From Delhi to Rampur and Lucknow, the Muslims are busy hatching a dangerous plot, piling up arms and mobilising their men...to strike from within when Pakistan decides upon an armed conflict with our country." —RSS chief Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar in the late '60s.
THREE decades later, there is a discernible change in the tone and tenor of pronouncements by senior RSS leaders. These days Professor Rajendra Singh, the present RSS chief, eschews all talk of Muslims "hatching plots" and instead sees "unmistakable signs of a welcome change" in the attitude of the Muslim intelligentsia towards Hindutva. In fact, last fortnight in Bangalore, Rajju Bhayya took pains to emphasise that Hindutva "upholds equally the genuine interests of all sections of people, including theirs (the Muslims')".
Indeed, recent years have witnessed the opening up of a traditionally cocooned organisation. With the installation of a BJP-led government at the Centre, the RSS is now ready to go the whole hog to exploit the "Hindutva-oriented atmosphere" to expand its base. It is significant that Rajju Bhayya is no longer averse to regular interaction with the media. He and colleagues like H.V. Sheshadri appear on TV more often, addresses press conferences and gives exclusive interviews. This openness would have been unthinkable some years ago. Old-timers still remember Golwalkar covering his face with both hands when a photographer tried to click his picture.
The need for more openness was first felt by RSS leaders during the Emergency when the organisation was banned. Besides, it was in 1977 that RSS cadres came into contact with their Muslim counterparts belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami, which was also banned. The then sarsanghchalak, Balasaheb Deoras, even discussed the idea of opening the doors of the RSS for the Muslims.
Madan Das, general secretary of the RSS, however, feels that it is the media which has undergone an attitudinal change and has started giving more attention to the RSS because of the change of the government at the Centre. He claims the RSS chief has always held a press conference after the annual pratinidhi sabha, adding: "We do want due publicity but we have always felt extra publicity is not required. It damages the cause."
Given the RSS' history and style of functioning, any shift in attitude towards the Muslims is bound to be viewed with suspicion. It is doubtful if it will translate into a the dilution of the Hindutva agenda. The changes in the RSS, if any, can be better understood in the light of its efforts to come out of a long spell of isolation which increased with the demolition of the Babri Masjid, when the RSS and its 100-odd pocket organisations were condemned for damaging India's secular fabric. The recent utterances by RSS leaders about Muslims can at best be seen as an attempt to put up a more tolerant face, not a dilution of Hindutva.
The ideas propagated by RSS founders like Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and Golwalkar are still the source of inspiration for their successors. The ultimate goal is to transform the Indian society into a formidable monolith with "one nation, one people and one culture". The Sangh parivar realises that this cannot be achieved without a thorough change in the Constitution. In fact, the BJP's commitment to review the Constitution in its election manifesto is just a reiteration of Golwalkar's wish expressed 42 years ago. But it is likely to remain a mere dream for now, as any amendment or review of the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority.
Golwalkar never hid his disapproval of the federal structure of the Constitution. He felt that the formation of "almost autonomous states" had sown the seeds of disintegration of the country. So much so that he wanted to "bury deep for good all talk of a federal structure of our country's Constitution" and realise his desire for "One Country, One state, One Legislature, One Executive". Gol-walkar mooted the idea of redrafting the Constitution way back in 1956. Immediately after the publication of the report of the States Reorganisation Committee, he wrote: "Let the Constitution be re-examined and re-drafted, so as to establish this Unitary (read centralised) form of Government."
That the so-called change in the tone is hardly a pointer to the dilution of the RSS' Hindutva agenda is evident from the reiteration by Rajju Bhayya recently that "these monuments (mosques at Kashi and Mathura) are a slur on our independence; they should go". Points out Mahesh Chandra Sharma, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP associated with the Deen Dayal Research Foundation: "We believe in the ultimate goal, the means to achieve it is not important to us. Gandhiji would have differed on this matter. The RSS is ready to even tear off the dark chapters of history. We only want to highlight the glorious past of the country."
Some sympathisers and activists of the RSS took the initiative to break the isolation of the Sangh parivar by holding a 'samvaad' at Vrindavan in January 1993. Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar was among the first people who professed no objection in establishing a dialogue with the RSS. He even hosted one such meet in 1996 at his Bhondsi ashram where many persons with socialist leanings, besides K.N.Govindacharya of the BJP, were invited. The RSS drew a lot of flak at these meetings for its "antagonistic" attitude towards the Muslims and other minorities.
Acceptability became especially crucial after the BJP fared poorly in the mid-term elections to four state assemblies in 1993. The defeat was attributed, among other things, to its anti-Muslim image and RSS activities. Says Raaj Kumar Bhatiya, former president of the ABVP, the students wing of the Sangh parivar: "It will be an over-simplification to say that the RSS changed its views towards the Muslims because the BJP lost the elections after the demolition. But, sure, over the last three-four years there has been a view within the RSS to break the anti-Muslim image of the organisation. Because the Janambhoomi movement had strengthened the anti-Muslim image of the RSS."
The whole exercise is aimed at gaining more acceptability not only for the RSS itself but for the BJP too. At the pratinidhi sabha in Bangalore the RSS top brass went to great lengths to drive home the point that "the minorities need not be apprehensive".
It is in this context that the RSS agreed to put "contentious issues"—Ram Janambhoomi, Article 370 and a common civil code—on the back-burner despite its rider to the BJP that Hindutva should not be diluted. Significantly, RSS general secretary K.C. Sudershan warned the BJP not to dilute Hindutva just when its prime ministerial candidate Atal Behari Vajpayee started softpedalling on Ayodhya and Article 370 during his poll campaign. The result: Hindutva was uppermost in the BJP's manifesto.
Meanwhile, with a friendly government at the Centre, the RSS leadership has chalked out a detailed expansion plan. The number of shakhas is sought to be increased from 27,000 to 50,000. The swayamsewaks, the RSS chief has declared, "will now concentrate on turning the popular Hindutva-oriented atmosphere into expanding the enduring organisational set-up". The organisation will now explore new areas of activity where till now it had no presence. Around 450 villages in the tribal areas, remote areas and urban jhuggi-jhonpri colonies have also been identified for developmental work.
An equally important task for the RSS is finding berths for its sympathisers in important positions in the bureaucracy, judiciary, foreign office, etc. "Some good people we know of may be introduced to the BJP," Rajju Bhayya said while commenting on the future role of the RSS vis-avis the BJP-led government. Interestingly, while expressing disappointment with some BJP state governments, he had told Outlook in January: "Changing the officials itself takes two to three years; only after that can a government function properly."
Though RSS leaders deny that they had any role in the formation of the Vajpayee cabinet, Jaswant Singh's exclusion is a clear indication that the organisation influences government decisions. "RSS swayamsevaks are working in the BJP, therefore naturally the BJP will consult the RSS on national issues. Even Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi used to consult the RSS," claims Madan Das. Dropping names like Indira Gandhi, the Sangh's sworn enemy, is also a manifestation of the RSS' quest for wider acceptability. The atmosphere could not be more congenial for the RSS to get that acceptance. For an organisation banned three times during its 72-year existence on charges of inciting violence and hatred, it is time to strike firms roots and branch out.
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