Prafulla Ketkar
For everyone this year’s RSS Pratinidhi Sabha was different, not in the backdrop of the Uttar Pradesh Elections but because it was taking place for the first time ever in Tamil Nadu and that also at the venue of Sri Amrita Vishwa Vidhyashram, Coimbatore. After a long journey after closing of the weekly edition to Coimbatore, the first thing I was looking for food. After the local volunteers of RSS helped me in finding my residence, they guided me to the Bhojan Mandapam (dining space). It was a nice feeling to have a typical Tamil food served with care and affection by mostly Tamil speaking volunteers. All who’s who in the RSS circles were standing in the queue and finding their space on the floor. To my utter surprise, the Joint General Secretary of RSS, Datta Ji (Dattatreya Hosabale) was standing behind me in the queue, inquiring everyone about their journey in his usual style. That is RSS Pratinidhi Sabha, the annual collective exercise of review and planning. Of course, this was not the first Pratinidhi Sabha for me. I have been attending this hectic event as a special invitee for the last four years and felt that my experience there as a media person is worth sharing.
Otherwise also, the grand conference of nationalist thinking people is observed keenly, so does the stories related to major changes and election strategies also crop up in the mainstream media. If the BJP, which draws inspiration from the RSS, is leading the government, then the Pratinidhi Sabha gets different connotations. This year’s Pratinidhi Sabha, held on March 19-21, 2017, was not very different, except the venue. And mind you it has nothing do with the political atmosphere prevailing there as the decision pertaining to the same was taken last year itself. The spiritually charged venue of Sri Amrita Vishwa Vidhyashram was icing on the cake.
The place like Vidyashram, was the experience beyond words, perfectly poised for a calm and lengthy review of the world’s largest voluntary organisation. After the affectionate welcome at airports, railway station and bus stand, the state-wise guest list was ready there with the allocation of respective rooms. Out of 1510 expected representative from each and every corner of Bharat, 1396 actually turned up (92 percent of the total numbers), that also spending from their own pockets for the organisational and national cause. While attending to these many numbers for the first time in the organisational set up, there was hardly any chaos or confusion.
Everybody was clearly told about his stay and other facilities at the time of registration itself and the simpleton set-ups named after the great Bharateeya sages like Agastya and Vasishtha were provided with handmade, bamboo mats and a pillow; that is all! Except aged ones or someone with health issues who were provided with the bunker beds of the hostel along with mattresses, everybody else was sleeping on the floor. This approach of self-sufficiency and austerity is the real strength of RSS which we need to appreciate.
After the breakfast of Idli and Upama, everyone was back in the hall before nine for the inauguration which almost all media houses covered. After adopting minutes of the previous Pratinidhi Sabha, the General Secretary Shri Bhayyaji Joshi welcomed all the delegates and presented his annual report. The beginning of the report also gives you a different picture about the RSS as an organisation. While paying tribute to many stalwarts who contributed to the national life, Bhayyaji took the names of RSS veterans like K Suryanarayan Rao and the ardent critic like Dilip Padgaonkar in the same spirit. The range of names and incidents compiled for giving tribute to the departed souls displays the national vision and wisdom of the RSS, which many critiques fail to understand.
It was followed by the annual reports of organisations initiated by Swayamsevaks in various walks of life which constitute almost day and a half of the deliberations. They are generally divided in groups, namely Shiksha (Education), Suraksha (national security), Samajik (social), Arthik (Economic) and Jan Sanghatan (mass organisations). This gives a larger picture of the activities that are being undertaken with the Sangh school of thought and allows open discussion among the Swayamsevaks working in different fields. Again whosever is representing the organisation, he has to stick to stipulated time and key highlights of the year, otherwise like the Speaker in the Parliament, Bhaiyyaji performed the role of the chair with perfect democratic spirit.
What happens in between the two sessions is very
interesting and important. After deliberating in various sessions from 9.00 am to 8.45 pm, the breaks are utilised for meetings in small groups, either region wise or issue wise. These are most productive as many follow up actions are decided in these meetings at a group level. This formal and informal meeting culture with collective
thinking is another hallmark that differentiates the RSS from other organisations.
The targets decided about the organisational growth and reach in the previous year are reviewed, special and unique experimentation done by some units for the purpose are shared by the people who were actually involved in the process. For the last few years, with the exceptional thrust on Samrasta (Social Harmony), various actions taken by Swayamsevaks for building the bridges to eradicate the caste based discriminations and differences were the special focal point of this Pratinidhi Sabha. Thus, responsibility and accountability without compulsion is another unique feature with this nationalist organisation.
Somewhere on the second day, a resolution was proposed by a committee specifically constituted for the purpose. This year the focus was ‘Growing Jehadi activities in West Bengal’. Contrary to wider perception, from the subject and title of the resolution to each and every word of the draft is discussed with a true democratic spirit. Microphones erected in each horizontal and vertical row are used by the representatives to raise their voice, in the form of limitation, suggestion, amendment etc. The members of the resolution committee are expected to take a note of every minor point that is being made and are expected to respond about their acceptance or rejection with a sound reasoning. Once the consensus is built, the resolution is generally passed unanimously. This unique method of democracy without creating divisions makes the collective mechanism within the organisation stronger. I recall, previously at Nagpur, the resolution on mandatory primary education in the mother tongue had to be revised at least four times after the heated discussion.
Amidst these hectic activities, representatives also get to enjoy the flair of local culture. This time Bharatnatyam, by a local group and Tamil folk dance was the centre of attraction in the post-meeting event. While discussing all the organisational issues, future planning and priorities, deliberating on issues concerning the nation, the BJP also gets the same time as any other organisation. How far we were successful in our march towards bringing the whole society together with integrationist view and through
selfless activities remain the main focus of discussion. Of course, the Pathey (literally means provision made for the journey) by the Sarsanghachalak is a recharging
experience for the participants before returning to their respective areas of action. This year our basic role as Swayamsevaks was his chosen theme for the address, in which he highlighted the fact that the responsibilities and roles may change according to organisational needs but basic responsibility as a Swayamsevak will remain the same that one should not forget.
Perhaps the most distinguishing facet of this year’s Pratinidhi Sabha was the address by none other than Mata Amritanandamayi. As far as I know, may be, it was for the first time a person from outside the organisation addressed the ABPS. She working with different
organisational structure or her entire sermon delivered in unfamiliar language of Malayalam, hardly made any
difference. Most of the participants could find themselves in resonance with the spiritual force. The translation part was more delightful as she put the ‘Idea of Bharat’ in a nutshell and underscored the need to take extraordinary efforts to take that spiritual and cultural zeal at the
national level, which perfectly goes in tune with the
RSS objectives.
The strong resolve and collective loud thinking to rebuild the nation brick by brick, politics, like all other ways is just one of the ways for this larger transformation, is the crux of RSS thinking. The day we in media
understand this, we would stop speculating about what is happening inside the Pratinidhi Sabha and start
appreciating the impact value of organisation.
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