Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh : The Unknown Facts And Widespread Myths

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also known as the Rashtriya Seva Sangh was founded in the year 1925 by a physician Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar during the British Rule. RSS is an NGO which has been in the midst of various controversies, most of them where it is dragged to the centre of the communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims. RSS has become a soft target for all the ‘secular’ political parties in India. Is it not worth to know a few facts and then form our opinion on what RSS is, what does it stand for and whether the attacks on it are just or otherwise?

The core ideology of the RSS is based on Hindutva, a kind of Hindu Nationalism and supports the philosophy ‘Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ which would mean ‘Truth is one, sages call it by many names. The whole universe is one family’.

The RSS actively took part in every national movement called upon by the Indian National Congress at the time of freedom struggle. The RSS also played a crucial role at the time of partition by providing its support in many relief activities and helping Hindus in migrating. In October 1947, soon after Indian independence, Pakistani troops had reached the borders of Kashmir. All the efforts of political leaders had failed to stop them. Sardar Patel sent a message to the then chief of the RSS MS Golwalker, also fondly popular as ‘Guruji’, requesting him to convince the Maharaja of Kashmir to accede to India. Guruji rushed to Srinagar from Nagpur to resolve the delicate matter. A meeting between Guruji and Maharaja Hari Singh was arranged. This historic meeting on the issue of national honour ended successfully, after which the Maharaja sent the accession proposal to Delhi, and Guruji asked the RSS workers in Jammu and Kashmir to shed their blood to the last drop for the integrity of the nation. Thanks to the important contribution of these unsung heroes, along with that of our army, we were able to save Kashmir from the clutches of Pakistan and protect our national honour. Had it not been for them, Kashmir would not have been a part of India. Also, not many people know that the RSS also actively participated in the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese occupation. These facts sketch the character of the RSS. It becomes amply clear that the RSS has been of a great assistance in building the nation.

It also needs to be seen that during partition, when Nehru was finding it extremely difficult to stop the bloodshed, it was the RSS that helped organise over 3,000 relief camps for the refugees from Pakistan. The contribution of RSS during the war times has been immense. In the Sino-Indian War in 1962, the RSS swayamsevaks from across the nation assembled in the North East of India to help the army as well as the locals during those trying times. During the 1965 Indo-Pak war, PM Shastri requested RSS to help control traffic in Delhi so that the policemen could be freed for defence duties. When Pakistanis were trying to take over Jammu and Kashmir, it was the dedicated swayamsevaks who cleared the snow from the airstrips and repaired airfields so that the Indian air force could land their aircrafts. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the RSS was instrumental in helping Sikhs in large numbers when murderers went on rampage to kill them in Delhi in the gruesome 1984 anti-Sikh riots, where even government machinery failed. The important role played by the RSS on every occasion of war, shows beyond all doubts, the nationalist character of the organization.

Apart from the role of a paramilitary force, the RSS has also been instrumental in the development of the nation. It runs around 27,000 Schools in remote tribal areas of the country where more than 8 lakh socially deprived tribal students are being educated. It is the first one to lend its hand in majority of natural disasters in the country including the  2001 Gujarat Earthquake, 2004 TN Tsunami, 2009 Karnataka – Andhra Pradesh massive floods, 2013 Uttarakhand floods, or any man-made disaster such as the Bhopal gas leak tragedy. Seva Bharati, an RSS-affiliated NGO has, till date, adopted thousands of children from militancy affected areas who are then provided education. It runs over 1,70,000 projects across India via organizations like Seva Bharati, catering to every language, state, religion, caste, colour and creed.

Despite their selfless service to the nation and immense contribution to nation-building, the RSS is among the most infamous outfits in the country today. It is panned as an intolerant, extremist group that is, sadly, even compared to militant organisations at times. Bashing the RSS has become fashion. A reality check is required. Maligning an organization of this stature is in no manner going to assist the country. The organization that has produced great leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, Narendra Modi and many others. Naturally, the organization would support the national causes and would raise grievances against the anti-national activities. That is in absolute domain of the organization and that there should be no assumption of any communal colour to such activities. Facts about the organization would, on the contrary, show that the allegations on RSS are baseless and are made by those camouflaging themselves as ‘secular-liberals’. The RSS has been banned thrice till date. It was first banned in the year 1948 by the Nehru Government, secondly during the 1975 Emergency by the Indira Gandhi Government, and thirdly in the year 1992 by the Narsimha Rao Government. The ban was lifted on all the three occasions as no evidence against them was found to prove their involvement in any of the anti-national activities for which the organization was banned. In fact, it is believed that Nehru was against the RSS purely for political reasons. The RSS was banned for the first time on Nehru’s orders, it is believed, as he suspected that Sardar Patel might form a political alliance with them and challenge the Congress. The only reason for such myths being widespread in the country is that they are a creation of ‘The Political Party’ which has ruled the country for about 50 years. The party has been ruling by creating, elevating and coddling such myths to protect their vote bank. Conspicuously, the RSS was banned by the same party on each of the three occasions. The facts are clear, unambiguous and right in front of us. Let us get them clear and then form our valued opinions without being swayed by the widespread myths.

Jai Hind ! 

An Open Letter to Indians

Dear Indians,

I wish you all hearty congratulation for phenomenal voting in the 2014 General Elections. An election conducted in 9 phases and in 29 states and 7 union territories, with more than 80 crore eligible voters.

I also wish to congratulate you for voting for BJP in such huge numbers, giving the party a full majority and free reigns to the next Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to work freely and be decisive, which is his most lauded quality.

The 2014 elections and the results thereof are significant in various aspects. Firstly, the number of eligible voters was humongous. Next was the fact that the voter class comprised mainly of youth. And lastly, the voter turnout at the polling booths in scorching heat of April and May.

Most significant and pertinent has been the result of the election. It is always a combination of reasons for the incline and decline of any political party or its leader and a historical backdrop is pertinent at this stage. BJP remained in power for 1 term under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004. For the 2004 elections, BJP again nominated Shri Vajpayee as the Prime Ministerial candidate. However, the party lost to UPA. Sonia Gandhi was all set to be the next Prime Minister to add a link to the already prolonged chain of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. There were protests on her nomination as PM being an Italian citizen. Sonia succumbed to the pressure escalated by the opposition and stepped down meticulously to nominate an unknown face, Shri Manmohan Singh as PM. Shri Singh being a calm, composed and a condensed man, governed the country smoothly. And the whole term seemed to be smooth as the hot waters running beneath were still not felt.

The 2009 elections showed a 39 year old Rahul Gandhi, the last Nehru descendant in Congress as its face, without naming him as the Prime Ministerial candidate against an 82 year old L K Advani of BJP. There was no anti-incumbency wave against congress and BJP could not solidly attack the incumbent Government with major national issues. Also that the projection of L K Advani brought no enthusiasm in the BJP wing itself. As a result thereof, BJP lost the 2009 elections and brought UPA-II in power. The Congress dedicated all the credit for victory to the Nehru descendant and it appeared to be the rising of another Prime Minister from the country’s first family. Somehow, Rahul was still not elevated for the big job and Manmohan Singh continued as the PM under UPA-II.

I don’t believe there would be any hyperbole by terming the UPA-II regime as the most shameless government with unfettered powers and zero accountability. The high-handed approach of the UPA-II became evident in 2010 itself. The commonwealth games scam was a shame for the country in the presence of international guests. The scam was a brazen abuse of the public money. Very shortly thereafter, the 2G spectrum scam came into public light. The list of accused was shocking and exposed the UPA. The Supreme Court lashed heavily on the UPA in the 2G spectrum judgment. However, the scams and scandals continued to erupt and Congress shamelessly embraced the same with ‘open pockets’. The coal allocation scam, infamously known as the coalgate was another scam with alleged siphoning off of astronomical amounts. The most shocking in this regard were two statements by Congressmen. First statement was made by the then Union Minister for Coal, Sriprakash Jaiswal on 17.08.2013 stating that, “It’s true that some files (pertaining to the allocation of coal mines) from 1993 to 2004 are missing. We are trying to get the copies of those files ready”. Second statement was by the PM himself saying that “I am not the custodian of files” in response to questions by media on the missing files. More than the fact that the files of an important matter went missing, what was more perturbing, was the audacity of the Congress members to make such atrocious statements.

Rampant corruption, perennially increasing inflation, soft on terror, indecisive PM, incapable Rahul were the major target issues against the UPA-II by the opposition for the 2014 elections. These issues were all against the Congress and it knew the road ahead wasn’t easy and smooth. With this backdrop, the BJP further weakened the knees of the Congress by naming Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. BJP knew the pros and cons of naming Modi, but the decision was a conscious one and it was ready to untie knots with self-proclaimed seculars like Nitish Kumar. Narendra Modi accepted the challenge and how. He left no stone unturned to fetch votes for his party. Travelled all over the country, made speeches, held rallies and the result of it was a huge ‘Modi wave’. The existence of such a wave was denied by Congress, AAP and all other parties to demean Modi.

But, on 16^th May, 2014, it was not going to be the say of the political parties. It was the voter that was to be heard. The voters spoke, cheered and screamed in one voice, the name of Modi. The voter was heard, loud and clear. BJP getting a clear majority by itself (282 seats) and NDA (pre-poll alliance) crossing 320 seat mark was phenomenal. Congress sulked in at 44. Modi fetched votes from everywhere. All parts of the country voted for Modi and his development politics. He was able to penetrate into the vote banks of other parties fetching 7 out of 14 seats from Aasam, 73 out of 80 from UP, 17 in Karnataka, 26 of 26 in Gujarat, 25 of 25 in Rajasthan, 7 out of 7 in Delhi, 43 of 48 in Maharashtra. This shows the reach of the man.

The 2014 results have brought many positives with it. The election was mainly fought on the issue of development and not on minority appeasement. Mulayam and Nitish got a lifetime lesson from Muslim voters, by voters voting wisely for Modi and rejecting the divisive politics. Mayawati, who considered ‘Dalits’ as her assured vote bank also got a shock by not winning a single seat in UP. Congress lost on all counts. Muslims voted consciously and tore apart the Congress’ smooth sailing dream. So was the case with other minorities, religious or otherwise. The sky-high aspirations of the AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal were also grounded by the voters.

We have given ourselves a decisive Prime Minister having a tremendous track record of development in Gujarat for over a decade and we must congratulate ourselves for the same. Modi has clear majority in the Lok Sabha which shall allow him to work free from all the coalition pressures. We have reposed our faith in one man and we sincerely hope he lives up to the expectations of the nation. May the country blossom in all spheres and fields. May this nation achieve new heights under the new government.

Jai Hind. 

Isliye Modi !

Have we ever experienced such excitement for a General Election in our country? Have we ever waited so desperately for the D-day? The answer is a clear no. The election campaigns by all parties have been huge. For the first time its a three sided National contest between the old and experienced INC and BJP, and the newly formed AAP. A three sided contest seems even more interesting than a triangular ODI series these days. The news channels and print media have all been concentrating solely on the chief election news.

To decipher the mood of the people is a little too difficult a task, considering the demographic dynamics of India. A country of more than 120 Crore people where approximately 80 crore are eligible to vote. How do you understand what each one of them is going to do and who is voting for whom. The question is very serious considering the economic problems the country is facing. The Indian Currency has been constantly weakening. The Country has threats from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

The question that stands still is whom to vote for?

The contest is essentially between three candidates, namely, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal. All three have vast differences in the ideologies they support and the way they canvass themselves and their ideologies. Who and why deserves to win is the question which is to be responded on various touchstones.

The first touchstone is that of connection of the leader with the public at large. A political leader essentially needs to connect with the public at large. Unless the leader is a populist one, it becomes rather more difficult to pull crowds and win the battle of ballots. Narendra Modi has done hundreds of sabhas all over the country in past few months. Three sabhas a day and all of them in different states says a lot about the character of a person aged 63. Narendra Modi would not go to the homes of Dalits in a simple kurta-payjama and have lunch there sitting on the floor. Narendra Modi doesn’t drive a simple Maruti car. He would arrive at a rally in a chopper, dressed up in extravagant outfits that even a youngster would be tempted to wear. Who would want their PM to be behaving like a poor man himself. What hope does he have and what hope does he give to the people if he himself weeps on issues of poverty? 

Although being termed as a Hindutva propagator, and filing his nomination from Varanasi, Modi did not go for a holy bath in the Ganges in front of the whole media fraternity. He doesn’t need to look ‘Aam’ to connect to the public. His chai pe charcha would be held at a posh A/c hall. He doesn’t need to look and behave as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ to connect with numerous others. The only requirement to connect with the public is the content of what you speak. Narendra Modi has been through everything in his life and that makes him comfortable wherever he goes. He can connect to the student crowd at a Delhi college convocation and to a farmer crowd at a rally in Haryana. He can connect with the poor crowd in Orissa and equally so with a crowd of businessmen at Vibrant Gujarat summits. He stays himself wherever he is, but ensures that he connects to the audience and makes sense to them. Probably, the vast experience of dealing with humans has only made him so versatile to be able to understand the worries of a Dalit locality and also that of a posh one.

Everyone should ask his / her ownself a simple question, whom do they want to lead them. Would you want a man sitting on a Dharna while being a State’s Chief Minister to be your leader? Would you want a man whose party was literally forced to pass Lokpal Bill, taking credit of the same lead you? Or you would want a dynamic leader who can speak his heart out on issues that most politicians avoid, to lead you. A man who has the audacity to question China on the issue of invasion into India, Pakistan on terrorism and Bangladesh on infiltration.The Prime Minister represents the country at an International platform. Would you want your PM to be an intense pessimist who is only good in criticising others and having no achievement of his ownself whatsoever? Would you want your PM to be a man who is dumbstruck by a few straight questions from a news reporter in an interview? Or you would want your PM to be a man who has tremendous success as a Chief Minister of Gujarat for over a decade under his belt?

Rahul Gandhi takes credit for passing RTI and Lokpal bills. Has political rivalry stooped down to a level where a Government seeks to take credit for passing legislations? Is it not the job of the Government to legislate?

The other touchstone for deciding a leader should be the personal achievements of the leader himself. The biggest achievement Rahul has, is his last name; Gandhi. Its legacy. Legacy of tyranny and abuse of power. What has he done by himself? An average person starts planning his retirement after entering into 40’s. This man still seems to be pursuing his internship as a politician. His attendance in the Lok Sabha is very low. He doesn’t participate in debates on major legislations. What is he doing? Its been a decade now. The same decade that Modi has utilized from being just a Chief Minister of a State to the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP. What has Kejriwal done thus far? He left his government job to work against the Government and for corruption free India. Joined India Against Corruption in furtherance thereof. Left India Against Corruption to form a political party. Came into power, became the Chief Minister of Delhi and left that job also in less than 50 days just because other parties did not support him in passing a legislation. Can the responsibility of running the country be put on such an amateur? Who knows what he might do on being the Prime Minister (Assuming that he becomes). Modi has a record of winning Gujarat elections successfully for three consecutive terms. Has efficiently administered the State for over 10 years. Imagine the pressure that man must have had on facing two setbacks in the first two years of Chief Ministership, first being the destructive earthquake in 2001 and second being the Godhrakand in 2002. Still, Modi has administered and nurtured the State very efficiently. He has brought abundant foreign investments into the State.  

The next issue that needs to be considered while deciding a leader is the future that the leaders show you. The future that Rahul Gandhi can, at best, show, is to widen the communal divide and to grant Scheduled Caste status to a few other castes just a few months before the next election. What plans does he have for the nation? Is the empowerment of people enough? Do people just want to file RTI Applications and be happy? Do people just want reservations for their castes? Do they just want apathy of the leaders? No. The people of this country want to do so well that they don’t need anybody’s apathy, and the Government which provides ample basic, educational and employment opportunities is the best suited and sought for. 

Finally, a leader should be judged on the manner in which he deals with criticism. Rahul Gandhi has always avoided media interactions. Arvind Kejriwal seemed to have been liking the media attention he got only until he was praised by the media. The day his failures as Delhi Chief Minister were brought forward, he started abusing the media. The man who has been most maligned by the media for the 2002 riots does not abuse media on every occasion and declare the whole fraternity to be a paid one. Narendra Modi didn't go haywire and played the 'victim of media card' before the Gujarat 2012 elections. He waited and he criticized the media on the 20th December, 2012. The day on which, he had won Gujarat elections for the third consecutive term.

Go out and vote for change.

Jai Hind.