What RSS supremo Bhagwat spake

Although the Sarsanghchalak (chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) makes a public speech on every Vijaya Dashami Day, in recent years his utterances are being analysed with great interest. That’s not surprising considering that the RSS stands at the apex of the Sangh parivar of which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a part. Rightly or not, analysts look for some policy guidance for the ruling party, in the speech of the RSS chief.

This time, Mohan Bhagwat chose to focus on West Bengal and Kerala (among other matters) and mentioned that the state governments have ‘systematically politicised’ the ‘administrative systems’ and that these are lending a helping hand to ’anti-national forces for petty political interests.’ In the context of West Bengal – though not naming the state in this regard – the RSS supreme talked of ‘cow smuggling’ and illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

The RSS boss talked of the ‘Dangerous game being played by anti-national forces by stimulating unrest, separatism, violence or hatred, and attempts made to create atmosphere of disrespecting the Constitutional provisions.’ Specifically mentioning the Rohingyas, Bhagwat said that they were being ‘chased away from Myanmar for their continuous violent and criminal separatist activities and linkages with terrorist groups.’

Suggesting that they (the Rohingyas) will be definitely a threat to national security and integrity, the RSS boss, while admitting that the government was thinking on these lines, said that a solution to such a complex situation cannot be possible ‘without cooperation of the entire society.’ He said that for this purpose, all the Sajjan Shakti (good forces) will have to come forward fearlessly and they will have to be organised vocally so that they can make ‘society fearless, alert and enlightened.’

Setting the context for Bhagwat’s references, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (JS), which has now metamorphosed into the BJP, has its origins in West Bengal. Moved by the plight of refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Syama Prasad Mukherjee founded the party in 1951 but with his early death one and a half years later, the party lost its moorings in the border state.

Over the years, as the state came into the grip of the Left parties for a long period (and then the Trinamool Congress), the chances of building the party in West Bengal were stymied. With porous borders there was continual infiltration of Bangladeshis into India. This has changed the demography of the border districts of the state. Officially West Bengal now has 26 per cent Muslims but the actual figure is around 30 per cent.

The Trinamool Congress won the last election on the str ength of the minority vote and is going all out to pander to the minorities. This includes a visible symbolism that includes display of pictures of the Chief Minister with head scarf over her head and hands being raised as if in prayer like a Muslim woman. For the last two years even as the end of Durga Puja coincided with Muharram, the state government has given precedence to Muharram over Puja immersions.

Even the Calcutta High Court has taken objection to the state government’s blatant moves by describing it as a ‘clear endeavor to pamper and appease the minority section of the population at the cost of the majority section.’ Earlier on, the state government had even sought to ban a public meeting by Mohan Bhagwat in Kolkata and only with a High Court order could it be held.

West Bengal has seen low intensity communal trouble in the last few years. This is even as the state government has started practising ‘linguistic terrorism’ substituting a few commonly used Bangla words with an Urduised version in school text books. Besides starting the practice of paying a monthly stipend to muezzins and Imams, the West Bengal has also raised the budgetary allocation for madrasa education and minority matters taking it above that for irrigation, large scale industry and IT. Not surprisingly the RSS has stepped up activities in the state and ramped up the number of shakhas which now top 1,400.

But the state where the number of shakhas has really gone up is Kerala where it is about 4,500-5,000 now. This is higher than the numbers even in Gujarat – the stronghold of RSS and BJP. In Kerala, the RSS is locked in a deadly conflict with the Left parties that are in power and the former have been alleging that many of their workers have been killed brutally.

About 500 shakhas are being conducted on the premises of temples, many of which are run by government boards. The Left government has now threatened to stop these shakhas on temple premises but RSS officials are unfazed and said that in the worst-case scenario they would hold them even in homes. Moreover, they have pointed out that most of the temples were in ruins before the shakhas began. In his determination to make the RSS presence felt, Mohan Bhagwat went to a small privately-run school in Palghat area of the state and unfurled the tricolor on its premises on the Independence Day. On a flimsy ground, the state government had ordered the ban of this function but the RSS boss ignored the ban and went right ahead with his programme. Bhagwat’s reference to Kerala implies that RSS and BJP will now redouble efforts in the southern state.

The RSS supreme had interesting (but not unexpected) observations about the country as a whole and said that to awaken society towards a national ethos and endeavor, it is a prerequisite that our intellectuals and thinkers get rid of ill effects of colonial thought and mindset. “These ill-effects emanating from the colonial era have engulfed our minds and made us self-abominating confused and murky,” Bhagwat said.

He added that that a Rashtra is not made artificially. “Our existence as a Rashtra is based on Sanskriti and people and this is entirely different from the nation-state concept rooted in power.” He went on to elaborate that our Sanskriti that binds us together in a common thread despite different languages, regions, sects, religions, castes, customs etc. This Sanskriti, our eternal values that envision humanity as a global family, is our collective bonding spirit.

The RSS chief, however, made strident observations about the economy. He said that “our Niti Aayog and economic advisors of the state will have to come out of the same old economic ‘isms’ and have to integrate the most up-to-date economic experiences with the ground reality of the nation.” Pitching for swadeshi, Bhagwat said that ‘people will have to relentlessly insist on buying Swadeshi products while fulfilling their day-to-day needs and doing other purchases.’

Bhagwat further added: ‘Despite being faulty, GDP is used to measure the health and progress of the economy. Employment, that is work for every pair of hands and enough remuneration for sustainable livelihood, is a major consideration for us.” The RSS chief concluded by saying that: “Economic thinking should be based on decentralising economic production, restraining consumption and increasing employability, conserving energy, securing environment and taking the individual on the righteous path.” Well, nowhere is the policy of the ruling government out of synch with the thinking of the RSS as in the sphere of economic policies! Are the Prime Minister and Finance Minister listening?