RSS' selective world view

Raosaheb Kasbe’s critique of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was published in Marathi in 1978, and this translated version was published this year. The book lacks, therefore, the stigma of western elitism that the Sangh Parivar invariably mobilises to discredit criticism against it. No less importantly, Mr Kasbe, a political scientist and scholar of Ambedkar and Dalit movements, challenges the organisation’s ideology not from the standpoint of western liberalism — another bone of Parivar contention — but within the framework of Hinduism and India’s cultural history.  

The author needs just six chapters to substantiate his basic argument that the RSS’ vision of Hinduism is Brahmanical, anti-Dalit and anti-women, and that its claim to appropriate Hinduism in its totality is deceptive. This clinical demystification includes a close analysis for the writings of the RSS’ pre-eminent ideologue and longest-serving supreme leader or Sarsanghchalak (between 1940 and 1973) M S Golwalkar, especially his well-known treatise Bunch of Thoughts (1966).

The essence of these six chapters in the words of the author is to show that “the RSS does not stand for an egalitarian India but a Hindustan (Hindu Nation) under Brahmanical hegemony, (which) harks back to the times of (the) Peshwas”. Baji Rao II, Mr Kasbe writes, was regarded by the votaries of Hindutva as “the ideal Peshwa” because he adopted the policy of helping only Brahmins during the drought of 1803-04 and “openly denied his responsibility towards the welfare of non-Brahmins”.

The author, thus, contextualises the RSS’ ideology and politics by connecting it with the intellectual and political developments of Maharashtra. On one hand, there was a resurgence of the Shudra challenge to Brahmanism spearheaded by activists such as Jyotiba Phule and Sahuji Maharaj, and on the other, K B Hedgewar talked only of Hindu mobilisation. This mobilisation was led by a closed caste that sought to control society and politics. The foundational philosophy of the Sangh’s nationalism, therefore, was casteist.

On Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts, Mr Kasbe’s contention is that the ideologue’s thinking was essentially political. This becomes clearer from Chapter 5 titled “Enemies” that shows how Golwalkar identifies Muslims, Christians and Communists as the Other. This exposes the claim -- heard with increasing frequency these days -- that the RSS is a cultural, not a political organisation. When an organisation targets “enemies”, isn’t that a political agenda? In 1948, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel called the RSS’ bluff and asked it to write its constitution if its leaders wanted to be released from jail.

The RSS uses an emotive core message to mobilise Hindus to target non-Hindus: That Hindus have been “victims” of history. The RSS mission was, as Mr Kasbe explains, “reorganising the Hindu people on the lines of their unique national genius,” which the broader Sangh Parivar has taken up. “This is not only a great process of true national regeneration of Bharat but also the precondition to realise the dream of world unity and human welfare,” he writes. Hindus have to be made courageous and assertive. In the debate over materialism and idealism, Golwalkar opts for the dubious idea of spiritualism.

This apart, says Mr Kasbe, Golwalkar attaches great importance to the earth in the form of Mother India and ignores the fact that the earth is inhabited by people. According to Golwalkar, “every particle of the geographical region of India, even dust, contains godliness and so the land is holy to us… nothing can be holier to us than this holy land”. If the land is holy, then Hinduism is nationalism, that is Golwalkar’s logic. By using Hindu and Bharatiya interchangeably in the context of Indian nationalism, Mr Kasbe says, the Sangh organisations implicitly define Hinduism as nationalism.  The author also scrutinises the RSS’ role during the freedom struggle and comes to the conclusion that the RSS had nothing to do with it.

If the RSS talks of Hindu traditions, Mr Kasbe says, then what about Charvaka, which is said to be the first school of materialist philosophy in Indian history? This leads him to observe that the perceptions of history encapsulated in Bunch of Thoughts is deceptive. Which era of history was glorious? Without mentioning specific dates, Golwalkar selectively glorifies the culture, customs and traditions of India’s past. If Golwalkar had critically examined India’s past, Mr Kasbe says, he would have had to defend Shankaracharya’s philosophy prohibiting the Shudras from studying the Vedas.

Underlining the innately inequitable nature of its philosophy and the deliberate falsification of Indian history and culture is the structure of the organisation. Mr Kasbe completes the picture of this influential organisation with a chapter on the para-military, hierarchical secretive structure of the RSS and its affiliates. The organisation reflects its idea of Hindu Rashtra by indoctrinating the Hindu youth and making them hate the “enemies”.  The concern, perhaps, is that in the four decades since Mr Kasbe wrote this book, the RSS’ ideology has been amplified. 

Decoding the RSS: Its Tradition and Politics  

Raosaheb Kasbe (translated by Deepak Borgave)

LeftWord; Pages: 173; Price: Rs 250