Shri Balasaheb Deoras wrote to Smt Indira Gandhi twice from the prison in the spirit of Gandhian dialogue during the Emergency. He informed her about the nature of the Sangh work and reminded her that different ideological positions can co-exist in a democracy
It is being established that then RSS Sarsanghchalak Shri Balasaheb Deoras tried contacting the then Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi and begged for pardon. It is falsely stated that he continuously tried to bargain with her by offering the unquestionable loyalty of the Sangh to Smt Gandhi. Other Marxist intellectuals and historians like AG Noorani and Bipan Chandra has also leveled similar charges on Shri Deoras in their own ways!
Shri Balasaheb Deoras” Letters to Smt Indira Gandhi
What follows here are the two letters written by Shri Deoras to Smt Gandhi dated August 22, 1975 and July 16, 1976. In the first letter, Shri Deoras explained ‘the nature of Sangh work’ to the PM who had turned dictator and banned RSS without even giving a reason for her actions.
Shri Deoras explained to Smt Gandhi that, “Although the work of the Sangh is currently (emphasis added) confined only to the Hindu society it does not teach anything against any non-Hindu. It is totally false to say that the Sangh teaches hatred for Muslims.”
In the other letter, Shri Deoras reminded Smt Gandhi that in her foreign tours she “appealed for unity among different political ideologies and social systems.” Therefore, he appealed to the PM to practise at home what she preaches abroad.
Nowhere in these letters there is any mention of Shri Deoras offering any services to Smt Gandhi or promising to acknowledge her dictates for freeing himself. We must be again reminded that RSS had rejected Smt Gandhi’s conditional offer to lift the ban .
