In his book, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last PhaseGandhi’s secretary, Pyarelal, writes that the partition of India in 1947 and the terrible violence that accompanied it “provided a fruitful ground for Hindu chauvinism. Its most serious manifestation was the infiltration of the Hindu middle class and even government services by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. It had begun to arouse the secret sympathy even of a section of Hindu congressmen. “
Pyarelal then described to his readers what this organization of Hindu chauvinists represented and what its goals were. Thus he wrote: “The RSS was a communalist, paramilitary, fascist organization … Its stated aim was to establish the Hindu Raj. They had adopted the motto: “Muslims leave India.” At the time they weren’t very active, at least openly, but it was darkly hinted that they were just waiting for all Hindus and Sikhs in West Pakistan to be evacuated. Then they would take full revenge on the Indian Muslims for what Pakistan had done. “
As newly independent India grappled with the wounds of Partition and the plight of refugees, it faced a serious threat from within, an enemy within, so to speak. This was the rising tide of Hindu chauvinism. In the second half of 1947, the RSS was gaining adherents among the Hindu middle class, senior officials and politicians among them. However, two notable Hindus stood out resolutely against sectarianism and chauvinism. They were willing to risk their own lives to defend the rights of Muslims who had decided to stay in India.
Staunch opponents
These exemplary Hindus were the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi. As Pyarelal wrote: “Gandhiji was determined not to be a living witness to such a tragedy. Muslims were a minority in the Indian Union. Why should they feel insecure about their future as equal citizens in the Indian Union? It hurt to see someone living in fear, unable to walk with their head held high. Always eager to defend the cause of the underdog and to identify with the underdog, he set out to put his heart into Muslim Indians. “
It is instructive to read these words today, some seventy years after the events they describe. In the second half of 1947, the RSS was a marginal player in Indian politics and public life. He hoped to increase his influence by exploiting the communal tensions of the time; fortunately for India, the rise of the organization was stopped by the determination of Gandhi and Nehru. Nehru made it clear to everyone in his government that India had no intention of becoming a Hindu Pakistan, while Gandhi successfully fasted for Hindu-Muslim harmony in Calcutta and Delhi. Gandhi was assassinated by an RSS man on January 30, 1948; and his martyrdom horrified and shamed his fellow Hindus, bringing them to their senses. The RSS designs were thwarted, for the time being.
However, as I write this, RSS is no longer marginal, but hegemonic in Indian politics and public life. The organization’s political front, the Bharatiya Janata Party, controls the central government and many state governments. Large sections of the Hindu middle class are strident, rather than reserved, in support of their political and ideological agenda. Senior civil servants, senior diplomats and even some senior military officials have abandoned their commitment to the Constitution and have become pro-Hindutva supporters. and the ruling regime.
Of the core beliefs of the RSS in 1947, Pyarelal observed: “Its stated aim was to establish the Hindu Raj. They had adopted the slogan, ‘Muslims are leaving India.’ The first part of that statement is still completely valid. The second half has been modified, if not in totally healthy ways. In the immediate aftermath of the Partition, many RSS leaders wanted to rid India of Muslims completely. However, in the 1950s they realized that this was no longer feasible. The community was very large and so widespread throughout the country that a large-scale purge was beyond anyone’s fancy.
Now, the RSS’s attitude towards Indian Muslims has been reformulated as follows: Muslims who were born here and live here could remain in the country, provided they recognize the political, theological, social, economic, institutional and moral supremacy of the Hindus. .
Second class status
As I have noted elsewhere, this RSS political model is ironically borrowed from Islam, medieval Islam. At the height of the Caliphate, Muslims had clearly superior rights to Jews and Christians. The latter were not explicitly persecuted; however, they had to accept lower or second-class status in order to raise their families and earn a living. Likewise, in India today, if RSS prevails, Muslims will also have to accept second-class status.
Scholars have written many scholarly works on the history and sociology of RSS. For its part, the RSS has published dozens of books and brochures that seek to explain what it represents to non-members. Despite this large (and ever-growing) body of literature, the ideology and program of the RSS can be summed up in six words. These are: We will show Muslims their place.
The RSS claims to defend the recovery, the restoration, the resurrection of Hindu pride. However, in practice, the beliefs and actions of the organization and its associated political party are determined more by prejudice and paranoia than by pride. per se. Let us thus consider the recent actions of the Union government and the state governments led by the BJP.
The destruction of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the triumphalism over the construction of a temple in Ayodhya, the laws against interreligious marriages and, above all, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the savage persecution of those who peacefully opposed it. These are essentially animated by the desire to show Muslims their place.
In Mahatma Gandhi: The Last PhasePyarelal wrote about a conversation he witnessed in Delhi in September 1947. I quote: “A member of Gandhiji’s party chimed in that the RSS people had done a good job in the Wah refugee camp. They had shown discipline, courage, and the capacity for hard work. “But don’t forget,” Gandhiji replied, “even so had Hitler’s Nazis and fascists under Mussolini.” He characterized the RSS as a ‘communal body with a totalitarian perspective’ ”.
How are Gandhi’s views on RSS up to 73 years later? Very good, except that the order of the adjectives you used might have to be reversed. Now the RSS is perhaps best viewed as a totalitarian body with a community perspective, rather than the other way around. In 1947 the RSS was on the fringes of Indian life; in 2020, it is hugely influential.
Members of the RSS who control the Union government have subjugated the press, allegedly domesticated the judiciary, and used bribery and coercion to undermine or overthrow state governments run by other parties. The new laws aimed at curbing NGOs are animated by the desire to reduce to insignificance all voluntary organizations that do not owe allegiance to the Hindutva ideology.
The RSS and the BJP seek to achieve dominance over the political process, over state institutions, over civil society, even over what they eat, how they dress and who they can or cannot marry. This desire to control all aspects of life in the country, be it political, social, institutional or ideological, fits perfectly with the textbook definition of “totalitarian.” Meanwhile, their ongoing efforts to stigmatize and demonize Muslims clearly demonstrate their community mindset.
Mahatma Gandhi’s characterization of the RSS in the second half of 1947 was then, and still is, completely (and hauntingly) accurate. Whether on the fringes of power or in the heart of power, the RSS has been nothing less, and nothing more, than a communal body with a totalitarian outlook.
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This article first appeared in The Telegraph.
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