One of the Sikhs.
So what is Akali
Dal? Enemy Number Two of the Sikhs?
No wonder Mr
Badal has written: "If I have to pick one national leader as the
ultimate embodiment of the widest political consensus in the
country, it will have to be Atalji." Whatever happened to a social
construct called "Shame"?
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RSS: The Agent Provocateur
 RSS has been
raising provocative issues every now and then, keeping up the
pressure on India's minorities and sending signals that unless
they agree tolive in a subdued manner with second class citizen
status, there will be trouble.
Not so long
ago, its leader K.S. Sudarshan said minority status for Muslims
and Christians in India should be scrapped. "Ninety-nine per
cent of Muslims and Christians in this country were born here.
So why do they call themselves minorities?" he asked.
Every now and
then, the right-wing umbrella saffron body of Rashtriya
Swamsewak Sangh (RSS) considers it prudent to mention that the
Sikhs are a part of the larger Hindu samaj.
Last year, the
RSS had said it was putting to rest earlier controversies by
redefining its stand on the Sikh faith, but merely reiterated
that Sikhism is a separate religion but part of the larger Hindu
samaj. The statement only complicated matters further with the
Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) adopting a hard
stance and objecting to this view, but not moving an inch to
counter it.
“We regard the
Sikh religion as a separate religion, but we regard the Sikh
people as belonging to our samaj.When we say that they are a
part of the one great Hindu samaj, we do not deny the existence
of their separate religion and separate beliefs.The Hindu samaj
is a commonwealth of many religions,” the RSS official website
stated.
It also said
that the RSS held the belief that the Hindu Code Bill is
applicable to Sikhs, Jains and Buddhista alike and it should be
applicable to others like Christians and Muslims too.
Sikhs have
often reacted sharply and have asserted that they have their own
separate identity and are not a part of the Hindu samaj. The
Sikhs have also been demanding that they should not be covered
under the Hindu Marriage Act and that the government should
implement the Anand Marriage Act while accepting Sikhs as a
separate Nation.
In what may not
be to the liking ot the Akalis, allies of the BJP, the Sangh has
also expressed the view that it sees a “problem” of minorities
assume a political character.
“The
majority-minority distinctions must be restricted to the bases
on which the minority character is sought to be claimed ... The
problem arises when a particular minority transgresses the basis
of its minority character and assumes a political one,”it said.
Voices against
the RSS have often emerged from among the Diaspora too. At a
human rights conference in Southall last October, a number of
communities came together as a front against Hindutva terrorism
backed by organisations like the RSS in India. Muslim,
Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh community leaders included
Lord Nazir Ahmed, Avtar Singh Sanghra(Babbar), Tarsem singh
(British Sikh council), Gurcharan Singh (Dal Khalsa), Manmohan
Singh Khalsa (World Muslim Sikh Federation), Nazar Lodhi (World
Muslim Sikh Federation), Sonil (Buddhist community India), Dr
Mokel Hazaraka (Assam watch) Hindu community leader, Amdad
Husain (Star News) and Adran Chada (British Muslim Youth
Federation UK).
All the leaders
collectively wanted a ban on the RSS and said there was
certainly no place for such an organisation in the
UK
which stood for human rights and tolerance for all communities.
In the light of
the increased activities of the RSS in the United Kingdom in
gathering funds, political backing and spreading their hate
ideology, the World Muslim Sikh Federation even petitioned Prime
Minister Gordon Brown to ban the group, freeze its assets and
its funding.
The RSS
influences the policies of every single political party in
India, be it the Congress, BJP and so on. The RSS has recently
increased its activities within the UK against Sikhs and other
groups, such as Muslims. By creating tension between Sikhs and
Muslims for no apparent reason, they have also tried to divide
these two communities from within by causing internal conflict.
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6
January 2010
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