State and saffron

What RSS Sarsangchalak Rajendra Singh Rajju Bhaiyya and his lieutenant, H. V. Seshadri, tell their followers is their way of thinking, an ideological stand, which most Hindus do not share. They have called the Hindu society cowardly because the government made the best of a bad job by releasing the three terrorists in exchange for some 160 passengers and the crew of the hijacked plane. They have a convoluted logic and they even indulge in abuses8217; against their own community. Still they consider themselves the custodians of the community. Be that as it may, some of the remarks at the Ahmedabad shibir were so objectionable that Advani, as the country8217;s home minister, should have distanced himself from them.

Take, for example, Seshadri8217;s observation that the Telugu Desam Party TDP and the Congress had taken the support of the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh during the election to reach out to the rural masses. What he conveyed was that the TDP won because theNaxalites created an atmosphere of violence that did not allow the people to exercise their right to vote. This is a serious allegation and it is strange that the TDP has not protested.Understandably, the BJP cannot speak because it cannot afford to contradict its mother organistion.

Seshadri8217;s other remark that Indira Gandhi took the bold step 8220;to decide the destiny8221; of Bangladesh is not even factually correct. The Bangladeshis themselves decided their 8220;destiny.8221; They were so exasperated with their link with Islamabad that they broke away to found a country of their own. India only helped them.

There has never been any doubt that Advani is closer to the RSS than Vajpayee. And if one were to recall the break-up of the Janata Party, it was Advani8217;s insistence that was responsible for the split in 1979. He did not want members of the Jana Sangh to disown the RSS. He even refused to accept a settlement that the office-holders of the Janata Party would have no truck with the RSS. As India8217;s Home Minister,he has to be seen to be distant from the RSS, which adheres to a policy that runs counter to the principle of secularism as enshrined in the Constitution.

This is what India8217;s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to the state chief ministers: 8220;Every provincial government has had plenty of experience of their RSS activities. One does not mind, or at any rate accepts an opponent. But it is distressing that any organisation consisting of large numbers of young men, should be so utterly little-minded and lacking in not only vision but in commonsense or common understanding. The RSS is typical in this respect of the type of organisation that grew up in various parts of Europe in support of fascism. It attracts people, essentially from the lower middle class, many of them frustrated, many of them with vague ideas and little thought behind them.8221;

There is no doubt that the RSS is poisoning the minds of Hindus. Education Minister Murli Manohar Joshi is trying to change textbooks and rewrite historyaccording to the saffron philosophy. In fact, it is in school that students learn the difference between communities. It is in school that a Muslim boy first feels the disadvantage of being in a minority community. He begins to feel that he is a 8220;second-rate8221; citizen.

History books emphasise 8220;proselytizing activities8221; of Muslim kings and the 8220;defiant8221; attitude of their Hindu subjects, the 8220;atrocities8221; by Aurangazeb, and the 8220;sacrifices8221; of the Sikhs. Many years ago the National Integration Conference, at which Nehru was present, had decided to produce model textbooks without communal overtones, but nothing had been done since.

Nehru was also upset by the poor quality of textbooks. 8220;When I look at some of the books used in primary and secondary schools,8221; he once said, 8220;I feel quite alarmed because of their complete inadequacy. I do not know who writes them or prepares them, but it almost seemed to me that the writers were hardly educated themselves. A book for the child requires the highestintelligence. And our best writers and thinkers should be asked to prepare these children8217;s textbooks and other books.8221;

The RSS has begun another unedifying debate. This was highlighted at Ahmedabad. The RSS leaders want the government to lift the ban on government servants joining the RSS, a move which the BJP-led government in Gujarat has made. Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel was sporting the traditional RSS uniform of khaki shorts and white shirt at the shibir. One hopes that the RSS is prepared for similar facilities for the Jammat-i-Islami and such other religious bodies.

When the conduct rules were framed, the purpose behind them was that the government servants should stay away from political parties or such organisations so that their behaviour and decisions would be objective, not sectarian. In fact, today8217;s need is to free public servants from the pulls and pressures of religious and other considerations because the bureaucracy has already got contaminated.

When Nehru was the PrimeMinister, two IAS probationers were not cleared because of the intelligence reports against them. He intervened to have them cleared. But he drew the examples as exceptions to the rule and did not change the standing instructions not to recruit to the government persons who had extreme views8217;.