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by Ratan Sharda

  It was decided to hold a full-fledged camp of young swayamsevaks of Western Maharashtra in Pune on November 1-2, 1947. One lac swayamsevaks were expected to attend this camp. Activists had taken leave from their jobs and businesses to make arrangements for the camp in sufficient numbers. Guruji’s was to be present throughout the camp. Sardar Patel had agreed to come as the Chief Guest. Aakashwani (All India Radio) had also arranged for broadcasting the news about the camp. Support from all quarters for the camp was available as expected. There was an atmosphere of enthusiasm all around. But, there were evil souls in the Congress camp feeling uncomfortable and seething with jealousy. Ultimately, the state home minister gave an excuse of a grave situation and rescinded the permission for the camp. It was clear that Sangh had become victim of internal pulls and pressures within Congress.

  The programme was converted to get-together rallies across Maharashtra at district level on instructions from Guruji. Anger of swayamsevaks was transformed into zeal. Guruji toured all the thirteen districts from October 24 to November 5. It turned out that more than 4 lac swayamsevaks from 1300 villages and towns had attended these programmes.

  This pre-emptive, meaningless abortion of the state level camp indicated the direction in which thinking of the Congress government’s machinery was moving. Next month, in November, a meeting of Chief Ministers was called in Delhi. The topic of discussion was increasing popularity of Sangh and challenge arising out of it. The problem facing them was how to bridle Sangh.8

  Around this time accusing swayamsevaks of fomenting riots in Kandaale in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress government there put up cases against them. (These accusations were proven incorrect later on). Such evil designs were witnessed in other places also.

  According to daily ‘Dainik Kaal’ dated October 13, 1947, Satara Congress committee in Maharashtra passed a resolution and asked Chief Minister B. G. Kher to ‘Uproot Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’. In a threatening tone, the committee claimed that ‘otherwise we would destroy Sangh ourselves using 1942 type of terrorist methods.’ Giving sagely advice to them, Chief Minister told them, “Don’t take up an action in a mood of pessimism, or else you would be totally destroyed.”9

  Later on there was a meeting of All India Congress Committee on 17th January 1948 in Delhi that passed a strongly worded resolution against Sangh. It demanded state governments also to take anti-Sangh steps. Lowest units of Congress were also asked to follow this policy. During this time, Central government also released a circular that said, “It was illegal for a government servant to be a member of R.S.S.” Leader of this anti-Sangh front was Uttar Pradesh Home Minister Rafi Ahmed Kidwai.

  Tensions between Nehru-Patel came into open during this turbulent period. Even Sangh had to suffer because of this. Speaking in a public meeting on 6th January 1948, Sardar Patel said, “Congress people in power should behave in a different way with Sangh rather than laying stress on their own rights and powers. It is not possible to suppress an organisation with the power of penal action. Sangh people are not the type how will fight for selfish interests. They are patriots who love their motherland.” Within a few days, Pandit Nehru, as if in response to this speech, spoke in Amritsar, “Sangh and Hindu Mahasabha people have insulted our national flag. They are traitors. I will crush them.”

  One could talk of countless leaders who came to Sangh offices begging for help in very difficult helpless situations when they were fleeing Pakistan or fighting Muslim League goondas. But, today all this had been forgotten. Why this sense of ingratitude? Historian of Kashmir, Kalhan, has already given answer to this ‘yaksha prashna’- seemingly unsolvable riddle - in his book ‘Raajtarangini’ written in eighth century. His conclusion is that just as a new born baby completely forgets about the pain of living in the womb, similarly a ruler forgets about all that happened previously once he gets power.

  On one side, there was a defeatist feeling about kneeling before the decision of partition, guilt complex that we are the cause of unexpected miseries and pains of countless people, the sense of failure that we couldn’t lift a small finger to stop these excesses. On the other hand, there was this sense of brotherhood of swayamsevaks who jumped into defence of helpless displaced brethren and their rehabilitation without worrying about risks; pious emotions with which they brought leaders of various political parties to safety, without thinking about narrow party politics, to well-appointed centres, live example of Guruji who jumped fearlessly into the terrible whirlpool of calamities and delivered life giving support for a hope filled future to the sufferers; and as a result, affectionate feelings of the populace towards Sangh. This was a factual, comparative scenario.

  At the fag end of year 1947 on December 27, Guruji wrote to Rajabhau Deshpande of Pune, “I am aware of the entire situation. This is a period of trial, not of loss. We shall come out of it stronger and in a bigger form. Do not fall into the evil trap of opposing or confronting and avoid bitterness in speech or action. Keep focused on duty, it will lead to success and a favourable environment.”10

  Madhya Pradesh’s home minister Pandit Dwarika Prasad Mishra’s statement seemed like a statement given in favour of Sangh. Countering the allegations of the opposing camp, to Nagpur Navbhaarat (19th December, 1947) he said in a statement, “The very idea that Sangh can overthrow government on the strength of lathis is laughable. It is surprising that this allegation was not made against the local D.S.P. I cannot believe at all that Sangh is a political organisation and that there is a possibility of it overthrowing Pandit Nehru’s government.”11

  Vaartaa Vihaar of North Karnataka and South Maharashtra published the public speech of ‘Karnataka Kesari’ Gangadhar Rao Deshpande after another six days on 25th December 1947. In this speech he had said, “Congress has passed a resolution recently very cleverly against Sangh….strange are the games of fate that as soon as they got hold of power, they are parroting the idea of ‘do not organise’ whenever they think of Sangh. But, looking back at my experience of past 50 years, I can state not once but again and again, that organising Hindu is very crucial for maintaining peace in our country.I pray to the people in power not to shirk away from this organisation. This organisation will ultimately come to their rescue at a crucial time.”12

  Most strident editorial appeared in Tribune that was being published from Delhi itself. He wrote on November 26, “Pandit Nehru has instructed East Punjab government to ban R.S.S. and Akali Dal and destroy them. This news is so dreadful that it should not be true at all. And if it is true, then it can only be termed as a misfortune of this country… Because it is necessary for us to remind Pandit Nehru that if these nationalist organisations had not faced the cruel and inhuman Pakistanis with their bravery then thousands of Hindu and Sikh sisters would have been raped, thousands of Sikh and Hindu children would have been butchered.… we wish to say this with full force at our command that Sangh and Akali Dal have made a place for themselves deep in the hearts of the people of this bordering state. Populace there looks at them as the sentinels of their state. It is nothing but ingratitude to brand these organisations communal or private armies. In fact, they are nationalist powers out to help us who have discipline like army, but have no arms. Indian government should be proud of them.”13

  Congress leadership never expected reactions of this order. They kept quiet for some time, but they were looking for the right opportunity. The real reason for this was pointed out by Shri Banahatti, the moving spirit of Sarvoday movement, in his weekly ‘Savdhaan’. He wrote openly that, “In this period, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the only organisation that can challenge Congress. Talented, dedicated young class of high character is getting attracted to Sangh due to its organised strength. This is the reason Sangh has become an eye sore for Congress leaders. Congress is taking the nationwide work of Sangh, its impact on educated, intelligent youth and rare qualities like readiness of its swayamsevaks to work patiently in times of any disaster as a challenge to itself. The spiritual qualities due to which Congress
used to think of itself as a superior power; growth of same qualities in Sangh is making Congress uncomfortable.”

  Congress government was bent upon not letting any competition nor any noble soul to grow. It was waiting with an evil intention for the right opportunity ‘sooner or later’ to disrupt the sustained hard work of Sangh. For them the incident that gave them this opportunity was unfortunate murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Thus, began the cycle of persecution of RSS and its followers. This began with arrest of Guruji and ban on RSS.

  (Excerpts from Chapter 20 from Shri Guruji Golwalkar, Biography by Ranga Hari)

  **********

  1. Shri Guruji Samagra 5 - 170-171

  2. Shri Guruji Samagra 3 - 176

  3. Ibid - 169-170

  4. Pehli Agnipariksha - 25-26

  5. Maa. Sa. Golwalkar - 108

  6. Ibid - 109

  7. Ibid - 109-110

  8. Ibid - 119

  9. Pehli Agnipariksha - 41

  10. Shri Guruji Samagra 8 - 44

  11. Pehli Agnipariksha - 43

  12. Ibid - 43-44

  13. Ibid - 32

  Annexure IV

  Exchanges Between RSS, Patel and Nehru

  Pre-Satyagrah efforts by RSS

  M. S. Golwalkar, aka Guruji, was released on August 6 after nearly 6 months, but release was linked to many conditions. These conditions were – to stay within municipal limits of Nagpur, not to leave Nagpur municipal limits without written permission from District Magistrate, not making any public speech, not writing for newspapers, writing letters in them without District Magistrate’s permission, not acting or writing in a way that would create disaffection directly or indirectly against state governments, not keeping in touch with people who acted in such a way.

  Conditions did not prohibit writing letters to people. Without delay, he wrote to Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel on August 11, requesting him to rescind the ban on Sangh and give back its democratic rights to function. Case of Gandhiji’s murder was being conducted in Red Fort in Delhi for two and half months. All the accused except two fugitives of Gwalior had been arrested. Even the charge sheet of the case did not even have a mention of either Sangh or Sangh swayamsevak. Therefore, people and rulers knew clearly that Sangh had no involvement in this incident. But, there was another truth beyond this that was not known at that time but is well known today. It was the report submitted by a high ranking police official Sanjeevi about Gandhi assassination within one month of the incident. He had completed his job in 17 days and handed over the complete report in writing to Home Minister. With same alacrity and sense of responsibility Home Minister had written a long letter to the Prime Minister on 27th February 1948, that is, on twenty ninth day of Gandhiji’s death. Today this letter is available in the sixth volume Collection of Nehru Patel correspondence on page numbers 56 and 57. But, this was an unpublished government document at the time. Letter also exposes another truth of history. Parts of that document are as follows:

  All the materials received through known-unknown, true-untrue, named and unnamed sources have been sifted thoroughly. 90% of these are baseless speculative reports. Most of the allegations are about activities of R.S.S. – that they distributed sweets, held celebrations. All this was found to be false upon investigation.

  Strong opponents of Bapuji’s policies and thoughts, many of whom were members of Hindu Mahasabha and R.S.S. did welcome this murder. But, beyond this, there is no way one can drag R.S.S. and Hindu Mahasabha members into this conspiracy on the basis of available evidence. R.S.S. may be responsible for some other disturbances but not for this one. (Page 57)

  Confessions of the conspirators prove that the RSS was not a party, in any way, to this conspiracy. (Page 56)

  Thus, it is doubtlessly being clear that the Prime Minister and Home Minister, they already knew the truth about Sangh for more than 5 months when Sarsanghchaalak was writing letters to them. Now, this entire correspondence between the two sides has been published in English and all other major Indian languages.

  Bitter truth is that the political leaders of that time covered up the truth deliberately and did grave injustice to the Sangh. There was no acknowledgement from Prime Minister’s office. Home Minister’s reply was sent after one month on September 11. Leaving aside the letter he had written to Prime Minister in the light of investigation of the police officer or pushing it under the carpet, he wrote, “Happiness that Sangh people expressed and sweets they distributed Gandhiji’s death has resulted in more opposition from people.”1 There is another sentence in that letter with a tone of pious lecturing, “I have firm belief that Sangh people can do justice to their patriotism only by working together with Congress and not by opposing it or being separate from it”2 As an honest, reputed and a person pledged to the Congress, Patel had all the right to sermonise anybody about party politics. But, here the letter was addressed to the Home Minister demanding undoing the injustice done to his organisation, based on irrefutable facts. Home Minister’s duty was to prove the allegations true or take them back in view of lack of proofs. But, one will have to say with all due respect for the Home Minister that party politics overrode his duty for rule of law.

  Guruji did not express any reaction to Patel’s sermon. He wrote to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru again on September 24, “Eight months have passed since Sangh was banned and every possible investigation in this regard has been conducted by now. I believe that you would have fully understood that the allegations leveled against Sangh are baseless and false. Therefore, it is only a question of administering justice in this matter now. We have a right to expect justice from our own government.”3 Much against the earlier bitter experience, a reply from Prime Minister’s office was received on the fourth day. It was a repetition of the earlier government notification. Only one point was different – “Prime Minister had been informed about a note that United Province government had sent to you containing some evidence collected by the state government about Sangh’s abovementioned activities before the ban was imposed on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,. Other states also have such proofs.”4

  Sangh leadership decided that Sarsanghchaalak should go to Delhi to put forth his demand for justice and he should make Delhi his battlefield for these efforts. Guruji left for Delhi on 16th October. However, newspapers suppressed the news of ‘departure of the head of an outlawed organisation’ under government’s pressure. Inspite of this, when the train arrived at 5.15 a.m. after a delay of 45 minutes, nearly ten thousand people had collected in the station campus. Delhi government had already banned raising of slogans at the station. As a counter to this policy, all the guests had arrived with rose and jasmine flowers. Arrival of Guruji was greeted with grand sweet fragrance of flowers. Writing about it, Home Minister informed Prime Minister, “Their discipline is still strong. I had made it clear that when he (Golwalkar) arrives in Delhi, there should be no display etc. There were three to four thousand people to welcome him at the station. They greeted him in full silence. Not a word came out of their lips. There was no display of any kind. Everybody listened to the orders of Guru Golwalkar.”5 This welcome in the capital was a proof of the reality that Sangh work had survived well despite a ban of nearly 8 months. Guruji went to the house of Lala Hansraj Gupta from the station and stayed there till he was put under arrest again on November 12.

  Topic of ban always used to come up during informal discussions. The RSS Chief took care that volunteers should not get agitated. “Ban on Sangh is totally unjustified. But, it is our government therefore efforts to get the ban lifted should be peaceful and within rule of law… We should strengthen the social-life, taking recourse to just path. As far as the Sangh is concerned, victory is assured, because its foundation is based on truth.”

  The day Guruji reached Delhi he met the Home Minister the same evening. He met him again on October 23. But, discussions didn’t move in the desired direction. Guruji’s stand was, “Because the allegations against Sangh have proven to be so p
atently untrue and baseless, government must lift the ban immediately. If the government still believes that these accusations have any basis then it is its bounden democratic duty to prove them in the courts.” But, Sardar’s pet theme was the sermon he had delivered in his earlier letter. “Only practical solution is to become part of Congress.”6 Sarsanghchaalak Guruji was totally against this suggestion. He was not ready to let die the freedom to organise. Thus, the dialogue failed.

  Guruji had understood the mentality of government in the very first meeting. The administration decided to take a more rigid stance about Sangh. Thus, Guruji received a message from Patel ji that, “The job for which you had come to Delhi is over. Therefore, leave Delhi now.” This order passed on October 28 was handed over by the government representative on November 2 at his place of residence. Guruji read it and expressed his disagreement with it, and wrote on the same page in English, “I believe that this order is unnecessary and it takes away the civil rights of a law abiding citizen. I also believe that I would be a party to this unjustified act and injustice if I accept it. By accepting this order, I would be failing to do my duty as a citizen of an independent state. Thus, I have to submit that I cannot accept this extraordinary order.”7

  Realising that this government was following the footsteps of foreign rulers blindly and would use similar tactics, the Sangh team awaited the arrest of Guruji that same night. Guruji prepared two statements to present Sangh’s side to the common people before this could happen, and got it distributed to newspaper world one after the other. First statement was refutation of government’s action and second was clarification about Sangh’s position on various issues.