by Ratan Sharda
Many of us are not aware that territories under Dadra, Nagar, Haveli were ‘liberated’ in a satyagrah led by a hundred RSS swayamsevaks who raised the tricolour on the government buildings on 2 August 1955. They were feted years later and recognised as freedom fighters. The RSS swayamsevaks were involved in the freedom struggle for Goa in every phase. They were part of satyagrahi teams that included prominent leader like Jagannath Rao Joshi, who later went on to join Jan Sangh. They arranged for the food and shelters of satyagrahis who came in thousands during this struggle. In 1955, a swayamsevak raised the Tricolour in Panaji and was in prison for 15 years even after Goa was freed from the Portuguese in 1961.
During 1962, the Indian communists had supported the Chinese aggression. Their leaders like Basavaponaiah went to the extent of saying that India was the aggressor, while a section of the party claimed that Chinese forces were liberating India from capitalist exploitation. Some of them were arrested for anti-national activities. There were major fissures in party on this issue which ultimately led to its break up. As an abetment to Chinese, communist trade union controlling water transportation services in north eastern region went on a strike impacting supply of materials to Indian army. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) fought this tooth and nail. It took a decision to have very strong unions in all defence establishments to stop any such blackmail in future. As noted above most of the incidences noted here are taken from ‘RSS – Vision in Action’.
A massive movement was organised to oppose transfer of 9000 sq km of Kutch to buy peace with Pakistan. The RSS fully supported an agitation of the Jan Sangh to fight it tooth and nail. One of the biggest rallies was witnessed in front of the Indian Parliament in August 1965. Similarly, transfer of land of Tin Bigha signed in 1974 was also fought on the borders with Bangladesh in which Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) played a key role. Hundreds of agitators were beaten up; put behind bars, a worker was killed in police firing. After years of struggle the Centre finally understood the strong sentiments of people who would have been isolated in Bangladesh due to giving up of this strip of land and the agreement was modified in 1992.
During wars against India, from 1962, 1965 to 1971, the Sangh volunteers were there – running free canteens for army men, supporting the army by holding on to the supply lines. There are soul stirring stories of these from different wars on how swayamsevaks led by their local leader in Rajouri, Fazilka and Ferozepur refused to vacate a village or a town inspite of Pakistani shelling. This did indeed raise the morale of local people, the local administration and extended the support to the army in every possible way. RSS has provided support right from Kutch to Rajasthan, Punjab, J&K to the borders of Bangladesh.
Recognising the role that the RSS played in national emergencies, Pandit Nehru invited them for Republic Day parade in 1963. A 3000 strong RSS contingent in uniform participated in the parade with just three days’ notice.
From early days of East Pakistan and then Bangladeshi citizens’ infiltration RSS and affiliates have been agitating, petitioning, raising concern about this dangerous infiltration. It would surprise the reader that this Muslim infiltration to Assam valley by design started way back in 1921 when the Assam government formed in 1921 with the support of Assam Mohammedan Association gave implicit support to this migration from Muslim areas to Assam valleys in the guise of ‘Grow more Food’ what was described by British as ‘Grow more Muslims’. ABVP and the then Jan Sangh were in the forefront of such agitations. In 1950-51, Jan Sangh formed a committee of highly influential citizens which finally forced the government to push back two lakh infiltrators. ABVP supported All Assam Students Union in the agitation to stop Bangladeshi infiltration in Aug- October of 1983. It is sad that the then West Bengal government headed by Communist parties had covertly supported this Bangladeshi infiltration to augment its vote bank. Similar agitations were conducted by ABVP in Bihar in 1981, which was also a hotbed of this active infiltration The conversion of the border districts in Bihar and West Bengal into Muslim majority areas is not a result of growth in local Muslim population, but a part of plans of maulvis under the thumb of extremist elements of Pakistan and Bangladesh to control these border districts. This has been a matter of many studies on census reports. A report in India Today published on 21-2-2014 corroborates this conclusion.
During the building of the Rajasthan canal later named Indira Gandhi canal. years back, local people saw a sudden spurt in Muslim claims in Barmer and Jaisalmer areas. Sangh and ABVP got into action and it was found that a large number of Pakistanis had crossed over to Indian side to file false complaints and grab land. Even local Muslims supported Sangh in this work to identify these people and thousands of them were pushed back.
We are well aware of the recent 2008 agitation about Amarnath Yatra facilities conducted by the local people in Jammu who were fed up with continuous marginalisation of their role in government both in government jobs and role in governance. and step motherly treatment to Jammu and Ladakh region. All the talks of political settlement are centered around Kashmir valley and its separatist elements; as if Jammu and Ladakh and their Hindu and Buddhist citizens don’t exist. It is strange that Jammu has less number of seats in the J&K assembly though it has more area and more population. This decision about number of assembly seats was ad-hoc decision of Sheikh Abdullah government supported by Congress. The state apparatus controlled by Kashmiri politicians saw skewed government priorities in favour of the Kashmir valley. It is a set convention that J&K will never have a Chief Minister from Jammu region, whatever be the result of an election. This sense of being exploited and treated as second class citizens exploded in fury when the land given for temporary use for Amarnath yatra was taken back under threat from extremists and terrorists. It was an agitation which had entered each and every home of Jammu and people fought at every street corner. Women, children and men – all came onto the streets. The RSS provided organisational backbone to the agitation that was totally run by citizens of Jammu. The markets were shut down for weeks and people lived in great difficulty but refused to surrender to the whims of the state government that professed to be that of J&K, but worked only for Kashmir. Finally, the state and central government buckled and an agreement was signed. It is sad that these patriotic agitators who waved tricolour flag were often compared with extremists who waved Pakistani flags in Kashmir.
ABVP volunteers, RSS workers, VHP and many Hindu missionaries have paid a heavy price with their lives working in Naxalite infested areas of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and the North East. RSS volunteers have been murdered and maimed in broad day light, in front of students in class, in markets by communist goondas in Kerala for years. Finding no support from the government hostile to it, sometimes RSS volunteers have also retaliated in self defence as newspaper reports tell us. Even teachers of the schools run by these organisations are not spared. Murder of Swami Laxmanaanand in Odisha became news because of the popular backlash of the local people against the administration. There are heart breaking instances of violence against RSS volunteers like one in which they were picked up in Tripura by NLFT extremists supported by the Baptist Church and taken to Bangladesh border never to be seen again. This incidence was covered in India Seminar, Feb 2002 issue.
This fight for national integration continues even today. Local village defence committees in Jammu region are fully supported by RSS members. at risk to their lives. This is the reason why J&K People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and J&K National Congress (NC) are unhappy with the RSS and label it communal. Associate organisations of the RSS have set up special schools for displaced Kashmiris and people affected by terrorism. These schools have members of all communities including Muslim children, and there have been no attempts to convert them.
It has been rightly said, price for liberty is eternal vigilance. And RSS, as an organisation has been the vigilant arm of this nation all these years.
This would be the right place to recall that Dr Hedgewar suffered two jail se
ntences during the satyaagrahas in 1918 and 1930 totalling 19 months. As a member of organising committee of the INC session held in Nagpur during this period in 1920, he had proposed a draft resolution in the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1920 stating that the party’s aim was “to liberate the countries of the world from the vicious circle of exploitation by the capitalist countries.” This resolution shows that his priorities were very clear at that time too. The vision was not religious but nationalist and economic. In 1930s, members of the RSS were also part of his contingent. In keeping with his philosophy, before he chose to offer satyagraha, he gave up the post of RSS chief and passed it on to another senior worker before he went for satyagraha.
The RSS volunteers supported the 1942 agitation by whatever means they could. Many agitators were given protection in homes of RSS swayamsevaks and supporters including that of Lala Hansraj Gupta, who headed RSS in Delhi during those times. I quote here from a mail I received from a senior citizen and longtime RSS worker who was a young swayamsevak at that time, “I was around 19 years old. At that time there were two choices: either to join the movement for freedom struggle or unite the Hindu Samaaj. I thought the masses had no discipline. I strongly felt that if the society is well disciplined and well united, it can achieve the goals faster. I felt that the youth should work toward uniting the Hindus, while the middle-aged people and mature adults should join the freedom movement directly.” I have given more information about the 1942 movement in the annexure.
Doctor Hedgewar was clear from the beginning that the RSS was a man-making mission and part of the society. Any action outside its scope should be done by the volunteers themselves either individually or with another organisation. The RSS thinking was that unless there is a strong and disciplined organisation with substantial number of self-motivated people that could influence the society to act in a united manner, the struggle may not result in desired results. He had sensed that a weakened Britain due to World War II in 1940s provided an opportunity to free India. with an organized, disciplined and patriotic force. He worked very hard to bring RSS to that strength. It is said that even in sleep he would murmur, “Time is fast running out and yet we have not reached our goal.”
Positive Force of Social Harmony
An RSS swayamsevak is trained from the day of his induction in such a way that caste and sects. have no meaning for him. He sees all members of the society as his brethren. He has a much larger identity of a Hindu. As he gets more involved in this work, his world view becomes more compassionate and all inclusive. No person is small or big by his profession or riches, nor by caste. All his actions are in tune with this mental makeup. He doesn’t need preaching about equality and social harmony. The initiative taken by the VHP to declare untouchability unacceptable by various saints of Hindu community, open criticism of casteism and untouchability by the RSS heads is to be seen in this context.
RSS has undertaken conscious steps to break the caste based divide and reform people’s thinking to rise above caste and religious divide. Organisations like Saamaajik Samarasataa Manch (SSM) have worked hard to remove this sense of discrimination and bias between communities. But, most touching is the way individual activists have brought about a sense of social harmony effortlessly through their individual behaviour and actions. ‘Malaa Umagalele Doctorji’ (Doctorji, as I understood him) is a poignant account by Ramesh Patange about a Scheduled Caste person’s rise (himself) from being a tailor’s son living in slums to becoming a respected literary authority through the portals of Sangh. It explains how a person from low rungs of the society can realise his potential without any outward act of charity
I recall the charged atmosphere of our nation when then prime minister V P Singh implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, which suggested 27 per cent quota for the backward classes. This implementation drove a caste cleft in the Hindu society that was marked with widespread agitations nation over. Cleavages that were disappearing, re-emerged given the nature of Mandal Commission recommendations. This was V P Singh’s most cynical ploy of implementing the commission’s recommendations which were lying in the cold for decades. There was no public debate, there was no attempt at creating a consensus or sensitising people about the problems that scheduled castes, tribes and backward caste people face. The issue of reservations suddenly became a burning topic which created long-term bitterness.
In this highly charged atmosphere, senior leaders of the Sangh decided that the volunteers must be sensitised to the plight of their less fortunate brethren and to reason with right perspective. Swayamsevaks being a part of the society were also upset with these developments. Special three to four hour long workshops were conducted at various places, addressed by senior RSS workers and prachaaraks, some of them belonging to Schedule caste and OBC groups and some from higher castes. The lectures were followed by heated discussions. Dr Balasaheb Ambedkar’s life and works and his tribulations were explained all over again and swayamsevaks were asked to be compassionate and understand what their other less fortunate brethren were going through. It changed my perspective too. Whenever the subject of reservations comes up, I put forward the view of less fortunate members of the society even at the risk of being shouted at angrily by family members or others in the group. I can only say that it was not easy, but the Sangh leaders managed to calm the turbulence to a great extent at the risk of even losing some members.
I recall similar sacrifice of RSS members who worked hard to keep the Sikh-Hindu unity untouched at the height of the secessionist movement and terrorism in Punjab. Since, the RSS was the biggest obstacle in the militant designs of creating a wedge between Sikhs and Hindus, its members were targeted by the terrorists. Twenty-one RSS workers were gunned down in a terrorist attack in Moga, Punjab on 25 June 1989. More swayamsevaks were killed in Dabwali. Individuals were also targeted. But, activists were asked keep calm and continue to work towards the organic unity of the Sikhs and Hindus Rashtriya Suraksha Samiti was formed that held public meetings and morchas explaining strong bonds between Hindus and Sikhs. The RSS formed special relief committees and offered help to widows and other members of the families affected by terrorism with financial help and occupational training. Of course, this feeling of brotherhood was equally nurtured by the Sikh community and they too paid with blood for this effort of not letting anything break centuries of kinship.
Inspired by RSS, another organization during this period, Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, was launched to spread the message of Hindu-Sikh brotherhood in India. Incidentally, alternative terms for Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab used to be ‘keshdhari’ and ‘sahajdhari’ people. Many families since the times of Guru Gobind Singh would offer their eldest son to the ‘panth’ as it was considered the sword arm of Hinduism since the earliest days of the birth of Sikhism. Many Gurus sacrificed their lives to protect dharma which is Hindu dharma. Who can forget the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur who was beheaded brutally in Delhi while his three disciples were cut, burnt and boiled to death by Aurangzeb’s soldiers when he refused to convert. Sons of Guru Gobind Singh who were buried alive in the walls of the fort at Sirhind by Mughals? It is said in Punjab that the relationship between Hindus and Sikhs is like nail and the skin. It is not easy to separate them. Finally, peace returned to Punjab with firm action from the security forces and Punjab police and the forces of nationalism and national integration won.
The 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom in the aftermath of Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s tragic assassination was an acid test for the Indian citizens and the Hindu society. Contrary to the short public memory which only conjures up Delhi, the violence against Sikhs was abetted by Congressmen across India. Various commissions of enquiry have pointed this out, though the perpetrators have not yet been punished. We cannot call these as riots as it was totally one sided pogrom in which nearly 3000 Sikhs in Delhi and 8000 all over India were killed. RSS swayamsevaks not only hid Sikh families in their homes but also challenged rioters to go back and spare Sikhs. These attempts at ma
ss homicide were done in nearly all the cities of North India. Balasaheb Deoras, the then chief of RSS strongly condemned the carnage. RSS chief of Punjab cautioned Hindus not to fall prey to anti-Sikh reactions. In places like Patna, Bharatpur, Ranchi and Kanpur, swayamsevaks and their seniors played key role in defusing the tension. In Deoband, the local RSS Sanghchaalak, stood in front of local Gurudwara challenging people to stop and calm down. In Kanpur, RSS volunteers actually fought with ruffians to stave off their attack on Sikh families. In South, in Coimbatore, VHP workers gave shelter to several Sikh families whose shops had been attacked and burnt down.
I would like to digress a little here and remind you that it was not the first time that Congress hooligans went on a rampage. In the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Congress-supported hooligans had taken to streets and spit venom of hatred against Sangh volunteers and also Chitpavan Brahmins as he was a Chitpavan Brahmins. This violence was more severe in Maharashtra which was home to RSS movement. They burnt and looted homes and shops of RSS workers recklessly. Famous Marathi producer Bhalji Pendharkar’s studio in Kolhapur was reduced to ashes in this mindless vendetta. Guruji urged his followers not to get provoked as any retaliation could lead to serious consequences for Hindu society. So, they suffered silently with forbearance.
The recent celebrations in 2008 commemorating 300 years of Guruta Gaddi were supported whole heartedly by Sangh parivaar with active participation in it. Guruta Gaddi celebrates the declaration of Guru Gobind Singh ji that Holy Guru Granth Sahib would be the Guru of Sikh faith and there won’t be any other Guru after him. This participation included a grand langar at Hazur Nanded Sahib, the place where Guru Gobind Singh ji breathed his last and was marked by festive programmes across India. The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat took initiative to explain to the society at large that Guru Granth Sahib is one of the most egalitarian holy book with collection of words of wisdom of not just the Sikh gurus but also of saints from all over India.