Decades ago M.S. Golwalkar, the then RSS
Sarsanghchalak, supremo, had supported
the America's aggression on Vietnam. That was the time when
most of the World was condemning the US offensive, its use of
inhuman weapons on the unarmed citizens of Vietnam. The pretext
for US was that the emerging Vietnamese nationalism is a threat
to freedom and democracy, as the flag, which Ho Chi Minh held
high was a communist one. While most of the world had problems
with the US agenda, RSS chief complimented US as
the one, leading the forces of Dharma (Correct moral-ethical
values). It is another matter that RSS certified forces of Dharma
had to bite the dust and retreat in a most disgraceful manner.
Neither was US trying to protect freedom and democracy nor did
RSS supremo mean to defend morals and ethics.
Currently
(April 2003) the reigning RSS chief is embarrassing the BJP
Govt. by defending the US aggression on Iraq, apparently to
liberate the Iraqi people and to install the democracy, which
is supposedly the divine mission of Uncle Sam. Mr. Sudarshan
is upholding Geroge Bush on two grounds. (Times of India 29th
March) The first one being that it is a clash of civilizations
and the backward, retrograde, Jehadi Islamic culture is a threat
to the World as a whole and to the advanced, humane Western
civilization in particular. The second one being that Mr. Bush
is only defending his own country, as Iraq is a threat to US
security. Iraq as per this argument is having weapons of mass
destruction and being Muslim, it will support all the terrorists
who any way are Muslims so the US action is justified as per
our home bred inheritor of Nazi ideology, the
chief of RSS.
At
one level the hollowness of these arguments of Mr. Sudarshan
is too obvious. By now most of the world with some humanism
left, knows that neither is US's aim is to eliminate
WMD (very little discovered by the UN Inspectors anyway)
neither is this tyrant, US imperialism, interested in
Democracy being there in other parts of the World.
US regime has not only supported and encouraged the despots
and dictators all around, it has also installed such butchers
by overthrowing legitimate democratic regimes, time and over
again. Mr. Sudarshan as the major apologist for George Bush
also argues that UN has failed to appreciate the USs concerns
so Mr. Bush is within full moral authority to attack Iraq.
RSS,
the proponent of Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra has a very complimentry
ideology to the one of colonial powers and imperialists.
It has a lot to do with the ideology of status quo and suppression
of the rights of Workers, Dalits and Women at deeper level.
It is exemplified right since the beginning of the rise of Hindu
Right wing ideology in late nineteenth century. With the arrival
of British this section of Hindu elite accepted the British
propaganda that they have come here to liberate the Hindus from
the tyranny of Muslim rule and also to civilize the country
(White Mans burden). This precisely was the culmination of the
events in the famous novel Anand Math where the heroes of Bankimchandras
novel, Santans (offsprings), overthrow the Muslim rule and celebrate
the coming in of British rule. These anglophiles also went on
to argue that our ancestors, Aryans while coming from arctic
zone split into two streams, one going to Europe and other coming
to India. So the coming of British to India is like meeting
of the parted cousins, so we celebrate the arrival of our own
parted brethren. Now of course this Aryan arrival thesis itself
has been put under question by ideologues of Hindu right because
if this is to be accepted than Aryans and thereby the Hindus
are also invaders like the Muslims so how can the idea of Hindu
Rashtra be asserted?
Any
way, the Hindu Right wing stream later on went on to form various
organizations, Punjab Hindu Sabha, Hindu
Mahasabha and RSS. The agenda of these
organizations has apparently been to build the strength of Hindu
society in the face of Muslim aggression. In reality the agenda
of Hindu Right wing, Hindutva, has been to oppose the transformations,
leading to caste and gender equality.
So
in a way it should not be surprising that the Hindutva votaries
never opposed the British rule. United India Patriotic
Association, (UIPA, Which incidentally had Muslim elites also
as the members), which was the most initial organization of
Hindu and Muslim Right wing (1880s) went on to proclaim that
Congress is talking against the ruler (Queen Victoria) and this
way of oppsing the ruler is against our religion, which teaches
us to
be loyal to our King (Queen in this). Accordingly, UIPA resolved
to cultivate the loyalty of Indian people to British crown.
Later UIPA paved the way for the communal organizations, Muslim
league and Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar was an anti-British revolutionary
before he became the major ideologue of Hindutva. After he assumed
the leadership of Hindutva outfit, Hindu Mahasabha, he never
opposed the British rule. And that is the mild way of putting
the reality.
RSS
came up with the goal of Hindu Rashtra and since the freedom
movement was striving for Secular Democratic India and was opposing
the British rule, so RSS kept aloof from the freedom
movement. Efforts are on to dig out an occasional jail
term by a RSS swayamsevak to prove that RSS was also for freedom
struggle, but such incidents if any, are there by default or
for some other motive. Mr. Hedgewar the first RSS supremo joined
the Non Cooperation movement in 1930s and went to jail but he
clarified that it was to get in touch with Hindutva minded workers
who at that time might have been a part of freedom movement.
Mr. Vajapayee, wrote Hindu Tan Man Hindu Jivan
(Hindu body and soul, Hindu life) when the majority of Nation
was singing, living and dying for Indian body, soul and life.
Incidentally Mr. Vajpayee was also put in jail for a couple
of days, a case of mistaken identity. This was rectified soon
as he gave a written statement that he had nothing to do with
the Quit India and associated movements and that he was a mere
onlooker in the village when the local people were going to
break Forest law as a part of Quit India movement.
Rather
than aberrations it should be seen as to why and how could Hindutva
or Pakistan votaries be a part of Freedom movement as both these
were having a deeper social alliance with the British rule.
British were having revenue alliance with the landlords.
And in a way the base of Pakistan Movement was in the landed
articracy and so was the case with Hindu Mahasabha and RSS.
Anyway they did not oppose the British rule or one can go to
the extent of saying that British ruled India in alliance with
the ideological followers of Muslim League and Hindutva. The
political alliance of Colonialism was with the votaries of Hindu
Rashtra. A votary of Hindutva murdered Gandhi, as the
Father of Nation was the biggest obstacle to the agenda of Hindu
Rashtra. After his murder RSS was banned and Mr. Golwalkar
was jailed. From jail also Mr. Golwalkar requested to be released
and promised that RSS will collaborate with the Govt. to eliminate
the Communist menace. Incidentally that was the era when American
Imperialism was unleashing McCarthyism and hunting communists.
US agenda and RSS agenda matched exactly.
RSS
and its progeny Jana Sangh adopted the US agenda in economic
and political matters to the last comma. With collapse
of Soviet states the US imperialism has projected Islam as the
main enemy of Human kind (clash of civilization etc.). RSS and
its progeny have also chosen this time to sharpen its Trishuls
against Islam and Muslims precisely at this juncture in global
politics. Imperialism always props up the retrograde politics
and social relations in countries where it controls. Its projection
of itself as spreading civilization or defending democracy is
a cover for plunder and exploitation at all levels. Colonialism
aligned itself with landed gentry who were adhrents of pre-modern
hiearchies of caste and gender. Imperialism similarly aligns
with the most retrograade social forces. RSS fits into
the bill of US designs more than perfectly. BJPs
coming to power at the center has opened the floodgates of US
grip in India. BJP foreign policy has been to be subservient
to the US designs in toto. No doubt the RSS sponsored swadeshi
is a bit like fly in the ointment in its subservience to the
Imperialism. But no social phenomenon can be without some contradictions
in their gambit. Overall Colonialism was OK for RSS,
and Imperialism is also OK for RSS. Thats the major
umbrella for forces standing for arresting the transformation
in social relations of caste and gender the central goal and
agenda of Religion based politics, and this is what Hindutva
and Hindu Rashtra is all about. So at one level we should not
be surprised that RSS is all support for US aggression of Iraq,
that is its agenda, to be complimentary force to Imperialism.
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