NEW DELHI, Feb 24: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the highest policy-making body of the Sangh Parivar, is believed to be not with the Narendra Modi government in pushing up the marriageable age of women from the present 18 years to 21 equal to the men.
The RSS is also reported to be unhappy over the ‘hijab row” in Karnataka and held the opinion that the controversy had been unnecessarily blown out of proportion and should had been effectively handled at the local level itself. The union home ministry is also learnt to be of the same opinion and has blamed the Basavraj Bommai government in Karnataka for allowing the controversy to spread and assuming national significance.
The RSS is learnt to have made it clear that it has a difference of opinion on the legislation proposed by the government on the age of marriage of women and believes such issues should be left to society to decide. This and the Hijab controversy along with other contemporary issues, are likely to be discussed during the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) baithak at Ahmedabad from March 11-13, RSS sources said. The ABPS holds a meeting every year to take stock of the organisation and its work, and chart the future course of action. The meeting is attended by all top leaders of the RSS, representatives from regions across the country and over 30 associated organisations.
“The issue of marriageable age is under discussion. There are many opinions. Among the tribals or in rural areas, marriages happen early. The government’s argument is (this inhibits) education and (results in) early pregnancy. But even the government does not appear to be in a hurry to push it through. The question is how much should the government interfere in such matters. Certain things should be left to the society,” a senior RSS leader said.
Sources said there were also opinions shared with the government to bring everyone’s marriageable age down to 18 years, but some social organisations opposed this.
In December last year, the government brought a bill to hike the age of marriage of women to 21 years which was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for further discussion following objections from the opposition.
Sources said the Sangh has a similar opinion on the issue of marital rape and believes it should be left to the family to decide how to deal with it. The twin issues, the RSS believes, go against its nationwide campaign to revive the culture of familial bond which it says has come under stress due to modern economic compulsions and western influence. The RSS runs a programme called Kutumb Prabodhan that has the family as the most important unit of society and pushes people to spend at least a day in a week with their larger family and eat together.
“There should not be a political discussion on these, rather a social one. Helpless societies demand laws for everything. A strong society must find a solution on its own. If governance improves with less government, so does society,” the RSS leader said.
The Sangh also believes that the recent controversy in Karnataka over the wearing of hijab in classrooms has been blown out of proportion. “While we see this as the Popular Front of India trying to increase its sphere of influence, we believe the matter should have been handled at the local level. That is why the Sangh is not pushing the matter. But it is also true that consistently coming up with ways to assert religious identity is not good,” the leader said.
The three-day ABPS meet is likely to discuss these issues. “One can’t say whether these will figure in formal resolutions, but several matters are discussed during the meeting informally as well,” the leader said.
(Manas Dasgupta)