By Prof. Sanjiv K.Sharma
The unexpected defeat of the BJP on the hustings has necessarily paved the way for some intriguing political developments at the national level. The reasons for the defeat of the NDA may be immensely debatable and the arguments put forward by the UPA coalition for their so-called victory may be put to critical analysis, yet there are significant ramifications of the ?withering away? of the BJP-led coalition from the center-stage politics.
Besides these identifiable players of the game of politics at regional and national levels, the ascent of Congress to national power after a long gap of eight years, has provided the rarest of opportunities to some of its erstwhile persona non grata to make their national presence felt for whatever reasons. Some of them have long and distinguished careers in public life to make the high command of UPA feel it necessary to accommodate them into the cabinet with important portfolios.
Even if we tend to ignore some glaring facts about this government regarding the stature of the Prime Minister (who has yet to become the ?first among equals?) the tainted ministers, the extra-constitutional power-centre, and the global image of the incumbent government, yet we cannot resist the academic instinctive pressure of discussing the more recent controversies emanating out of the acts of the pro-active HRD Minister over the issue of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Students and teachers of political science in India are not accustomed to study, understand, analyse and research what the RSS is all about. Though this may be true about other disciplines also, our responsibility is evidently more than others.
But we are used to hearing some sincere criticism of the government and the Opposition by each one of them after the process of the government is finally over. This is manifested in the activities of most of the political players at national and regional levels in general. Keeping into consideration the above observations, the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi on the BJP for being involved in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi were not taken into account even by the media or for that matter, the BJP itself. One consideration might have been the inexperience and immaturity of Rahul Gandhi. But when a senior politician of the stature of Arjun Singh starts a war of words not with the BJP but with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the political players may feel amused, but not the students of political science. We have to analyse the whole episode both politically and theoretically. The vast political acumen and enormous experience of political life has made Arjun Singh a calculative crusader in and outside the Congress party. Some commentators have attributed the urge of Arjun Singh to prove himself more ?secular than thou? in the party, and/or the projection of vociferously opposing the ?actual? enemy, is thereby to occupy the most coveted chair of Prime Minister, behind all these mutterings. Viewing the political career of Arjun Singh, one may tend to agree with this presupposition. Otherwise also, when the most significant opponent the Congress party, i.e. the BJP has been humiliated in the recent elections and has not recovered from the shock, there is no apparent need to indulge in a mud-slinging game with the RSS.
Surprisingly, it is astonishingly true that we know not much about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Students and teachers of political science in India are not accustomed to study, understand, analyse and research what the RSS is all about. Though this may be true about other disciplines also, our responsibility is evidently more than others. We generally have some impression about the RSS, which is largely based on the stray comments either by political leaders or by our political commentators that appear on the pages of newspapers and periodicals. Some foreign scholars have admittedly made some serious research attempts but these also are not able to maintain objectivity and disinterestedness in their findings. Therefore, our knowledge about the RSS is immensely imperfect, immature partial, and secondary. Generally, the layman is unaware of the fact that RSS has over 60,000 ?Shakhas? spread in every nook and corner of the country. It is perhaps the largest non-governmental organisation working in diverse fields and areas.
RSS was established in 1925. Even after 79 years of establishment and being the point of discussion and debate in political quarters for more than the last 55 years, it has kept itself away from the game of real power. It has attracted several lakhs of people into its fold, most of whom have denunciated their career, family and other worldly attractions and become ?whole-timers? to fully serve the purpose of ?taking this own nation to the ultimate glory?. It has never engaged itself in money-collection processes. It has endeavoured hard to bring homogeneity in our social fabric. It has denounced the cast barriers and individuals have been assimilated into the mainstream of RSS only on the basis of their commitment, experience and hard work. It is the only organisation, which has been able to woo some of the most promising, young, brightest stars of our society as its whole-timers, fully ignoring their individual attainments and devoting itself completely to the uplift of the brethren of the motherland. The whole-timers of RSS, ?Pracharaks? as they are called, have been working day and night to fulfill the dream of every Swayamsevak?to make India the ?jagatguru? (teacher of the world). They are not salaried persons, but are true replicas of the brahmacharis of ancient Gurukul system of India. The auxiliary organisations of RSS alongwith its parent body are doing yeoman'sservice in different fields and areas of tribal development, rural development, social change, health, education, medical care, women empower-ment and so on. Even its detractors have always praised the work of RSS during natural calamities. The organisation has been capable of keeping itself away from the menace of politicisation. The organisation has tremendously shaped the socio-political and cultural orientations of millions of the people in the last few decades. Even after facing dirty and flimsy allegations by petty politicians and three bans by the government on its activities, it has come cleaner every time and the social image of the organisation has remained largely intact. The judicial pronouncements exonerating the organisation of each and every allegation made by three different governments (incidentally all of them were Congress governments) have also been a boon in disguise.
Coming to the recent controversy about RSS being the culprit in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, it may be recalled that various commissions and the court had exonerated the RSS of this charge. In addition to that, it may also be noted that Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had invited the RSS to participate in the Republic Day Parade in 1963 (after defeat in the Chinese war of invasion). Even then, any Tom, Dick and Harry starts accusing RSS of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. One more interesting charge against RSS is of its being fascist. This also holds no ground because the ingredients of fascism can only be traced in political organisations. RSS is absolutely a social-cultural organisation and its functioning is in accordance with its objectives and founding principles. The removal of four Governors on the charges of being RSS men was also undemocratic and fascist.
These brief comments on the working and scope of RSS should not necessarily be made to understand that we wish to announce that RSS is a sacred cow. I wish that I must not be considered communal, fundamen-talist or an RSS spokesman. But my effort is to instigate a serious debate on the activities of the RSS, which essentially requires some primary data-based empirical and analytical studies with an impartial and scientific attitude. This would not only make us understand the RSS in a better way but also pave the way for a greater number of sincere studies on various aspects of RSS and its sister organisations. This is the only method to reach the truth about RSS.
(The writer is editor, Indian Journal of Political Science, Reader in political Science, C.C.S. University, Meerut; [email protected], [email protected])
