The RSS, holding its annual brainstorming session in Palakkad this time, has made it clear it would not allow a caste census, with a warning to the Congress-led Opposition that it should not use this as a political weapon in its election campaigns. The terse warning to others is also that, “we will draw the line,” and will not allow others to cross it. The RSS understands the political import of this crucial campaign plank in the coming elections at a time when the BJP has been put on the defensive after its uninterrupted 10- year rule. Hence, RSS couches its threat with an explanation that the Hindutva, pro-nationalist entity is not against the cause of social welfare.
Doublespeak is what the RSS excels in, but its class character is known to all. It makes all-out pushes to create a Hindu India at the expense of the non-Hindus, the minorities, while smartly widening the concept of a ‘Hindu’ by arguing that it considers all those born here as Hindus. A religion is a religion. Hoodwinking doesn’t help. The dichotomy in the RSS’s propositions and action on the ground is there for all to see. The RSS is wary of a caste census having the potential to sharpen the divisions in Hindu society. This, it feels, is not in national interest. At the same time, it has been engaged in calculated attempts at dividing the society on Hindu and non-Hindu lines. The Babri Masjid issue should have been left to the courts to pass a judgement. If so, the government was duty-bound to act accordingly and settle the vexed issue once and for all. But, various RSS outfits under the banners of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP took the law into their hands and razed the old mosque. This single act made Muslims lose their sense of security and hopes of a fair play, the hallmarks of any civilized society. India stood vertically divided. That the BJP reaped a rich harvest from this reckless act in terms of political outreach and eventually won power at the Centre, cannot be denied.
There are those who argue that the pro-Census stand taken by some regional political parties in the North as also the Congress in the last parliament polls undercut the mass base of the BJP in UP, Bihar etc. This is the reason why the Congress would take this campaign forward, if only to slight the BJP that it is against caste census, and to win more votes. The spadework for this is already evident, alerting the RSS. Yet, the claim by Bihar’s Lalu Prasad Yadav that “We will hold the ears of the RSS-BJP guys, make them do sit-ups and get the caste census done,” should evoke only laughter. He is largely toothless today.
