ON
45TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EMERGENCY IN INDIA: CONTEMPORARY DOCUMENTS PROVE RSS LEADERSHIP KOWTOWED
TO INDIRA GANDHI
RSS is a Hindutva gurukul (university) that specializes in training
cadres in speaking lies and manufacturing history. As a latest proof, we find
on the 45th anniversary of the Emergency, an ideologue of RSS, Ram Madhav, a
prominent graduate of the above gurukul, claiming that Indian democracy
survives due to "leaders in the government who fought for that very
freedom and are committed to liberal democratic values, not just as a matter of
compulsion but as an article of faith."[i] His
take is that RSS-BJP leaders fought against the Emergency not due to any
compulsion but as article of faith in democracy. Both the claims are white
lies, not because many of the critics show but even as per the contemporary RSS
documents available.
Let us take first, the claim that
the RSS-BJP rulers are/have been committed to the liberal democratic values as
a faith. The most prominent ideologue of the RSS, MS Golwalkar, also known as
'Guru of Hate' [whom PM Modi credits for grooming him into a political leader]
while addressing the 1350
top level cadres of the RSS in 1940 declared, "RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the
flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land."[ii]
With such
a philosophical liking for totalitarianism the RSS hated sharing of power. It
could be seen in its strong opposition to the federal structure of the
constitution, a ‘Basic’ feature of the India polity. Golwalkar declared in 1961,
"Today’s federal form of
government not only gives birth but also nourishes the feelings of separatism,
in a way refuses to recognize the fact of one nation and destroys it. It must
be completely uprooted, constitution purified and unitary form of government be
established."[iii]
So far Emergency is concerned the
RSS claim of fighting against it needs to be evaluated in the light of contemporary
narratives including the RSS documents. In this connection two narratives one by
a veteran thinker and journalist of India, Prabhash Joshi and the other by TV
Rajeswar, former Intelligence Bureau [IB]
chief who was the deputy chief of IB during
the Emergency are of immense importance. They recounted the
days of Emergency (or state terrorism) when RSS surrendered to the repressive
regime of Indira Gandhi, assured her and her son, Sanjay Gandhi to enforce faithfully
the draconian 20-point programme announced by the Emergency regime. Large
number of RSS cadres came out of jails by submitting MAAFINAMAAS (mercy
petitions).
The narrative by Prabhash Joshi appeared in the English weekly TEHELKA on the 25th anniversary of the Emergency.[iv] According to him even during the Emergency "there was always a lurking sense of suspicion, a distance, a discreet lack of trust" about RSS' joining the anti-Emergency struggle. He went on to tell that
The narrative by Prabhash Joshi appeared in the English weekly TEHELKA on the 25th anniversary of the Emergency.[iv] According to him even during the Emergency "there was always a lurking sense of suspicion, a distance, a discreet lack of trust" about RSS' joining the anti-Emergency struggle. He went on to tell that
"Balasaheb
Deoras, then RSS chief, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi pledging to help
implement the notorious 20-point programme of Sanjay Gandhi. This is the real
character of the RSS...You can decipher a line of action, a pattern. Even
during the Emergency, many among the RSS and Jana Sangh who came out of the
jails, gave mafinamas. They were the first to apologise. Only their leaders
remained in jail: Atal Behari Vajpayee [most of time in hospital], LK Advani,
even Arun Jaitley. But the RSS did not fight the Emergency. So why is the BJP
trying to appropriate that memory?"
Prabhash Joshi's
conclusion was that "they are not a fighting force and they are never keen
to fight. They are basically a compromising lot. They are never genuinely
against the government".
TV Rajeswar, who
served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim penned a book, 'India: The
Crucial Years” [Harper Collins] corroborated
the fact that "Not only they (RSS) were supportive of this [Emergency],
they wanted to establish contact apart from Mrs Gandhi, with Sanjay Gandhi
also".[v]
Rajeswar in an interview with Karan Thapar disclosed that Deoras,
"quietly established a link with the PM's house and
expressed strong support for several steps taken to enforce order and
discipline in the country. Deoras was keen to meet Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay. But
Mrs. Gandhi refused."[vi]
According to Rajeswar's book,
“RSS, a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation, was
banned in the wake of the Emergency. But its chief, Balasaheb Deoras, quietly
established a link with the PM’s house and expressed strong support to several
steps taken to enforce order and discipline in the country. Sanjay Gandhi’s concerted drive to enforce family planning,
particularly among Muslims, had earned Deoras’s approbation.”[vii]
Rajeswar also shared the fact that even after
Emergency the "organization (RSS) had specifically conveyed its support to
the Congress in the post-emergency elections."[viii]
It will be interesting to note that even according to Subramanian Swamy during the
Emergency period, most of the senior leaders of RSS had betrayed the struggle against
the Emergency.[ix]
The contemporary documents in the RSS archives prove
the narratives of Prabhash Joshi and Rajeswar truthful. The 3rd Supremo of RSS,
Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras wrote the
first letter to Indira Gandhi within two months of the imposition of Emergency.
It was the time when state terror was running amok. In letter dated, August 22,
1975 he began with the following praise of Indira:
"I heard your address
to the nation which you delivered on August 15, 1975 from Red Fort on radio in
jail [Yervada jail] with attention. your address was timely and balanced so I
decided to write to you".[x]
Indira Gandhi did not
respond to it. So Deoras wrote another letter to Indira on November 10, 1975.
He began his letter with congratulating her on being cleared by the Supreme
Court of disqualification which was ordered by the Allahabad High Court, "All
the five Justices of the Supreme Court have declared your election
constitutional, heartiest greetings for it." It is to be noted that
opposition was firmly of the opinion that this judgment was 'managed' by the Congress.
In the course of the letter he declared that "RSS has been named in
context of Jaiprakash Narayan's movement. The government has also connected RSS
with Gujarat movement and Bihar movement without any reason...Sangh has no
relation with these movements..."[xi]
Since Indira Gandhi did not
respond to this letter also, RSS chief got hold of Vinoba Bhave who supported
the Emergency religiously and was a favourite of Indira Gandhi. In a letter
dated January 12, 1976, he begged that Acharya should suggest the way that ban
on RSS was removed.[xii] Since Acharya too did not respond to Deoras
letter, the latter in another letter without date wrote in desperation,
"According to press
reports respected PM [Indira Gandhi] is going to meet you at Pavnar Ashram on
January 24. At that time there will be discussion about the present condition
of the country. I beg you to try to remove the wrong assumptions of PM about
RSS so that ban on RSS is lifted and RSS members are released from jails. We
are looking forward for the times when RSS and its members are able to contribute
to the plans of progress which are being run in all the fields under the
leadership of PM."[xiii]
All these letters in Hindi
are being reproduced from a publication of the RSS at the end of this article.
It is to be noted that former
President of the Indian Republic, Pranab Mukherjee was invited by the RSS
chief, Mohan Bhagwat as the chief guest at the graduation ceremony of its new
recruits must be working over-time to convert India into a Hindu state. Pranab
Mukherjee was indicted as one of the top leaders of Congress for Emergency
excesses. The tragedy of RSS is that India continues to be run under a
democratic polity so its love for brazen power has to be balanced by playing double-game.
It
is shameful that despite these facts thousands of RSS cadres continue to get
monthly pension for the persecution during Emergency. The BJP ruled states like
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra decided to award a monthly
pension of Rs 20,000 to those who were jailed during the Emergency period for less
than 2 month and Rs 10000 to those who were jailed for less than a month. This
rule took care of the financial interest of those RSS cadres who submitted
mercy letters completing only one or two months' jail term. For securing such a
fat pension there was no such condition that the beneficiary should have been in
jail for the whole period of the Emergency.
Interestingly,
in the case of anti-British freedom struggle there has not been even a single
RSS cadre to claim the freedom fighter pension. It may be noted that nobody
remembers hundreds of Communist youth, branded as Naxals who were killed in
fake encounters during the Emergency. Interestingly, Shiv Sena, the Hindutva
co-traveler of the RSS openly supported the Emergency.
Shamsul Islam
June 25, 2020.
notoinjustice@gmail.com
For some of S. Islam's writings in
English, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu &
Gujarati see the following link:
Facebook: shams shamsul
Twitter: @shamsforjustice
[i]
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/when-democracy-was-shackled-ram-madhav-6474726/
[ii]
Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruji
Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), Bhartiya Vichar
Sadhna, Nagpur, nd., vol. I, p. 11.
[iv]
http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?filename=op070205And_Not_Even.asp
[v]
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rss-backed-indira-gandhis-emergency-ex-ib-chief-264127-2015-09-21
[vi] Ibid.
[vii]
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/ib-ex-chiefs-book-rss-chief-deoras-had-backed-some-emergency-moves/
[viii]
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-backed-Emergency-reveals-former-IB-chief/articleshow/49052143.cms
[ix]
https://medium.com/@hindu.nationalist1/double-game-of-senior-rss-leaders-during-emergency-74abc07a4fa8
[x] Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, Hindu
Sangathan aur Sattavaadi Rajneeti, Jagriti Prkashan, Noida, 1997, 270.
[xi] Ibid., 272-73
[xii] Ibid. 275-77.
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