Mohammad bin Ismail | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — Noted journalist and author Dhirendra Kumar Jha has said that the ideology of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the key proponent of Hindutva, remains unchanged even after a century, significantly impacting the country’s Muslims.
Jha, who has authored several books on Hindutva and nationalist Hindu organisations, stated, “In the hundred years of its existence, the basic thought and ideology of the RSS has not changed, and everyone who has been trained in its shakhas (training camps) thinks the same way, be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.”
The RSS, founded on 27 September 1925, is known as the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to Jha, whether or not the RSS publicly acknowledges it, it effectively governs India through its political wing.
“For the last ten years, ever since the RSS and the Sangh Parivar government came to power in India, it has been making every effort to make Muslims second-class citizens, implementing the ideology of its second Sarsanghchalak (chief) MS Golwalkar,” Jha told a select group of journalists here recently.
He further added that the RSS has been actively pushing narratives that portray Muslims as outsiders in India. “The violent incidents in the name of cow protection and ‘love jihad’ are part of this effort. The controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) also clearly distinguishes Muslims from non-Muslims,” he said.
Jha, who recently authored Golwalkar: The Myth Behind the Man, the Man Behind the Machine, questioned the definition of a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation). “If a Hindu-majority country is considered a Hindu Rashtra, then when did it become one?” he asked, raising concerns over increasing religious polarisation.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.