IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva |
Full text of the report © 2002, Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India, and The South Asia Citizens Web, France
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Within the Sewa Vibhag, the Sewa Bharati and the Sewa International are two of the most critical organizations. Their criticality as the Sangh organizations lies in the fact that both are excellent exam
IDRF and the American Funding of Hindutva |
Full text of the report © 2002, Sabrang Communications & Publishing Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India, and The South Asia Citizens Web, France
|
Sewa International: Service With An Ideological Edge
1. Linking the service Institutions: The RSS. Sewa International and IDRF
2. The Work of Sewa International: Little Service, More Hinduization
Yet another development is the establishment of an international organization titled ‘SEWA INTERNATIONAL’ which now has branches in many countries. Sewa International will look after the interests of seva [service] related issues not only in the respective countries where they have chapters but also take up ‘GLOBAL’ level care of sewa [service] work carried out under the Sangh ideology.[101]
where volunteers are busy organizing Hindus under different organizations. Hindu Council, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Sewa International, Friends of India Society International, etc. are some of them.[102]
Our programmes and activities are but the outer form of our Sewakarya [service work]. The ultimate object of all these endeavours is Hindu Sangathan - consolidation and strengthening of the Hindu society.[108]
After the day's tuition, the Bhagwa Dhwaj [saffron flag—the symbol of the Sangh] is hoisted and the Prarthana [the RSS prayer] too takes place. On Sundays, a regular full-fledged Shakha is conducted.[110]
When the Ram-Janma-Bhoomi Mukti Andolan swept the country, this village too energised itself. The karyakartas [Sangh workers] stepped in to orient people's enthusiasm in constructive directions.
a. The Ram-Janmabhoomi Mukti Andolan refers to a violent mobilization of the Sangh which culminated in the destruction of a 16th century mosque – the Babri Masjid – and subsequently a protracted series of religious riots across India, where large numbers of Muslims were massacred by the organized forces of the Sangh. In other words, when this activity was begun in Hazratpur, the Muslim population was potentially feeling great levels of fear and insecurity and thus unable to participate in any democratic manner within a debate on what must be done in the village.
b. RSS swayamsevaks as Sewa International workers entered the village, supposedly to do rural development work, but instead began to mobilize a community of Hindus, who had till then not necessarily held on to a separate rigid identity into building a whole new set of Hindutva institutions – Sishu Mandir and Vidya Mandirs, apart from a temple and the running of a weekly shakha. In other words, they consolidated a community and drew up new lines of division in the village. The village is now ready for a riot. Note that this is what the Sangh calls “progress” or “change.”
c. The final act of consolidation is of course in the effort to change the name. By attempting to change a name that is a product of historic exigencies and is part of a sense of the past of the local people and replacing it with a new name – Shivaji Nagar – symbolic of contemporary Hindu revivalism, the Sangh is not just deepening the divisions it is in the process of creating locally, but also adding to its larger project of wiping out all traces of Islam from the sub continent.
The situation in these Bastis used to be rather peculiar. Boys with names like Mohan or Shyam Prakash wore the cross down their rock [sic]. Some had added the suffix "Maseeh" to their names - like Dinesh Maseeh, Govind Maseeh [Maseeh is variation of ‘messiah’ and is a common last name among South Asian Christians]. But change came so fast that it looked as if people were waiting for it. Now the cross has vanished and in its place one finds lockets of OM, Durga, Ram or Hanumanji. There was no temple; now a temple has been built by the residents themselves near the entrance of the Basti. A beautiful garden has been raised adjacent to the temple. This reflects the in-born dharmik [religious] temperament of the Basti residents.
A special programme was organised to honour aged men and women, in a Basti. A 'Havan' was performed, after which the Mahanagar Sanghchalak of Sangh [City Leader of the RSS] stood up, invited the oldest couple present to the stage, applied tilak to them and honoured them by offering shriphal on behalf of the entire society. The scene reminded many of the affection with which Sri Ram had embraced Guha of the lowly hunter-tribe while on his way to the forest.[113]