RSS & POLITICS : Marriage of Convenience

White lie and another example of RSS double-speak
RSS & POLITICS : Marriage of Convenience
According to the press reports RSS leadership is annoyed with its senior functionary, Indresh Kumar who defended Sushma Swaraj, external affairs minister in the NDA government at the Centre currently involved in the Lalitgate. The Times of India (June 22, 2015) report quoting the RSS sources said, “the leadership’s annoyance with Indresh was not over the content of what he said, but the fact that he chose to dwell on the matter at all. The remark ran contrary to RSS’s insistence on being an apolitical organization …” The report described it the “hands off” attitude towards BJP.
It is a white lie and another example of RSS double-speak (in fact it is understatement). RSS officially created Jan Sangh and BJP as political organs and runs these as puppets as RSS archive will show.
The claim of the RSS that it is apolitical and BJP is an independent political party is not substantiated if we look at the concerned documents available in the RSS archives. The most prominent ideologue of the RSS, MS Golwalkar, openly declared that it had political ambitions and wanted to control politics directly. It was in total violation of the pledge to the Government of India that RSS would not indulge in political activities. While addressing a gathering of top ranking RSS on March 16, 1954, at Sindi, Wardha, he said:

"If we say that we are part of the organization and accept its discipline then selectiveness has no place in life. Do what is told. If told to play kabaddi, play kabaddi; told to hold meeting then meeting….For instance some of our friends were told to go and work for politics that does not mean that they have great interest or inspiration for it. They don’t die for politics like fish without water. If they are told to withdraw from politics then also there is no objection. Their discretion is just not required."

He continued to relish RSS ambition to control politics of a democratic-secular India clandestinely and did not mind sharing this ambition publically. While addressing top level cadres of the RSS at Indore on March 5, 1960, this Hindutva ideologue, went on to declare:

“We know this also that some of our Swayamsevaks work in politics. There they have to organize according to the needs of work public meetings, processions etc., have to raise slogans. All these things have no place in our work. However, like the character in a play whatever role has been assigned should be portrayed with best of capability. But sometimes Swayamsevaks go beyond the role assigned to a performer (nat) as they develop over-zealousness in their hearts, to the extent that they become useless for this work. This is not good.”

We find here Golwalkar referring to the Swayamsevaks loaned to political offshoot as ‘nat’ or performers who are meant to dance to the tunes of the RSS. This fact should not be missed here that Golwalkar’s above design of controlling the political arm was elaborated in March 1960 almost nine years after the establishment of Jansangh (the forerunner of the BJP) in 1951.
The RSS cadres who control the BJP keep on harping that BJP is an independent political organization and does not work under the dictates of the RSS. It is pertinent that one compares this claim with the facts available in the official publications of the RSS to know the whole nexus. The central publication house of the RSS, Suruchi Prakashan, Delhi, published a book in 1997, titled Param Vaibhav Ke Path Par (ON THE ROAD TO GREAT GLORY) penned by Sadanand Damodar Sapre, a senior RSS functionary. This book contains details of more than 40 organizations created by the RSS for different tasks. The preface ofthe book itself declares that, “Without the knowledge of the different kinds of activities of the sawyamsevaks (the volunteers of the RSS) the introduction of the RSS is incomplete. Keeping this in mind it has been attempted in this book to produce the brief information about the diverse activities of the sawyamsevaks.
This book covers the organizational status till 1996.We believe that this book will prove to be of use for those who want to understand the RSS along with the sawyamsevaks.” The BJP as a political organization figures prominently in it at number 3 out of 37 major outfits created by RSS.
It needs no corroboration that Narendra Bhai Modi was chosen as PM on the behest of RSS and BJP (and the Bhartiya Jana Sangh earlier) is run by RSS cadres loaned to the BJP. It enjoys the fame when credited for BJP’s victory. RSS loves power as any other theocratic organization but also wants to be looked as sagely while faced with controversial decisions of its creation; the BJP.
In good times the RSS is BJP but in rough times in order to save itself from embarrassment resulting from certain actions of the BJP government, the RSS declares itself to be apolitical. The RSS double-speak on this issue is the outcome of its urge to manipulate politics. The RSS keeps on dissociating from its off-shoots as per its convenience. For instance it used Hindu Jagaran Manch (HJM) for attacking Christians in late 1990s and when public opinion, media, judiciary and Parliament seemed to turn against it, RSS denied any relation with HJM. Moreover, when nefarious designs of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Dharam Sansad were exposed before the nation, RSS announced that these were independent organizations. It is a marriage of convenience between RSS and politics.
Shamsul Islam