Remembering Golwalkar

Underplaying the big ticket items of the last week 8212; Budget and Bush visit 8212;the latest Organiser chooses to focus on the 8216;1...

Underplaying the big ticket items of the last week 8212; Budget and Bush visit 8212;the latest Organiser chooses to focus on the 8216;8216;scintillating launch8217;8217; of the centenary celebrations of the second sarsanghchalak and premier ideologue of the RSS, M.S. Golwalkar. Several pages are devoted to the inauguration of the celebrations and the RSS Pratinidhi Sabha held in Nagpur in late February. At the launch, RSS supremo K.S. Sudarshan is reported as saying that the 8216;8216;bhagodaya of Bharat would begin by the year 20118217;8217; without specifying what exactly will happen five years from now. Sudarshan also told the gathering that 8216;8216;both the jehadi forces and imperialist countries symbolise evil forces. The propagation of Hindutva and defeat of evil forces will pave the way for establishing peace not only in India but across the world.8217;8217;

Although a galaxy of BJP leaders attended the function, only Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s 8216;8216;short but meaningful speech8217;8217; finds mention in the report. Vajpayee recited a poem, recalled his first meeting with Golwalkar at the Gwalior station in 1940 that left a lasting influence on him, and his message to the faithful was: 8216;8216;Today, the whole world is looking towards India with both friendly and unfriendly eyes. We have to strengthen the friendly ones and turn the unfriendly eyes into friendly ones.8217;8217;

Shakha review

Presenting the annual report at the Pratinidhi Sabha, RSS General Secretary Mohan Bhagwat said as per figures available till February 2, the RSS had 8216;8216;51,201 shakhas running in over 35,790 places, saptahik milans are being held at more than 9,093 places and Sangh Mandalis at 8,016 places.8217;8217; The number of shakhas had risen by 2500 at 1500 places over the last three years. However, since the RSS does not keep formal attendance registers and the size of a shakha differs from place to place, no figures of RSS membership are available.

Softly, on Bush

There is no editorial comment or detailed article about the Bush visit, indicating that the RSS is either unclear or unwilling to talk about the merits or demerits of the new warmth in India-US relations. The only comment comes from Organiser columnist M.D. Nalapat who is much briefer than usual this time. Entitled 8216;8216;A sweetheart deal?8217;8217;, the column criticises Manmohan Singh 8212; dubbed 8216;8216;Sonia Gandhi8217;s man8217;8217; 8212; for handing over India8217;s nuclear establishment to the US. The nuclear deal will 8216;8216;weaken India8217;s security8217;8217; because IAEA inspectors 8216;8216;who are certain to act as spies of different countries including Pakistan and China, will now have access to the innermost secrets of the India-developed reactors of DAE8217;8217;. Even the fast breeder reactors can be 8216;8216;prised open for inspections at a later stage8217;8217; and the agreement is 8216;8216;totally silent on the crucial question of dual use8217;8217;.

Claiming that the 8216;8216;Bush-Singh agreement8217;8217; will need a further Rs 83,000 crore over just nine years 8216;8216;if the crippling restrictions placed on it by Sonia-Manmohan are to be overcome8217;8217;, Nalapat8217;s vitriolic question is: 8216;8216;Whom will Manmohan Singh tax to meet this need? The Maino family, now happily resident in India?8217;8217;

Dr Singh, once again

The RSS brass may have given up on Advani, but Organiser8217;s favourite columnist M.V. Kamath still has a good word or two to say about the ex-lauh purush. Speculating on who will be prime minister in 2009, he writes: 8216;8216;There is no reason why the BJP should not put up L.K. Advani as its prime ministerial candidate, even though he is in his late seventies. But he looks good for his age, besides which, have everyone forgotten Morarji Desai who had become prime minister in his eighties?8217;8217;

Lest Advani become too hopeful, Kamath gives Manmohan Singh an equal 8212; if not better 8212; chance. 8216;8216;It is unlikely that Sonia Gandhi, who stood down in 2005 sic to make way for Dr Manmohan Singh would in 2009, wish to take over the reins of power. If the Congress wins, for all one knows, Dr Singh will still be around in the prime minister8217;s residence. What he may then do is to promote Rahul Gandhi as minister of state, since by 2009 he would have had some basic experience as a parliamentarian.8217;8217;

Dynast8217;s choice

Story continues below this ad

The Sangh Parivar may hate the Nehru-Gandhi family but one member of the dynasty is emerging a hot favourite. Referring to an article by Varun Gandhi in a previous issue of Organiser, a gushing reader writes: 8216;8216;My heart feels this is the man who will guide India on her path to pristine glory. He has the Gandhi family background and heart of a swayamsevak 8212; a very appropriate combination indeed.8217;8217; Indeed.