© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Against the backdrop of the Opposition parties making their caste census demand a key issue in the state Assembly elections in five states, the RSS has come up with a “samajik samrasta” (social harmony) project under which its workers are fanning out to villages across the country to foster the spirit of “Hindu oneness”.
As part of this project, the RSS activists would reach out to people, schools and temples in villages to spread awareness against caste discrimination and untouchability.
RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said Tuesday that this issue was discussed during the two-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal Baithak (All India Executive Committee meeting) of the Sangh, which was held at Bhuj in Gujarat. The meeting, which discusses work to be taken up by the RSS, sees all the top RSS leaders besides the representatives of all its 45 prants (regions) and other affiliates in attendance.
“There is a five-point programme that we have discussed in the meeting that needs to be completed in view of centenary celebrations of the Sangh. These include samajik samrasta, i.e. doing away with untouchability and caste discrimination… We are all together and one society… We have to take the message that discrimination based on birth has to be banished,” Hosabale told the media on the concluding day of the RSS meet.
Apart from engaging with people in general, Hosabale said, “We are also going to temples, schools and other social institutions to discuss with them how we can work on samajik samrasta in their own domain.”
RSS sources said that in the last one year the Sangh has studied the cases of more than 13,000 villages to track the prevalence of caste discrimination in terms of separate wells and crematoriums and restriction on entry of Dalits into temples.
Sources said the responsibility of the social harmony project has been devolved to the Sangh shakhas. According to the RSS, its 95,528 shakhas are currently operational in the country, which have 37 lakh regular participants.
During the meeting of its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) in March this year, the Sangh passed a resolution promoting the idea of “swa” (national self), putting focus on crafting the “correct narrative” of India and stressing on bridging social faultlines in Hindu society.
“While it is evident that people are increasingly voting for Narendra Modi rising above caste lines, there are forces that think that the only way to defeat him is by dividing the Hindu society on the basis of identity. So, it is important that the RSS continues its grassroots work on creating a sense of one national identity with greater vigour,” an RSS leader said.
Since the emergence of social justice parties in the late 80s, around the same time that the Ram Temple movement began taking shape, there has been a conflict between the ideologies of Mandal and Kamandal, with one trumping the other through various phases of national politics since.
The growing chorus of demands for a national caste census from the Opposition camp again threatens to reignite that battle in the Hindi heartland and so the Sangh’s cognisance of the issue is significant.
The RSS’ annual report 2022-23 also underlined attempts to create social faultlines. “The forces inimical to Bharat’s unity and progress plan newer conspiracies. Trying to break the society …by disseminating perverted narratives …has become their agenda. Instigating language, caste or group discord by using any situation or event of the society as an excuse, and inciting youth against any government scheme like Agneepath, ugly incidents of terror, rancour, anarchy, violence happened at various places,” the report said.
In recent months, top Sangh leaders have consistently broached the subject of caste, with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat saying in September that people should be prepared for 200 more years of reservation to deal with 2,000 years of caste discrimination. Since then, in almost all his speeches Bhagwat has been claiming that
the India story is not “unity in diversity” but about a nation whose “unity has diversity”, thereby underlining that the “unity of Hindu society in unquestionable”.
In the RSS Samnvay Baithak held in Pune in September, the issue of coordinating the works of all Sangh-affiliated bodies over “samajik samarasta” was on top of its agenda for discussion.
India is already a Hindu Rashtra and the Ram Temple in Ayodhya is an expression of that consciousness, Hosabale said in response to a question on when India would become a Hindu Rashtra. “We are already a Hindu Rashtra and we will remain a Hindu Rashtra in future. (RSS founder) Dr Hedgewar said as long even a single person on this land is Hindu, it will remain a Hindu Rashtra.” Hosabale, however, clarified this was not in the context of the Indian State as defined by the Constitution. “State system is different, as defined by the Constitution. But as a nation we are a Hindu nation. For example, when the British were here, it was British Raj but Hindu Rashtra,” he said.
The RSS leader, however, suggested that merely the existence of the Hindu nation was not enough and that it must be felt to be existing as well. “For example, the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is an expression of national self-respect. This (idea) was always there in this country. That Somnath Temple must be built here and Dr Rajendra Prasad came here… Why? To awaken that national self-respect. Jai Somnath became a national slogan,” he said.
Hosabale also insisted that Hindutva was nothing but an idea to be committed to doing something for the nation, society and culture. “Our goal is that every mandal should have five to six people who are totally committed to it. The work that Sangh is doing is merely awakening the consciousness of Hindu Rashtra. We do not need to establish a Hindu Rashtra. We are a Hindu Rashtra.”
He also claimed that the RSS’ idea of “Hindu” was inclusive. “There are Hindus who do not go to temple. Some go to a specific temple. Then there are those who go to all temples, including gurudwaras. According to us, whether you visit a temple or not, you can continue to remain a Hindu. Our only request is if you go to a religious place, follow its tradition there,” he said.
The growing chorus of demands for a national caste census from the Opposition camp again threatens to reignite that battle in the Hindi heartland and so the Sangh’s cognisance of the issue is significant.
Hosabale said the RSS was a “national movement” which had tried to bring many issues into national discourse. “There is a movement regarding national self-respect and national identity going on. This is (reflected in) the construction of a grand temple on Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. This work is being completed and on January 22 (2024) there is the Pran Pratishtha (consecration) programme.”
According to Hosabale, the Ramjanmabhoomi Teerthakshetra Trust, which is building the Temple, has invited PM Modi and Bhagwat for the Pran Pratistha ceremony. He said the RSS workers from across the country have been associated with the Ayodhya movement.
“As the historic moment has arrived, we have told the Trust that between January 1 and January 15, we will conduct a nationwide Sampark Abhiyan (public outreach campaign). Beginning the day of the Makar Sankranti, we will conduct prayers in the Temple garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum). On the last day of these prayers, on January 22, the work of the Pran Pratishtha will be completed. Saints from across the country will arrive there,” he said.
Since all RSS workers cannot attend the January 22 ceremony, Hosabale said, they have been tasked to go door to door across the country and give people a photo of Lord Ram and of the Temple and invite them to visit it at some later date. “The idea is to have a comprehensive nationwide public outreach. We have discussed details of this programme in the meeting,” he said.
