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Complimenting
Imperialist Designs
Ram
Puniyani
Decades
ago M.S. Golwalkar, the then RSS
Sarsanghchalak, supremo, had supported the America's aggression on
Vietnam. That was the time when most of the World was condemning the
US offensive, its use of inhuman weapons on the unarmed citizens of
Vietnam. The pretext for US was that the emerging Vietnamese
nationalism is a threat to freedom and democracy, as the flag, which
Ho Chi Minh held high was a communist one. While most of the world
had problems with the US agenda, RSS chief complimented US as
the one, leading the forces of Dharma (Correct moral-ethical
values). It is another matter that RSS certified forces of Dharma
had to bite the dust and retreat in a most disgraceful manner.
Neither was US trying to protect freedom and democracy nor did RSS
supremo mean to defend morals and ethics.
Currently (April
2003) the reigning RSS chief is embarrassing the BJP Govt. by
defending the US aggression on Iraq, apparently to liberate the
Iraqi people and to install the democracy, which is supposedly the
divine mission of Uncle Sam. Mr. Sudarshan is upholding Geroge Bush
on two grounds. (Times of India 29th March) The first one being that
it is a clash of civilizations and the backward, retrograde, Jehadi
Islamic culture is a threat to the World as a whole and to the
advanced, humane Western civilization in particular. The second one
being that Mr. Bush is only defending his own country, as Iraq is a
threat to US security. Iraq as per this argument is having weapons
of mass destruction and being Muslim, it will support all the
terrorists who any way are Muslims so the US action is justified as
per our home bred inheritor of Nazi ideology, the chief of RSS.
At one level the
hollowness of these arguments of Mr. Sudarshan is too obvious. By
now most of the world with some humanism left, knows that neither is
US's aim is to eliminate WMD (very little discovered by the UN
Inspectors anyway) neither is this tyrant, US imperialism,
interested in Democracy being there in other parts of the World. US
regime has not only supported and encouraged the despots and
dictators all around, it has also installed such butchers by
overthrowing legitimate democratic regimes, time and over again. Mr.
Sudarshan as the major apologist for George Bush also argues that UN
has failed to appreciate the USs concerns so Mr. Bush is within full
moral authority to attack Iraq.
RSS, the proponent
of Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra has a very complimentry ideology to the
one of colonial powers and imperialists. It has a lot to do with the
ideology of status quo and suppression of the rights of Workers,
Dalits and Women at deeper level. It is exemplified right since the
beginning of the rise of Hindu Right wing ideology in late
nineteenth century. With the arrival of British this section of
Hindu elite accepted the British propaganda that they have come here
to liberate the Hindus from the tyranny of Muslim rule and also to
civilize the country (White Mans burden). This precisely was the
culmination of the events in the famous novel Anand Math where the
heroes of Bankimchandras novel, Santans (offsprings), overthrow the
Muslim rule and celebrate the coming in of British rule. These
anglophiles also went on to argue that our ancestors, Aryans while
coming from arctic zone split into two streams, one going to Europe
and other coming to India. So the coming of British to India is like
meeting of the parted cousins, so we celebrate the arrival of our
own parted brethren. Now of course this Aryan arrival thesis itself
has been put under question by ideologues of Hindu right because if
this is to be accepted than Aryans and thereby the Hindus are also
invaders like the Muslims so how can the idea of Hindu Rashtra be
asserted?
Any way, the Hindu
Right wing stream later on went on to form various organizations,
Punjab Hindu Sabha, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. The agenda of these
organizations has apparently been to build the strength of Hindu
society in the face of Muslim aggression. In reality the agenda of
Hindu Right wing, Hindutva, has been to oppose the transformations,
leading to caste and gender equality.
So in a way it
should not be surprising that the Hindutva votaries never opposed
the British rule. United India Patriotic Association, (UIPA, Which
incidentally had Muslim elites also as the members), which was the
most initial organization of Hindu and Muslim Right wing (1880s)
went on to proclaim that Congress is talking against the ruler
(Queen Victoria) and this way of oppsing the ruler is against our
religion, which teaches us to
be loyal to our King (Queen in this). Accordingly, UIPA resolved to
cultivate the loyalty of Indian people to British crown. Later UIPA
paved the way for the communal organizations, Muslim league and
Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar was an anti-British revolutionary before
he became the major ideologue of Hindutva. After he assumed the
leadership of Hindutva outfit, Hindu Mahasabha, he never opposed the
British rule. And that is the mild way of putting the reality.
RSS came up with
the goal of Hindu Rashtra and since the freedom movement was
striving for Secular Democratic India and was opposing the British
rule, so RSS kept aloof from the freedom movement. Efforts are on to
dig out an occasional jail term by a RSS swayamsevak to prove that
RSS was also for freedom struggle, but such incidents if any, are
there by default or for some other motive. Mr. Hedgewar the first
RSS supremo joined the Non Cooperation movement in 1930s and went to
jail but he clarified that it was to get in touch with Hindutva
minded workers who at that time might have been a part of freedom
movement. Mr. Vajapayee, wrote Hindu Tan Man Hindu Jivan (Hindu body
and soul, Hindu life) when the majority of Nation was singing,
living and dying for Indian body, soul and life. Incidentally Mr.
Vajpayee was also put in jail for a couple of days, a case of
mistaken identity. This was rectified soon as he gave a written
statement that he had nothing to do with the Quit India and
associated movements and that he was a mere onlooker in the village
when the local people were going to break Forest law as a part of
Quit India movement.
Rather than
aberrations it should be seen as to why and how could Hindutva or
Pakistan votaries be a part of Freedom movement as both these were
having a deeper social alliance with the British rule. British were
having revenue alliance with the landlords. And in a way the base of
Pakistan Movement was in the landed articracy and so was the case
with Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. Anyway they did not oppose the British
rule or one can go to the extent of saying that British ruled India
in alliance with the ideological followers of Muslim League and
Hindutva. The political alliance of Colonialism was with the
votaries of Hindu Rashtra. A votary of Hindutva murdered Gandhi, as
the Father of Nation was the biggest obstacle to the agenda of Hindu
Rashtra. After his murder RSS was banned and Mr. Golwalkar was
jailed. From jail also Mr. Golwalkar requested to be released and
promised that RSS will collaborate with the Govt. to eliminate the
Communist menace. Incidentally that was the era when American
Imperialism was unleashing McCarthyism and hunting communists. US
agenda and RSS agenda matched exactly.
RSS
and its progeny Jana Sangh adopted the US agenda in economic and
political matters to the last comma. With collapse of Soviet states
the US imperialism has projected Islam as the main enemy of Human
kind (clash of civilization etc.). RSS and its progeny have also
chosen this time to sharpen its Trishuls against Islam and Muslims
precisely at this juncture in global politics. Imperialism always
props up the retrograde politics and social relations in countries
where it controls. Its projection of itself as spreading
civilization or defending democracy is a cover for plunder and
exploitation at all levels. Colonialism aligned itself with landed
gentry who were adhrents of pre-modern hiearchies of caste and
gender. Imperialism similarly aligns with the most retrograade
social forces. RSS fits into the bill of US designs more than
perfectly. BJPs coming to power at the center has opened the
floodgates of US grip in India. BJP foreign policy has been to be
subservient to the US designs in toto. No doubt the RSS sponsored
swadeshi is a bit like fly in the ointment in its subservience to
the Imperialism. But no social phenomenon can be without some
contradictions in their gambit. Overall Colonialism was OK for RSS,
and Imperialism is also OK for RSS. Thats the major umbrella for
forces standing for arresting the transformation in social relations
of caste and gender the central goal and agenda of Religion based
politics, and this is what Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra is all about.
So at one level we should not be surprised that RSS is all support
for US aggression of Iraq, that is its agenda, to be complimentary
force to Imperialism.
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