National

"Any Government Will Have To Accept Our Thinking"

He started with a cautious approach to the Vajpayee government, but new RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan, at his press conference in Nagpur last week, didn't hide his unhappiness on some of the government's economic policies. Later, he spoke of his ideas in

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"Any Government Will Have To Accept Our Thinking"
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You've called for a total change in the Constitution. Do you have an alternative in mind?
Democracy is not a new concept for us. Democratic institutions have been there ever since the Vedic period. Even during that period, the king was elected every two years. And the electorate would be workers, artisans, etc. At that time, there used to be small states. Parampujyaniya Guruji (M.S. Golwalkar) had also spoken about an 'integral constitution' in which the lowest unit would be the all-powerful panchayat.

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Are you saying that the structure of grampanchayats should be changed?
In those days, the grampanchayat used to get its mandate from religious scriptures (dharmashastras). Our scriptures have defined what kind of state apparatus we should have. So, grampanchayats had their rights according to the scriptures. What is happening today is that either the central or state governments grants authority to the grampanchayats. State governments talk about more autonomy but they are not ready to give autonomy to grampanchayats under them. We are saying that the basic unit should be the grampanchayat...

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And it will draw authority from the dharmashastras?
Dharmashastras mean that the Constitution we frame will be our dharmashastra. Dharmashastras were the code of our social conduct that covered all issues including business and financial matters. It was not only about puja-path (rituals of worship).

Why is there so much apprehension about the RSS?
All apprehensions were created by politics. What have people done from the very beginning except abusing us? Because the RSS is a power (to reckon with), people oppose it. The Hindu Mahasabha's even more vitriolic, why does nobody pay them attention? Because they lack power. Our opponents and their entire politics is based on anti-Hinduism and the best way to abuse Hindus is to attack the RSS. This, they feel, will get them Muslim votes.

How long will it go on?
It will continue as long as this politics of votes continues and as long as this Westminster model exists.

But voting system is a prerequisite in a democratic system...
As I said, we can have a grampanchayat system. There can be general consensus at that level. And as far as upper units like janapad (district) etc are concerned, we can have indirect election (with nobody campaigning in favour of one party or the other).

Do you agree with the Vajpayee government's economic policies?
We fully understand the compulsions before the Vajpayee-led coalition. All the allies do not see eye-to-eye on all matters. Previous administrations signed some treaties like gatt and WTO and because governance is a continual process, the government will have to remain committed to that. There are many officers and advisors in the government who still believe in the old economics and do not understand the emerging global thinking. They believe that only the western model of development is good. We believe that the western model is based on exploitation and an exploitation-free society cannot be achieved through that. Developed nations have created institutions like the WTO to protect their development.

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Are you saying the set of advisors Vajpayee has should go?
We think that they should remain but people with new thinking should also be taken in. There are many people, like Bharat Jhunjhunwala, who have nothing to do with the Sangh. Gandhian people also represent this thinking that we should take a path of development based on our resources and necessities. Swadeshi is not only about using indigenous things. America wants to implement its reality everywhere. There are only 1 per cent farmers in America. Agriculture has been corporatised there and now it wants to corporatise the whole of India. We have passed a resolution asking for a round-table conference on economic issues. We have asked the government to invite all the organisations to that and let's have an open discussion.

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The call to scrap the Constitution can be seen as anti-Dalit...
In our ancient grampanchayats all (castes) had their representation. The social ill of untouchability came much later. We have such a long history full of ups and downs. If we are going to highlight only the negative period then it will paint a dark picture. So we should look at the brighter side of it. All the ancient rules and regulations cannot be implemented; we will have to give it a new shape according to the changed times.

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You have said that one day, whoever comes to power will have to accept the RSS demands. Can you elaborate?
We are saying that if we prepare the masses, the government will have to accept the public's demand. The main question is of mass awakening. Otherwise what was the need for Sonia Gandhi to say in the function of Ramakrishna Mission that Hinduism is a liberal religion and if democracy is thriving in this country it is because Hindus are in a majority? What have we been saying? We have also been saying the same thing. When we say it, we become communal. And if Sonia says it, she becomes secular.

Dattopant Thengari has said that certain decisions of the government pertaining to information technology will compromise our security. Do you agree?
Whatever Thengari has said is correct but I have not studied this matter so far. But in our last conference in Varanasi, we opposed DTH (direct-to-home) through which (Rupert) Murdoch was trying to come to India. DTH has not been introduced but efforts are afoot. In information technology, new things are coming up every day. We will have to decide which is good for our country.

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Why do the government's allies use the RSS as the whipping boy?
They've their votebanks. Today, everything moves on the basis of the votebank. All know they were never in our favour. So they thought if the discussion took place under Rule 193, it will be okay. We do feel that even if the division had taken place, the government would not have fallen.

Some feel that you don't have a fine equation with Vajpayee...
Aap log apne apne dhang se likhte hein to likhiye. Aisa bilkul nahin hai (You write in your own style, but that's not true). We understand the compulsion before the Vajpayee government and its limitations. So it may appear for some time that we differ...and we are not bothered about that. In our work, we think of 25 years ahead whereas the government has to take decisions on a day-to-day basis. So at times you people see apparent contradictions. We are creating an atmosphere through public awakening, in which not only the Vajpayee government but any government that comes to power will have to accept our thinking.

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