Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 1: The face-off between the Congress and the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has reopened with the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge repeating a demand for banning the organisation likening its ideology to “poison” for the country, with the RSS responding that it was a wishful thinking of the Congress since the people of India has embraced it. “An organisation that works for the security, development, culture, unity of the country — a political leader is asking for its ban. But he would not say why,” RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said on Saturday.
Mr Hosabale was speaking to media on the conclusion of three-day long annual executive body meeting of the RSS held at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The organisation discussed matters such as celebrations following the centenary year of the organisation, situation in Manipur, drugs problem in border districts, growing religious conversions in the country among others, he informed.
Reacting to Mr Kharge’s statement after a function organised to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on Friday that he “personally” favoured a ban on the Sangh, Mr Hosabale said, “He (Kharge) tried this earlier too. What was the result? The society has accepted the Sangh and the government has also concluded that the bans were illegal and decided accordingly. “I think such a leader should take things in a sensitive manner,” he added.
“It is my personal opinion, and I will say it openly — it should be done as most issues and law and order problems arise because of the BJP-RSS,” Mr Kharge said while responding to a media question on the need to ban the RSS just like how Mr Patel had done after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Stating that Mr Kharge should learn from History and past experiences, Mr Hosabale said, “They have tried to ban us many times. He should learn from earlier experiences. One of their tall leaders tried thrice to impose a ban on the RSS. What happened to it? The Court and the people both gave their verdict and the Sangh is moving ahead.” He said those seeking a ban on the organisation must give a valid reason for the same. “Ban cannot be done just because someone wishes so. You want to ban the Sangh which works for nation building…,” he said.
The Congress chief’s son and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge – known for his strong views on the RSS — had earlier urged state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to bar RSS activities in government schools, colleges, and state-owned temples, He had accused the organisation of “brainwashing young minds” and promoting a “philosophy against the Constitution.”
Asked about the matter, Congress’s Rashid Alvi said, “It is not so that someone wants that RSS be banned.” He had said when Sardar Patel had banned the RSS and the organisation’s leaders had visited him and requested that the ban be lifted, the then home minster had imposed several conditions.
“One of the conditions was that you (RSS) will not do politics in the country. It would be a social organisation. Now you are doing politics in the country. You will not destroy the secular fabric of the country. But you are destroying the secular fabric of the country. You have not been following those conditions, your commitment,” he added.
Told that it has been a long time since these conditions were imposed, he said the RSS has not changed. “They are misguiding the nation. They are exploiting religion. Every second day they say it is a Hindu Rashtra. It is not a new RSS,” he added.
The RSS general secretary also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting Manipur and maintained that there were no differences between the Sangh and the BJP. Applauding mass surrender of Maoists, Mr Hosabale urged society and governments to give such persons ample resect and opportunities to survive.
The BJP had also attacked the Congress for Mr Kharge’s demand for a ban on the RSS comparing his statement with the language used by the “Popular Front of India (PFI), the Muslim League, and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.” In a statement to the media, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra had said Mr Kharge should read the history of the RSS and what great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bhimrao Ambedkar, and senior Congress leaders have said about the Sangh.
On the issue of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Mr Patra said the Kapur Commission had found that the RSS had absolutely nothing to do with it, adding that the Supreme Court’s judgment in the matter was also in the public domain.
In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi had visited an RSS camp in Wardha and was impressed by the discipline and the absence of untouchability in the camp, Mr Patra said. In 1939, Ambedkar visited a Sangh camp in Pune and remarked that he was happy to find absolute equality between the “upper and lower” castes, without anyone being aware of such differences existing.
The BJP leader said former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, as well as former President Pranab Mukherjee, all Congress leaders, had also praised the RSS. During any calamity — COVID-19, earthquake, or flood — RSS volunteers were always at the forefront of public service, Mr Patra said.
Party MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, in a separate statement, added that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel himself had commended the RSS as a nationalist organisation.
