Dalits and Religious Nationalism in India: An ex-insider’s perspective (original) (raw)

UNDOING DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIA: THE HINDUTVA WAY by Shamsul Islam

"UNDOING DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIA: THE HINDUTVA WAY Shamsul Islam (notoinjustice@gmail.com) The most prominent flag-bearer of Hindutva politics; the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh1 (RSS), since its birth in 1925, has been steadfastly working for turning India into a theocratic state. It enjoyed the support of a section of high-caste Hindu society but with the formation of the National Democratic Alliance governments[1 998-2004], RSS greatly accelerated its old favourite pastime of turning India into a Hindu Rashtra and minority-bashing as part of Hindutva project. The then Sarsanghchalak or the Supremo of the RSS, KS Sudershan while addressing a rally on the eve of the 75th founding day of the RSS in Nagpur, called upon the Muslims and Christians of the country to prove their patriotism. Later, the RSS at the end of its Bangalore session on March 7, 2002, came out with another warning to the Muslims: “Let the Muslims understand that their real safety lies in the good-will of the majority”. This statement came in the aftermath of the carnage of the Muslims allegedly organized by the cadres of the RSS in Gujarat. How the Muslims and other minorities could earn RSS ‘good-will’ was clear by the following words of an editorial in The Hindustan Times: Daughters were gang-raped in front of their fathers and then had their heads bashed in. Their fathers were doused with petrol and set on fire. Their property was looted. Their businesses were destroyed. And the police stood by and did nothing.2 It is really atrocious that an organization, which had been banned at least twice for anti-national activities by the Government of India after Independence should pose as the controlling authority of patriotism in the country. Should we once again refresh the memory of the RSS brass that their rabid communal organization was banned in 1948 for collaborating in the murder of Father of the Nation M. K. Gandhi,3 and in 1992 it was again banned for demolishing the Babri mosque at Ayodhya? Do we also need to tell the RSS that misadventures like the demolition of the Babri mosque, the large scale pogrom of the Muslims in Gujarat, violence against Christians and Dalits by its outfits only served the strategic goals of the enemies of India like the ISI of Pakistan who wanted to see an India fractured, and at war with itself? The RSS and its leadership historically have been great worshippers of Hitler and Mussolini and their ideas. Nazism and Fascism have greatly moulded the ideological as well as organizational frameworks of the RSS. They do not hide this love. The RSS does not hate minorities only, it publicly wants to build up an India of Manu’s dehumanizing ideas and establish a theocracy in which the Dalits/Untouchables, lower castes, downtrodden and women amongst the Hindus will have no humane or respectable existence. It is to be noted that anti-minority rhetoric is only a strategy to camouflage its anti-national designs. It is high time that the people of this country scrutinize the record of patriotism and loyalty to the Nation of the RSS itself. Unfortunately, the RSS, which is fond of demanding unwavering and unflinching loyalty to the nation from the minorities, is loyal neither to the Constitution of India nor to the National Flag. The RSS is an organization which openly decries the existence of a democratic, federal and secular India; and these characteristics are the ‘Basic’ features of the Constitution of India. It is an organization which not only openly decried the Freedom Movement against the British rule but also made fun of the heroic and patriotic revolutionary tradition of great martyrs like Bhagat Singh and his companions who laid down their lives for the liberation of the Motherland. In order to know the truth we will simply have to make access to the literature and publications of the RSS and its different outfits, specially the writings of M.S. Golwalkar who, as an ideologue is religiously followed by the bosses and cadres of the RSS. Here it is attempted to present the original and official viewpoints of the RSS on different aspects of Indian Nation, so that there is no room to allege that they have been misrepresented. It must be stressed here that it is the need of the hour that we know about the RSS and its game plan. It is no more a fringe organization now, as the present BJP leaders have declared their open allegiance to the RSS. They have even told the Nation that the RSS to them is what Gandhi was to Nehru! Interestingly, the RSS, despite these claims and declarations, denies any political role for itself! It claims to be just a cultural organization of the Hindus. It is hoped that with all these facts available (from horse’s mouth itself) our nation and the world will get familiarized with the real face and intentions of the RSS, otherwise it may be too late to save our dear Motherland.

Undoing The Soul Of Democratic Secular India: The RSS Pracharak Batra Way

The RSS brigade is fond of surgical strikes. Though there rages a dispute whether surgical strikes against Pakistan secured any favourable results but so far as its surgical strikes against minorities, specially Muslims and Christians and Dalits are concerned, are paying rich dividends to it. The lynching, maiming and robbing in the name of " ghar wapsi " (forcible conversion to Hinduism), " Holy Cow " and " Vande Matram " as part of this strategy aimed at attacking the human wealth of India. But it is also working overtime to destroy the soul of democratic-secular India by attacking all that has been positive in the Indian education. It is true that apparently it is busy in waging war against universities like Hyderabad Central University, JNU and Jadavpur University as these Universities heroically resisted the Hindutva takeover by the ABVP and pracharak vice-chancellors. The latest in this deplorable saga is that JNU VC has demanded display of army tank at the Central Universities specially the JNU campus. This demand for symbolic display of this army hardware is a precursor of a scenario when active army columns with tanks will rule such universities as happened in Bangladesh under Pakistani military rule and Indonesia under General Suharto. In fact, this warning was given in clear terms by a perennial hate-monger against right to dissent, G D Bakshi at JNU in the presence of many Central ministers that after " victory over JNU " there " are many forts like Jadavpur and Hyderabad University which our army will capture ". Apart from physical attacks and threats of elimination to these centres of learning, a more insidious game-plan of RSS is unfolding through RSS pracharak, Dina Nath Batra. He, as a father-figure of the RSS demolition squad against the largely liberal-democratic-secular system of school education which aimed at producing inquisitive young scholars who would question the status quo. Batra has come out with a new HIT LIST to be cleansed from educational content. According to press reports RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas headed by Batra sent to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) five pages of recommendations for removal of certain contents from school textbooks. This Nyas had earlier succeeded in getting removed renowned historian, A K Ramanujan " s book " Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation " from the syllabus of University of Delhi. This work chronicled the hundreds of versions of Ramayana which existed in the Indian past in different regions of India thus challenging the singularity of the text of this Epic which Hindutva brigade wants to declare as a Holy Scripture. The Nyas also forced Penguin India Publishers to withdraw an original amazing work Hinduism titled " The Hindus: An Alternative History " by renowned American Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Wendy Doniger. The Penguin under immense pressure from the Hindutva organizations did not even bother to inform the author about withdrawal of her book. READ THE FULL STORY... http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/07/31/undoing-the-soul-of-democratic-secular-india-the-rss-pracharak-batra-way/

BJP-RSS, Hindu Nationalism and threats to Secularism

India's freedom movement was an all inclusive movement for a nation state based on values of equality along with values like Liberty, Fraternity and Justice. The struggle was a joint venture by all the people of India, irrespective of their religion, caste and gender. It was founded on the premise that religion is a moral value and it's no obstacle to people coming together as Indian nation. The goal of this movement was secular democratic India. Sectarian Nationalism In contrast to the freedom movement, those upholding narrow, sectarian nationalism in the name of religion conceptualized nation in the name of religion, Hindu and Muslim. These people had their roots in the feudal, landlord classes to begin with and later some middle class elements also joined in. These nationalisms in the name of religion believed in 'Two Nation theory'. (1) Indian Constitution based itself on the principles of Indian freedom movement and through several of its clause, kept the secular values at the root of the laws and provisions in our society. While word secular was not part of the Preamble, secularism was inherent all through in the provisions of our constitution. While state strove to be secular, the society was in the grip of religiosity. (2) Many social scientists criticized the state for not being secular enough. In keeping with the modern and international norms it did provide for the affirmative action for religious minorities. It did permit minorities to preserve their culture through the institutions which they would control, like educational institutions set up by them. Soon enough the state faced the problem as Nehru-Ambedkar duo worked on the issue of reforms in the laws associated with religions and they thought, since Hindu community is the largest, a reform within the community will set the norm for other communities to follow. This is what led to the drafting of Hindu Code Bill by Ambedkar. It gave better rights towards equality to Hindu women in matters relating to inheritance of property, marriage, divorce and custody of children after divorce. (3) This brought in severe reaction from the conservative Hindu society, RSS and even elements within the Congress opposed it, leading to dilution of the Hindu Code Bill. This led to the resignation by Ambedkar from the Cabinet post. Later the issue of social reform, laws pertaining to rights of Muslim and Christian women remained in the limbo as the very foundation of secularism started being attacked by the movements related to identity issue. Independent India: Challenges to Secularism Somanth temple issue was another thorn in the journey of secular values. While Nehru directly opposed the building of temple by the state, Gandhi said that Hindu society is capable of building the temple on its own. Some Ministers in the central cabinet, did get associated with the trust to build Somnath temple, while the then President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad accepted to inaugurate the temple. (4) He did this against the advice of his government, led by Nehru, who held that state functionaries should not be associated with religious matters.

BHAGAT SINGH, MARTYRDOM TRADITION AND THE RSS

March the 23rd (2016) is the 85th anniversary of the martyrdom of three of India's great revolutionaries, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who were hanged at Lahore for working to overthrow the colonial, 'firangee' government. The British government thought that with the physical elimination of these freedom fighters their ideas and dreams of a secular and egalitarian independent India would also dissipate and disappear. The rulers were patently wrong as these revolutionaries and heir ideals continue to be an integral part of the people's memory, their exploits sung far and wide in people's lore. On this 85th anniversary of their martyrdom we should remember, and not overlook the fact, that though it was the British colonial powers who hanged them, there were at the time organisations like Hindu Mahasabha, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Muslim League in pre-1947 India which not only remained alien to the ideals of these revolutionaries but also maintained a criminal silence on their hanging. It is both comic, ironical and shocking therefore that, of these three communal outfits, it is the RSS—which consciously kept itself completely aloof from the anti-colonial struggle –that has, of late, laid claim to the tradition and contributions of these great revolutionaries. Literature is being produced and the discourse too seeks to appropriate them with false a-historic linkages to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. During the NDA I regime when its two senior swayamsewaks, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani ruled the country, they had made the astonishing claim that Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder of the RSS met Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev in 1925 and continued attending meetings with these revolutionaries and even provided shelter to Rajguru in 1927 when he was underground after killing Sanders.[i] In 2007, for the first time in its history, the Hindi organ of the RSS, Panchjanya came out with a special issue on Bhagat Singh. In the whole body of pre-Partition literature of RSS we do not find even a single reference to these martyrs. In fact, RSS literature of the contemporaneous period is full of anecdotes showing its indifference to revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. THIS ARTICLE LOOKS INTO THE PRE-PARTITION RSS DOCUMENTS WHICH SHOWS HOW RSS KEPT ALOOF WITH THE CAUSE OF THESE MARTYRS.