Akhil Bharatiya Prant Sanyojak meeting
of Prajna Pravah
By N Nagaraja Rao
“Hindutva is assimilative, self-sustaining, self-renewing, self-introspective, neither too traditional nor orthodox, but elastic thus adapting to the changing times,” said veteran Sangh Pracharak and National Executive Member Shri Ranga Hari. He was speaking at the Akhil Bharatiya Prant Sanyojak meeting of Prajna Pravah held in Ahmedabad from December 31, 2011 to January 1, 2012. The meeting was inaugurated by Pujya Madhav Bapu and Pujya Bharat Bapu at Lalgebi Ashram.
Delegates from 23 Prants attended the meeting. Among those who attended the meeting included Shri Bal Apte and Shri Tarun Vijay (both Rajya Sabha MPs), Smt Indumati of Vidya Bharati Ahmedabad, Prof Brij Kishore Kuthiala from Bhopal, Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma, Prof Sheela Rai from Social Sciences Foundation, Jaipur, Shri Milind Oak from Pune and Prof NK Taneja from Meerut.
Shri Ranga Hari further said, “Nationalism is the doctrine that one’s national culture and interests are superior to any other, and that nations should act independently to attain their goals. It holds that a nation, usually defined in terms of language, ethnicity or culture, has the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community based on a shared history and common destiny.” He said these self-definitions of nations are used to classify different types of nationalism, although such categories are not mutually exclusive and many nationalist movements combine some or all of these elements to varying degrees.
He broadly classified nationalism into three—Neo-Nationalism, Multi-nationalism and Nationalism. Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo are two great examples to be followed for a resurgent India. Sri Aurobindo’s definition of nationalism had a spiritual dimension, unlike the ordinary patriotic understanding of the term nationalism. Nationalism in Aurobindo’s opinion is not merely a political movement. It is neither a political programme nor an intellectual past time. In his opinion, nationalism is akin to religion. It is a faith and a creed which one has to live. Aurobindo’s theory of spiritual nationalism is a contribution to modern thought. His writings inspired the educated youth of his time to take up the cause of freedom. By interpreting the concept of nationalism in spiritual terms he gave a new dimension to the national movement and lifted it above the economic and political context and a new kind of spiritual idealism was set before the nationalists in the country.
Shri Ranga Hari further said Swami Vivekananda too played the role of a spiritual guide of humanity at large. He believed this was India’s predetermined role and that she could rise to the level only through the teachings of the Hinduism. Nationalism cannot afford to neglect anyone. It is, therefore, imperative for one to bring all the sections of the society into the mainstream of political life. In the Indian context he believed that all the sections including tribals and communities outside Hindu civilisation must form part of the process of national independence as nationalism excludes none.
He reminded that Dr Hedgewar’s goal of reviving Hindu national consciousness was perhaps willed by God. The goal of the RSS founder was never to acquire state power, but to reform Hindus and reframe Hindu culture and also Doctorji’s belief that socio-cultural reform was believed to be beyond the capabilities of political institutions, and political parties per se could not unite society as a whole. Shri Ranga Hari exhorted to shun what is called the ‘pancake people’? He said “this was a term coined by the playwright Richard Foreman to refer to the present Internet-dependent-generation. In 2003, Foreman wrote, “I think we are producing a race of people who are paper thin—almost pancake people—who cover a lot of territory.”
“Pancake, like the Indian dosa, is fried on both sides; it is thin and flat and is usually eaten for breakfast. Foreman suggested that thanks to the Internet, the present generation has unlimited access to information, and they read up on a broad range of subjects as they surf the information highway. Like the pancake, however, these individuals spread themselves really thin, and in the process fail to acquire any intellectual depth. They acquire bits of information about various subjects, but do not delve into any one area. They often fail to retain the information they have acquired as it is available on the Net. Like the pancake, these people are flat, spread thin with small bits of information, and have little or no depth. This attitude is dangerous and a swayamsevak has lot to evaluate on our own weakness and strengths.
“Many of the post graduates have chosen doctoral thesis on RSS and among them are many non-Hindus and to be fair it’s implicit none have opted to do their research for the love of RSS. In depth study cells need to be established to gain knowledge over your adversaries.
“The task set by Dr Hedgewar is well laid for the karyakartas to be experimental at the ground level and conduct the assigned duties with ease, and also one should not forget that Doctorji’s life mission was through an intense intellectual quest against the backdrop of our history and heritage and finally he could see lightness beyond the dark that led to the establishment of the Sangh. Needless to say Sangh symbolises the organised strength of the Hindus and swayamsevaks are the architects of nation’s destiny,” Shri Ranga Hari added.
RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Dattatreya Hosabale stressed the need to celebrate 150 birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. He reminiscenced how Vivekananda recognised the inherent strength of Bharat. Prajna Pravah, he said, should now train people for academic vigour that frees everything from Westernisation, decolonise the minds and let not our policies be Eurocentric. He said our economy is indeed functional although plan driven and unfortunately economic policies are dictated by the electoral politics of the party in power. Decadent India is fighting a last ditch battle to retain the status-quo of political-cronyism, corruption and the arrogance of power that they have accumulated over the last 60 years. The battle will be bitter and tiring for resurgent Bharat to dislodge decadent India.
On the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, he urged a battle must be fought with vigour and dedication against Decadent India so that “the real soul of Bharat can be renewed and revived”. It is resurgent Bharat that can spearhead the socio-economic/spiritual transformation and harmonious synthesis among nations and let every swayamsevak be an architect of nation’s destiny.
Director General of Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe gave a power point presentation on “Intellectual Activism”. He exhorted delegates to stress clarity of thoughts, sustainable pluralism and spiritual democracy. Prof Rakesh Sinha of Delhi University emphasised: “Soviet Union is long gone and communist parties elsewhere have mostly faded away. The left has been weakened by election defeats and strategic uncertainties eroding a mass base in several states. The result in West Bengal is widely depicted as a devastating defeat from which the CPM is unlikely to recover and ideology of the left is at best archival. Recalling the Constituent Assembly’s initial deliberations in August 1947, that were so dominated by the issue of minority safeguards that the Assembly contemplated reservation of seats in Central and Provincial Legislatures for Muslims, Christians and Sikhs on the basis of their population, Prof Sinha narrated how Sardar Patel responded with the remarks that “Our mission is to satisfy every interest and safeguard the interests of all minorities to their satisfaction within the framework of the overall national interest. In the long run, it would be in the interest of all to forget that there is anything like a majority or a minority in this country.”
Defending RSS, Sardar Patel had said uniting Hindus is no crime and to defend Hindus when attacked cannot be faulted. Recalling the events since 1946, Prof Sinha articulated how RSS became a pawn in the political power play and politics of the Congress. Prajna Pravah should take note that the leftists have of late become revengeful and communists live in a deceptive self but do adopt a policy “never mind the cat is black or white as long it catches mice”. Leftists support to Muslims in the garb of minorities has ensured that later have been taken for a ride as an electoral strategy. While Islam is on defensive worldwide in France, Belgium, Australia and other countries, it is often the other way around in India.
Prof Sinha reminded how the present polity is debating the percentage of reservations to be earmarked for Muslims as if the very constitutionality of the religion reservations is a foregone conclusion. He emphasised that there is no room for pessimism although ideological movement of RSS is under considerable strain.
In the beginning, Shri Krishna Bhatt, convener of Prajna Pravah, called for consistent efforts on what is called intellectual activism. The challenges posed by anti-national forces have been phenomenal. Attempts are being made to alter the geographical and cultural entity of the nation. The influence of the Left took precedence under the present dispensation and it is time for us to take stock of the situation, introspect and respond suitably. Bharat is invincible and a strong society envisaged by Dr Hedgewar and no power on earth can cast an evil eye, he added. Shri Rajendra Chaddha, coconvner of Prajna Pravah proposed a vote of thanks. This meeting was hosted by Bharat Vikas Manch, Gujarat.
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