Surendra K Puri
My entire family is indebted to R.S.S because of the manner its workers saved us during the Partition days in Kasur which falls in Pakistan. I was then just a ten years old boy.
At that time, the voice of bullets was audible on all sides
of our house. Our lives were in great danger. We were taught “Kalmas” and were required to repeat those. We felt like a bird in a cage which could meet its end at any moment.
My grandfather was a very influential man and he had some good Muslims as his friends. They would send us milk and vegetables and when the parties of the looters crying “Allah, Allah” and speaking ‘Kalmas’ would approach us, they would come to our rescue and repeat the ‘Kalmas’ with us.
Yet the whole of my life I would not forget the pain of the awful scene when I saw the only son of a widow being butchered before her eyes by the men who were speaking aloud ‘Kalmas’.
My boyish mind developed a great hatred for these ghastly men, who while repeating God’s name i.e. “Allah hu Akbar” does horrible and diabolic acts. I became a disbeliever in God. (This faith in God, however, was restored much later when I reached my youth and happened to read the teachings of Sri. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his Holy consort, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. I then realised that God did exist – the same God, was called ‘Allah’ or Rama.
When we were in such a pitiable condition, one Niranjan, who belonged to our village and was a volunteer of R.S.S., came to our rescue. He had appealed to the Indian Government to give him some Military jawans, which was granted. That great and noble R.S.S. worker, risking his own life, escorted us along with all the Hindus and the Sikhs trapped in the village.
So how can we ever forget the deep debt of gratitude that we owe to RSS which is known for its
good deeds?
(The writer is a columnist)
