“There are some who imagine that the concept of Hindu Nation is a challenge to the very existence of the Muslim and the Christian co-citizens and they will be thrown out and exterminated. Nothing could be more absurd or detrimental to our national sentiment. It is an insult to our great and all embracing cultural heritage.” – Shri M S Golwalkar (Guruji), Bunch of Thoughts
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee abruptly cancelled permission given for a programme which was to be addressed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat. This scheduled programme on October 3, 2017 is not organised by the RSS but by Sister Nivedita Mission Trust, commemorating 150th anniversary of the inspirational figure in whose name the Trust run so. Obviously, the question is being asked whether the RSS is the new target for the Opposition parties to deal with the BJP.
Frankly, this is not a new phenomenon. Whenever Congress was internally in shambles, it always chose to target RSS under some or the other pretext. Such malicious attempts have always failed and on the contrary, strengthened RSS organisationally and philosophically. Now, there seems to be a coordinated strategy by the entire Opposition and thus they have adopted a new pattern. It also tacitly gives a negative massage to the common masses that they cannot fight the BJP electorally, so they are targeting the RSS.
There may be varied reasons given by different political outfits while attacking the RSS but there seems to be a common factor that binds them together; a ‘cut-throat competition for appeasement’, showcasing their ability to the fundamentalists that we are the ones who can tame the spread and acceptability of RSS point of view.
Rahul Gandhi while kicking-off his campaign for Gujarat Assembly polls categorically mentioned his resolve to fight against ‘RSS mindset’. RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav does that often. Not long ago, Kerala Chief Minister unsuccessfully tried to stop the RSS Sarsanghachalak from hoisting the national flag in a school and his decorated party General Secretary also toe the same line consistently. Within an hour of the unfortunate killing of Bengaluru based journalist, Gauri Lankesh, allegations were made against the RSS and she was referred to as an ‘anti-Hindutva brigade’ journalist. This is part of the same malevolent divisive strategy.
Mamata is, not subtly, but openly playing a Muslim card. The incidences of Malda, Dulagarh and Basirhat are evident enough to substantiate. Not only that, at the same venue where Sister Nivedita Trust was scheduled to have a programme, the Minister of State for Mass Education in her Cabinet, Siddikullah Chaudhary, organised a function against the Supreme Court’s judgement on Triple talaq on August 23, clearly exposes the agenda.
The same is true with Pinarayi Vijayan. The Kerala Communist Party is losing its core cadre to the RSS which they want to make up for by wooing the fundamentalists Muslims. Denial of existing jihadi elements in the State which once their own Chief Minister had warned against and creating the drama of stopping the Sarsanghachalak from
discharging the national duty was addressed for a new found vote bank for the Communists.
For the Congress and their long served intellectuals, attacking RSS, creating RSS phobia among Muslims and Christians has been a basic survival instinct. The deteriorating law and order in Congress ruled states is further allowing them to use it in a new form. In the State of Karnataka, not only Gauri Lankesh but Kalburgi and more than 12 RSS Swayamsevaks have been killed in the last two years. The murder of a journalist is being used to cover the failure of the State government in curbing the growing fundamentalism. Interestingly, this is happening, when the brother of the slain journalist is demanding a CBI probe and alleging threats from Naxals to her sister.
As it is evident from the changing discourses on critical national issues whether Jammu and Kashmir or North-east, China or Pakistan, woman’s right or human rights, the nationalist point of view is on the surge. It is being translated in electoral terms also. Nationalist Christians and Muslims are also accepting this trend. The tactical ploy of ‘secular appeasement’ has got us the Partition and separatist mindset. On the contrary, the philosophy of Hindutva is assimilative, as explained by Shri Guruji. RSS works through society and politics is just part of this national reconstruction mission. Without understanding this if political parties try to mindlessly attack the RSS, it will always boomerang.
@PrafullaKetkar
