So is RSS political or not? What is the RSS?
The RSS is an organisation representing the entire society. Our Indian society isn’t organised as a group and has a very complex existence. Society means nation. Politics is only one part of it. There is dharma, sanskriti (culture). There is arth (economy). For example, the economy has capitalists, labour and consumers; education has students, teachers and institutions. The RSS has gone into each segment. The State is a political system run by law. Law has coercion. Rules of society are persuasive, whereas the rules of the State are coercive. We want to organise the entire society, so we can’t abandon politics.
Photo: REUTERS
So what is the RSS’ construct of Hindutva and dharma?
Who forms the nation? We are Hindus. People say, mussalman ka kya hoga? Kuchh nahin hoga [What happens to the Muslim then? The answer: nothing]. Our institutions are called dharmshala, dharmarth hospital, dharm-kanta, rajdharma, putra-dharma.Is it not the dharma of the son to take care of the parents? [Former president S] Radhakrishnan said the Hindu religion is a commonwealth of religions. In his book Satyarth Prakash, Dayanand Saraswati blasted idol worship much more than a Muslim ever can. Jains don’t even accept the Vedas. Who was Buddha? [BR] Ambedkar wrote the Hindu Code Bill and said it is applicable to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists also. Article 25 says that all that is said about Hindus is also applicable to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. The RSS had nothing to do with the writing of the Constitution.
The RSS says every Indian should consider this land as their motherland. Proudly sing the Vande Matram. Accept that Ram and Krishna preceded Prophet Mohammed. Upasyanaam aniyamah – there is no hard rule about the gods you pray to. Someone can pray to Allah, another can pray to a Hindu god. The only condition is that you should not demolish one place of worship to build another. Wasn’t there enough land by the Saryu River in Ayodhya? Why was there a need to demolish Ram’s temple and build a mosque on it? There is a statue of Panini in Karachi. Wasn’t he a Hindu?
