by Ratan Sharda
I have come to the conclusion that the veil of secrecy is not drawn by RSS, but it is a veil pulled over it by media itself. By doing so it is doing a disservice to people. In its own judgmental wisdom it probably decided to be the prosecutor and the jury; and ordained that RSS work must be kept a secret from the society so the harm can be kept to the minimum. When you couple this attitude with excessive media exposure that works as oxygen for terrorists and separatists in Kashmir or ‘Breaking India forces’ you wonder about clarity of thought of the Indian media.
Having highlighted the problematic relationship between media and RSS, I may say that RSS too has been lax or a little slow in changing with the times. The abiding thought and mental makeup of the RSS workers based on the founder’s directive to keep away from publicity and work silently, had been stretched too far, for too long.
Till a few years back, media used to be an unnecessary waste of time, or at the best, a necessary evil for RSS. To put it on record, RSS created a ‘Prachaar Vibhag’ or ‘media cell’ in 1994, 70 years after RSS was established. However, only recently has it begun to look at various arms of media as crucial tools to disseminate its views and ideology; something that is a must, keeping with the current communication trends in today’s battle for the minds.
Objective of the ‘media cell’ is to share positive information and news about RSS, Hindu society, various organisations, even social upliftment work of those not related to RSS. It is not to be a vehicle for organisational or personal publicity or marketing.
It is still work in progress. While it is true that a major section of media is dominated by secular-Marxist parivaar, there is also a sizable section in media which simply does not know enough about RSS and is susceptible to impressions created by this dominant section. The sheer inertia and disinterest in doing some leg work and research to understand the spirit of RSS work, and its positive social impact leads to absence of information or distorted information about RSS and its affiliates. This year’s ‘controversy’ raised about absence of women in shorts in RSS, implying women are not allowed in the RSS by Congress VP Rahul Gandhi showed us poor information even about an 85 year old women’s’ organization called Rashtra Sevika Samiti that has 100s of branches across India and over one lac members. It holds public programmes, including parades in its uniform. A senior ‘political’ editor admitted to me during a TV debate that even he didn’t know about this work! Whom to blame? Lack of media interest or failure of Samiti to get itself published or advertised?
With this clarity that it should only project good work, not project individuals or run propaganda, it has begun projecting itself in Social Media, mainly Facebook and YouTube. Its presence on Twitter is limited, as yet. However, most of what you see or read in social media, even now, is not an organised effort of RSS related groups but mostly individual exertions. On its part RSS is sharing more and more news and information with main stream media and opened up for more interactions with the media. It has become active in supporting seminars and workshops that promote alternative views. It is also taking interest in other outreach options to broadcast alternative views on issues affecting India. Readers can find RSS related people on social platforms and mainstream media, including TV channels in nearly all languages. This has created a positive image of RSS and helped people understand it better. It is very amusing to meet people on television panels who are surprised to know that RSS members are also normal reasonable human beings like others!
Battle has been joined with the Left dominated media. and it is clear that they are feeling the heat. Since last year, senior RSS leaders are being invited to Literature Festivals that resulted in ‘celebrated’ Left Liberal intellectuals boycotting those festivals. Worse still, those writers and intellectuals who attend an event organised seemingly by RSS related organizations, or RSS itself, are being virtually boycotted by today’s mainstream organisers as ‘Sanghis’. Invitations are sent but not confirmed. Film industry people who express opinions contrary to leading film personalities with left leanings find themselves being offered less work. Talk of ‘Freedom of Expression’! But, I am confident this cultural and ideological apartheid will go too, due to changing narrative.
Lack of credibility of its narrative, divorced from reality, has increasingly led to the substitution of the mainstream media with a social media as the alternative source of news, even if there are pitfalls of fake news too getting circulated sometimes. But, veteran media people point out that manufacturing news has crept into mainstream media too. Infact several news stories that would have been buried come alive but for social media. I note with satisfaction that television channels that are thriving and topping the TRP charts are those supporting nationalist cause and not those with divisive agenda of pseudo-secular casteist politics. We are witnessing democratisation of the news dissemination systems. It has come as a blessing to RSS as an organisation and its workers and sympathisers are now pushing it into limelight with positive results.
References
A Survey of Hinduism - Klaus K Klostermaier
Ayodhya and After: Issues before Hindu Society s – Koenrad Elst
Ayodhya the Finale – Science vs. Secularism, the excavation debate – Koenrad Elst
Biography of Dr. Hedgewar (Hindi) - Prof. Rakesh Sinha
Business of Freedom - Sandeep Singh
Communism apnee hi kasauti par (Hindi) – D. B. Thengdi
Hinduism, Hindutva & Secularism – P.D. Mathew, S.J.
Hindu Temples, What happened to them – Sitaram Goel
How I became a Hindu – an autobiography – Sitaram Goel - http://www.bharatvani.org/books/hibh/
Indian Express (01-06-2008) – Story about Kolkata runway re-alignment
Indian Express (09-09-09) – From Indus to India – Prof. Dilip K. Chakrabarty
Indian Science and Technology in 18th Century - Dharampal
Integral Humanism – Deendayal Upadhyay
Jammu Kashmir ki Ankahi Kahani – K C Agnihotri
Kahani Communiston Ki – Sundeep Dev
Kashmir – Past & Present, Unraveling the Mystique - M. L. Kaul
Koenrad Elst’s Indology site -http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/
Malaa Umagalele Doctor ji (Marathi)– Ramesh Patange
Negationism in Hinduism – Koenrad Elst
Now It can be Told – A. N. Bali
RSS, Vision and Mission – H. V. Sheshadri
RSS: Enthu? Engott?(Malayalam) – Father Kundukulam
Shri Golwalkar Guruji – Jeevan Charitra (Hindi) – Ranga Hari
Shri Guruji Samagra – Complete works of Guruji
Shri Guruji – His Vision and Mission – Summary of Shri Guruji Samagra
Tao of Physics – Fritjof Capra
The Beautiful Tree – Dharampal
The Mughal Empire- R C Majumdar
The Saffron Swastika: The Notion of Hindu ‘Fascism’ – Koenrad Elst
Understanding Human Response in Organisations- A study of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with a Management Perspective - Dr. -Sadhana Satish Modh, December – 2003
www.gurujigolwalkar.com
Readings
Proceedings of first International Conference of Ancient Cultures and Traditions – 2003
Bharatiya Itihas ki Paramparayen (Hindi) – Babasaheb Apte
Lost City of Dwarka – S. R. Rao
Indian Muslims, who are they – K. S. Lal
Arise again O’ India – Francois Gautier
Kashmir My the Frozen Turbulence – Jagmohan
Jyoti Jalaa Nij Praan Ki (Hindi) - Manikchandra Vajpayee and Shridhar Paraadkar
Science & Technology in Ancient India – Vidnyan Bharati, Mumbai
Myths = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology – Devdutt Pattanaik
Third way – D. B. Thengdi
Integral Humanism – Dr. Mahesh Sharma (DRI)
Hindu Economics –K.G. Bokare
Legacy of Muslim Rule in India – K S Lall
Kashmir –
Haar ya Jeet – Prof Balraj Madhok
Dadra Nagar Haveli Liberation – Doc on Wikipedia
1946: The Great Calcutta Killings & Naokhali Genocide – Dinesh Chandra, Ashok Dasgupta
http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati – Dr. S. Kalyanaraman
http://www.RSS.org,
www.sanghparivar.org
www.haindavkeralam.org
http://www.drpvvartak.com
Aavaran – S L Bhyarappa Add:
Being Different - Rajiv Malhotra
ANNEXURE
When I set out to write this book, I had meant it to be a kind of primer about the RSS for laymen who wished to know about RSS, its philosophy, its method of working and manifestation of its philosophy, but did not know where to look for it. I also found that there was no book, especially in English that gave a comprehensive 360° view of RSS. It went through some revisions with inputs from friends. People giving their critical inputs, both within and outside the RSS, felt that the RSS has been targeted for decades by media and vested political interests on some unfounded information. The untruths and partial truths have been circulated and repeated so many times that people have stopped questioning them. I felt that it was necessary to set record straight especially about RSS and Gandhi’s murder, the RSS and its participation or non-participation in freedom movement and the back ground to the antagonism that RSS faces from Congress and its leftist friends since 1947-48. Since, RSS side of story is not easily available on book-shelves for various reasons, I decided to add an annexure covering these aspects from authentic sources.
I chose latest well referenced and researched biography of Shri M. S. Golwalkar, better known as Guruji, the second and longest serving Sarsanghchaalak as the basis of this annexure. It has been written by a very senior R.S.S. prachaarak Shri Ranga Hari in Hindi and was released a few months back. It is available in Hindi currently. I had the fortune of translating it into English and it is under print now. Considering the importance of references in this section, I have listed the original references used by Shri Ranga Hari in this part of the book.
Annexure I is a small essay about all the Sarsanghchaalaks or Chiefs of RSS since its inception. Sarsanghchaalak of RSS is supposed to give direction to RSS movement, but is hardly seen or heard by common people, I felt that a little information about them and their impact on RSS growth would be a good idea. Annexures II to V cover the historic period of 1942 to 1948. Annexure II is my note on RSS and Politics, since there are routine debates about it. Annexures III to VI cover the historic period of 1942 to 1948.
Though this section is a little longer than an annexure should be, I think, it will be highly appreciated by serious students who sincerely wish to know the other side of the story.
I take this opportunity to thank Shri Ranga Hari from bottom of my heart for allowing me to quote freely from his book.
Annexure I
Sarsanghchaalaks of RSS
I was a young boy when I saw and heard Guruji, the second Sarsanghchaalak. I was too young to understand or analyse him as a leader of the movement. I could sense a feeling of hushed awe when he entered any meeting place. However, I have worked in various capacities in the RSS from third Sarsanghchaalak onward. As a common worker of the RSS, I have looked upto them, attended their meetings, their discussions and Q&A sessions. I thought it would be a good idea to look at their work briefly as a witness to their times.
Sarsanghchaalak is a guide and philosopher of the RSS and is not supposed to be hands on policy implementer. The decision making and policy making in the RSS is a collective responsibility,, thus, to give full credit of work during his tenure to Sarsanghchaalak would not be correct. But, it is equally true that each Sarsanghchaalak, by virtue of his primacy and respect he commands, creates an impact on the Sangh work which is reflected in organisation’s working and growth due to his leadership; even as he takes along his team that may have people even senior to him. This is typical of Sangh that the importance of a person is not defined by his age or the place he comes from.
It is not a scholarly analysis, as I am ill equipped to do it. Nor are these views based on serious study of their biographies and available literature. These are based purely on my personal experiences during their times.
1. Founder Dr. K.B. Hedgewar alias Doctorji (1925-1940)
I have mentioned about Dr. Hedgwar extensively in the book. He did his study in medicine from Kolkata where he was consumed more with an urge to do something to free the motherland than with becoming a doctor. He was an active member of Anusheelan Samiti, underground movement of revolutionaries. His code name in CID files there was ‘koken’. He was also senior office bearer at state level in pre-independence Congress before he launched the RSS. It is but natural that his name crops up routinely in any discussion about RSS.
Dr. Hedgewar’s contribution to the theory of Indian social organisations’ creation, management and growth is incomparable. This contribution in creation of a unique model of organisation building is more important than the fact that he was founder of RSS. It is was and remains an entirely new model never tried out anywhere in the world.
Some of the firsts to his credit are – the idea of daily get together for a minimum period of one hour to instill a sense of moral values and patriotism, discipline, inculcating non-monetised value system and spirit of sacrifice and working as a team not as individual right from young age. This seemingly simple idea of devoting atleast one hour daily for the society and nation finally motivates simple ordinary individuals to devote not just an hour but even their lives. He established the idea of paying out of pocket for all your activities, not expecting anything from the society but giving it back. The importance of anonymity while contributing to the cause of society and organisation as per one’s capacity, thus no chance of money influencing decision making at any level. His novel thought of choosing a symbol and not an individual as the ‘Guru’ or ‘master’, thus giving a clear signal of avoiding personality worship or personality oriented activities. He underlined the importance of shedding personal ego, setting example by highest possible sacrifices himself thus leading by example. He devised a truly indigenous training methodology for workers, transforming a common citizen swayamsevak into a committed social worker. All this led to creation of an organisation rose on the foundational structure of ‘shakhas’ that has grown and consolidated since 92 years with no splits or bitter power struggles – the bane of Indian social organisations.
Apart from these signal contributions, he set ground rules of keeping Sangh and its work separate from political activism and electoral politics by creating as much insulation between the two as possible. If a person were to take up any political activities, he was to do that as an individual and not as Sangh representative or Sangh. He stuck throughout to his basic philosophy that “Sangh will do nothing, swayamsevaks will do everything”. To set an example, he resigned from the post of Sarsanghchaalak and handed over reins of organisation to another leader when he participated in satyagrah during struggle for independence.
Without any show or publicity, he strengthened movement against untouchability, women’s empowerment and took Hinduism out of ritualism and re-ignited its cultural spirit.
2. Shri M.S. Golwalkar alias Guruji (1940-1973)
Shri M.S. Golwalkar alias Guruji was recruited by one of the students in BHU, Bhaiyyaji Dani, into Sangh quite late in life when he was teaching at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He was a post graduate in Zoology and Bachelor of Law. He was lovingly called ‘Guruji’ by his students in BHU with whom he was very popular due to his huge treasure of knowledge and ever willing nature to help them, whether they belonged to his class, subjects or not. Thus, this popular way of addressing him as Guruji has nothing to do with his being head of RSS. Saffron flag is the only guru in Sangh.
He would have become a ‘Sadhu’ in the Ramakrishna Mission order of Swami Akhandaananda but for this interlude in Banaras and subsequent incidents in his life. He had taken ‘diks
ha’ from Swamiji i.e. he was an ordained ‘sanyasin’. He was simply bowled over by Dr. Hedgewar’s fierce patriotism and selfless hard work. His elevation to the highest post at a young age of 34 years was a big surprise for everybody outside Sangh. But, it reinforced the philosophy of promoting talent rather than work on the principle of seniority in the organisation. Subsequent history attested to the wisdom of Doctor Hedgewar’s choice.
Guruji held the reins of the RSS for the longest period of 33 years in its history. A period that saw tumultuous events of independence movement, climaxing in a blood soaked partition, first and toughest ban on RSS and its withdrawal, restoring the young organisation back to health and putting it on path of phenomenal growth. He was instrumental in seeing the growth of the small plant that had blossomed under Doctor Hedgewar’s guidance into massive banyan tree of RSS that stuck roots all cross India in every nook and corner. Like a Banyan tree many sub-root systems and branches of allied organisations sprouted in nearly all the social segments both horizontally and vertically. He systematised the organisational methodology designed by Doctorji into a mature science of organisation and human building.
He was probably one of the most well-read person of India at that time with wide ranging interests from Arts to Science and from Technology to Spiritualism. He could talk with any person from a child to an intellectual with ease with enough interesting knowledge sharing. This, coupled with his divine spirituality created an impact on the organisation far beyond just physical growth and consolidation. His spirituality and asceticism seeped through Sangh in nearly all its aspects. The institution of prachaarak system – the backbone of organisational growth – has a spiritual halo with ascetic and celibate lifestyle probably due to lifestyle and personality of Guruji. The resulting near spiritual way of working in Sangh carries an indelible stamp of Guruji’s spiritual practices. In one of his speeches he was resoundingly critical people who thought that following rituals makes one religious and spiritual. In another place he says, “Worship is not business. This is pure surrender, a one sided affair. We only give. Only people, who surrender their all, can pull a nation out of the ruins of destruction and take it to the pinnacle of glory.”