The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is known for its calculated engineering of the political and social landscapes to its ultimate advantage. Yet, it would often appear that it professes one thing and practises quite the opposite. The dichotomy is inescapable. At an event marking the centenary year of the RSS, its chief Mohan Bhagwat held forth in Mumbai this weekend; and his speech only reinforced such perceptions about the well-knit organisation. He reiterated that “the RSS is not against anyone, it does not want power and its objective is only to unite society.” In the same breath, he also stressed on unity of Hindus, noting that the RSS was founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925 after “identifying a lack of unity in society.” Notably, Hedgewar wanted Hindus to unite as a powerful entity to protect the freedom that India won from the British. A society is formed of its parts, which are not confined to one religion, even as Hindus are the dominant religion here. There is no whole without its parts.
Facts speak for themselves. The RSS is the ideological grandmaster of the ruling BJP. The two are united in promoting the cause of Hindutva, they work in close coordination at the organisational level and share a cultural bond rooted in nationalism. RSS is believed to dictate policy to the ruling dispensations led by the BJP, even as there’s a veil of secrecy surrounding such involvements. Both the entities work in tandem, with the Modi government implementing the RSS agenda in stages while seemingly maintaining an independent identity. The new national education policy, for instance, drew flak for its attempts to incorporate contentious RSS viewpoints in the syllabus. However, Bhagwat takes the stand that the BJP is “not our party.” The aim might be to distance itself from the flaws of the government. Narendra Modi as prime minister cannot afford to distance himself from his RSS roots or the role of the Pracharak that he had once donned. Politically, he is the “creation” of the RSS as a national hero to effect a change of government at the Centre in 2014. The RSS worked from behind in uplifting Modi from the post of Gujarat chief minister and fielding him as the “PM face” for the BJP-led NDA’s electoral fight for a parliamentary majority.
Bhagawat’s speech this time again is noted for its emphasis on Hindu unity. The RSS, he stressed, does not think in terms of caste – a toxic system that divides Hindus into multiple layers and discriminates between them. He claimed anyone from any caste can become the RSS chief; SC-ST is no disqualification; and Brahmin no qualification. He claimed the RSS works for all castes, though its ranks “were earlier filled with Brahmins.” Admittedly, much water has flown down the Ganges in the past 100 years. RSS obviously prompted installation of non-Brahmins as CMs and a non-Brahmin as the PM. The post-Mandal phase of politics in the northern belt dictated as much. The RSS changed with the times; and it needs to change much more to see and treat the society as a unified whole.
