By Ram Puniyani

India Today, in its annual conclave held in Mumbai on October 4-5, 2023, organised a session on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) titled “RSS 100 years: Why M.S. Golwalkar endures”. The panelists were from mixed streams. Two major themes emerged, one related to Golwalkar’s concept of nation building and attitude towards minorities and the other related to his denigrating the Indian constitution. Not much was spoken about the real impact of his politics on the Indian political scenario as manifested through the plight of minorities today and the criticism of Indian constitution by the ruling dispensation itself.

Golwalkar wrote in his book We or Our Nationhood Defined: “German race pride has now become the topic of the day. To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races – the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by.” In response to this, Hindutva nationalist panelists pointed out that this has to be seen in the context and cherry picking does not reflect the ideology of the person or the organisation.

To counter this, a panelist quoted his interview with Khushwant Singh, the editor of ‘Illustrated Weekly of India’ in 1972, according to which Golwalkar said that “due to historical factors, Muslims have divided loyalties. But for this Hindus and Muslims both are responsible.” Further one may add that the present sarsanghchalak (chief) of the RSS, Mohan Bhagwat, in his Vigyan Bhavan speeches in 2018, talked in more conciliatory terms and later also went on to say that Hindu and Muslims have the same DNA. He also took on those indulging in lynching, saying, “They are against Hindutva… Though at times, some false cases of lynching have been registered against people…Don’t get trapped in the cycle of fear that Islam is in danger in India…”

What a change in language from the 1939 book to the 1972 interview and now that of the present RSS chief. But what about the deeds resulting from the vast RSS combine, which Golwalkar played a crucial role building in? What is taught in RSS shakhas (local RSS branches), Sarswati Vidyalayas (RSS-run schools), what is propagated through the right-wing IT cell and the social media controlled by this hydra headed organisation? It is pure ‘hate other’ ideology which dominates its teachings. The intent of the organisation does not lie in the mere changing articulation but on the impact on the social fabric, on the hapless Muslim minority.

This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here