Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, chapter: 814
Palash Biswas
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The free market economy destroyed the political system in India.The mango people have no spce anywhere. No escape route at all. No option to chose. Purity based hindutva emerged most viable political alternative with media hype thanks to anti corrution campaign corporate. By default hardcore hindutva has to replace soft hindutva and we have no option in the banana republic!The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh today said it has nothing to do with the controversy sourrounding BJP chief Nitin Gadkari. Issuing a statement on the controversy the RSS said it is saddened by the efforts to drag the organisation into the row.Saddened fo what? sangh pariwar is not sad about the dirt within.It is sad that the dirt is spilling in the street now.Congress had an alternative in Priyanka Gandhi as the crown prince failed miserably. But the bhadra scam robbed the option which stands nullified.It wasn't just Haryana where Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra went on a land buying spree between 2008 and 2011. At least 20 plots measuring over 770 hectares were picked up by Vadra's firms in Bikaner, months after the Ashok Gehlot government assumed power in the state. After examining the records of properties purchased by Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son in law Robert Vadra and his companies, the deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal and Mewat have communicated to the state government that there has been no under-valuation of these properties.
"The stamp duty paid by Vadra and his companies were in accordance with the collector rate. The DCs have examined the entire record,'' said an official who has seen the communication.
In separate communications, the deputy commissioners have virtually cleared Vadra's name as far the issue of under valuation of properties was concerned.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday accepted the resignation of SM Krishna as the Union External Affairs Minister. Earlier in the day, Krishna had sent his resignation to the Prime Minister ahead of the proposed Cabinet reshuffle, which is expected to take place on Sunday. Krishna said he wanted to give the youngsters a chance.
"I want youngsters to be given a chance...I am a loyal party worker and I work for the party without any conditions," said Krishna. He is now likely to be given an important position in the Karnataka unit of the Congress party.
According to sources, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik have also offered to step down and do party work.
This comes even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, reportedly, to discuss the Cabinet reshuffle, which is likely to take place on Sunday.
Krishna was expected to resign on Friday evening as he wanted to give a free hand to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the reshuffle. The timing of Krishna's resignation has raised a lot of eyebrows within the government as Spanish king Juan Carlos I is in India and the Ministry of External Affairs play a crucial role during the visit of a foreign dignitary.
There was a speculation that Krishna would be dropped in Sunday's reshuffle as there have been several controversies involving him including a Lokayukta report against him and his England tour to watch tennis matches at Wimbledon.
This also comes a day after a special Lokayukta court ordered its police to probe the involvement of SM Krishna, former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Devegowda in the alleged Mysore-Bangalore Express Highway scam.
Certain irregularities have been reported to have taken place in the acquisition of farmers' land for the project that was being developed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Limited (NICE). A private complaint was filed by social activist TJ Abraham specifying the role of each of the persons named in the case.
The BJP core group is due to meet tonight to assess the impact of the corruption charges against Nitin Gadkari.Earlier, RSS leaders led by Mohan Bhagwat and Bhaiyya Joshi apparently advised Gadkari to hold on. On his part, he too would rather dig in his heels, put up a "brave front" to fend off charges against him till any official probe actually established his guilt. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2012/10/26_10_12-metro1.jpg
Adopting a "wait-and-watch" policy, RSS leaders wanted to see the shape of the war engulfing Gadkari being played out and how far the UPA machinery would go after him. By that time, they expect the polls to be completed in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in December, and they could think of a contingency plan, RSS sources said.
RSS insiders said Gadkari apprised the Sangh leaders about the "whole" controversy and even expressed his desire to resign, if necessary.
The dilemma before the RSS centred on the fact that it had anointed Gadkari as BJP chief in 2010.
His "hasty exit" without a clear understanding among RSS and BJP leaders would undermine its own standing, sources added.
Consequently, there's no ready "exit plan" for Gadkari, RSS sources said, though a rethink on his second term from January next could not be ruled out "if the need so arises".
According to property agents in Bikaner, the land was barren and worth precious little at the time Vadra purchased it. However, its price has appreciated by as much as 40 times in three years. Most dealers agree that the escalation in the price is because of the industrial projects sanctioned for the region.IBN Live reports.
These sanctioned projects include:
- Solar projects under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission,
- Rs 45,000 crore silicon chip project with Vavasi
- A power grid substation in Kolayat
Documents accessed by CNN-IBN show that between 2009 and 2011, Vadra's companies – Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd, Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd, Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd, North India IT Park Pvt Ltd and Blue Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd – purchased 770 hectares at an average price of Rs 40,000 to 50,000 per bigha. One bigha now costs between Rs 8 to 9 lakh in the area, with one hectare equaling just under four bighas.
The opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleges a conspiracy, saying the Rajasthan government delayed identification of specific areas for the projects to provide unfair advantage to property buyers.
One Mahesh Nagar, brother of Haryana Congress leader Lalit Nagar, is the common link between Vadra's land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan. He has executed all lands deals on behalf of Vadra and his firms. In fact, the sellers found out that Vadra is the purchaser only after they received cheques signed by him.
Area dealers say that Vadra's companies sold off at least 300 bighas of land earlier in 2012 to a Spanish solar power company.
From Haryana to Rajasthan, Robert Vadra arguably found land deals to be his calling, all between 2008 and 2010, with public information suggesting all his purchases were in Congress-ruled states. As more information comes out, two specific questions are being raised:
- What was the source of funding for such massive land purchases?
- Were deals done on the basis of privileged information and access?
Robert Vadra paid Haryana farmers less than circle rate
CNN-IBN accessed documents showing how Vadra bought acres of land in the Mewat region of Haryana below the circle rate. The documents suggest Vadra has been on a property buying spree in Haryana and had picked up acres of land directly from farmers in 2008 and 2009.
Vadra's firm Real Earth Estates Ltd purchased over 27 acres in Mewat region and paid rates way lower than collector's fixed circle rates for the region. Villagers say land sale at rates lower than circle rates is common in Mewat. The Opposition now alleges low price land sale to Vadra should be investigated.
Documents in possession of CNN-IBN suggest Vadra bought land around Mewat at an average price of Rs 2.6 lakh an acre during 2009. Registration documents show a firm, Messrs Real Earth Estates Private Limited as the purchaser through its director Robert Vadra. Strangely, while the collector's circle rate for property in the villages Shakarpuri and Ferozepur Jhirka in Mewat is Rs 16 lakh per acre, Vadra's firm purchased land from the villagers at lesser rates.
Haryana IAS officer, Ashok Khemka who on capacity as director general consolidation had on October 15 cancelled the mutation of 3.5 acres in Shikohpur (Gurgaon) belonging to Vadra had also asked the deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal and Mewat to inspect the land documents of Vadra's companies and estimate real value of property.
Khemka had ordered the deputy commissioners-cum-registrars to inspect all documents registered from January 2005 by or on behalf of Robert Vadra or his companies in the capacity of either vendor or vendee and compile such list and transmit to this office for examination. " They shall estimate the real value of the property conveyed through the registered documents and in case of under-valuations, the matter shall be referred to the collector under Section 47-A of the Indian Stamps Act for correct assessment of the stamp duty payable.
The names of some Vadra's companies included Sky Light Realty, Sky Light Hospitality, Real Earth Estates, Blue Breeze Trading, Artex and North India IT Parks. The report must reach the office by October 25,'' Khemka wrote.
The spokesman said that the stamp duty paid, had also been found to be much higher than the collector's rate duly notified by the district collector. Therefore, no loss of revenue to the state has been caused by these sale deeds.
He said that as per Gurgaon deputy commissioner the tehsildar-cum-sub registrar, Manesar has stated in his report that the sale deed no 4928 dated February 12, 2008 for purchase of an area of 3.53 acres in Khasra no 730 of Shikhopur village has been evalued at Rs. 7.5 crore. The collector rate for the land was Rs. 50 lakh per acre for the year 2007-08. The total stamp duty for the 3.53 acres as per the circle rates/collector rates comes out to be Rs. 10.50 lakh whereas the purchaser has paid Rs. 45 lakh for this sale deed as stamp duty which is above the collector rate/circle rate. The tehsildar was inquiring into undervaluation of property registered between Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and M/s DLF Universal.
In subsequent transfer of the land vide sale deed no 1435 dated September 18, 2012 for Rs. 58 crore, the stamp duty for the deed as per collector rate of Rs. 1.55 crore per acre for 2012-13 should be Rs. 25.97 lakh whereas he has paid stamp duty of Rs. 2.90 crore again higher than the collector rates. Hence, no loss of revenue of the state had been caused by these sale deeds, the spokesman said.
Deputy commissioner, Faridabad also reported that the inquiry conducted by him through sub registrar, Faridabad/Ballabgarh and joint sub registrar, Sohna revealed that no deficiency was found. He said that deputy commissioner, Mewat had also reported that for land measuring 229 kanal seven marlas purchased by Vadra as director of M/s Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd at Shakarpuri village entire stamp duty and registration fee have been paid. Similarly, deputy commissioner, Palwal has stated that all documents have been registered after paying stamp duty as per the prevailing circle rate and no financial loss has been suffered by the state, the spokesman said.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wendesday urged for "perfect honesty" in public life and warned against "rise" in corruption. His speech would have been considered as routine but for the fact that BJP president Nitin Gadkari was listening to him from the audience.
In the past few weeks, activist-politician Arvind Kejriwal has accused Gadkari of wrongdoing in land deals in Maharashtra. A series of media reports have alleged that companies associated with Gadkari got undue favours when he was Maharashtra's PWD minister.
"Right from our homes up to the social sphere, are we in a position to project ourselves as the perfect examples of purity, lawfulness, discipline, honesty in dealings and sensitivity?" said Bhagwat at the RSS's annual Vijaya Dashmi gathering of swayamsevaks (organisation workers) in Nagpur.
"The consequences of incomplete thought had made the lack of national and individual character in our country more pronounced and painful. The mindboggling revelations about corruption have not come to an end yet." Bhagwat made no direct statement on Gadkari.
"Knowing well that corruption is on the rise because of lack of character, the Sangh continues to concentrate in its work of character building. People should be made aware of the need to change the system, taking care to ensure that they do not fall prey to disappointment or develop any aversion for the system. A situation similar to the one developed in the Middle East countries where fundamentalists and foreign forces have created almost an anarchic situation to serve their interest, should not be repeated here," he said.
Hindustan Times asked him the allegations against Gadkari but Bhagwat refused to comment.
Senior RSS leader and spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said the allegations against Gadkari seem like a media trial. "Let the BJP and Gadkari himself respond (to the allegations)," he said.
Vaidya said the RSS has not asked Gadkari for an explanation. "We have not issued any ultimatum and have not sought any explanation. The RSS is not in the picture as it is purely an internal matter of the BJP," he said.
Who's worse — the Congress' dynasty or BJP's RSS?
by Akshaya Mishra Oct 26, 2012
The dynasty fixation of the Indian Right — it comes in many shades between the liberal and the rabid, between the confused and the hypocritical — borders on the comical.
When the mighty Narendra Modi, the supposed future saviour of the nation, wants votes in Gujarat, he has to attack the Gandhis in New Delhi with all ferocity. When Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray wants to hand over the reins of the party to the gen-next in the family, he has to vehemently deny any parallels with the so-called first family. When required to introspect their own failure in assembly elections, the many shades of the Right would point to the failure of Rahul Gandhi to work miracles in Uttar Pradesh. This is dynasty worship by other means.
The convenient excuse for this is intra-party democracy. The Gandhis, as the argument from the Indian Right goes, have stifled democracy within the party. The presence of 'the Family' and its loyalists has denied more efficient Congressmen the opportunity to even aspire for higher positions in the party hierarchy. They want to enjoy power without any responsibility and do backseat driving in the government by arm-twisting it on policy matters. They are dictatorial to boot.
Curiously, it's the same group which professes fawning admiration for Modi's style of functioning, which many believe is 'dictatorial' and allows little room for dissent. This is also the section which is unequivocal about the need for a strong, authoritative leader – whatever that means — but would ignore the fact that the ideas of strong leadership and democracy within are incompatible. It is the group which would denounce vigorously the centricity of religion in the formation of Pakistan, yet would champion religion-based politics in India aggressively.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat performs worship during a Vijayadashmi function in Nagpur. PTI
The Indian Right is elastic in its interpretation of democracy, secularism and liberalism. Probably it's normal in a group of people who exist in such diverse social spaces and are share an abstract bonding through one holding theme: religion. Whatever the reality, the contradictions and the accompanying hypocrisy are galling. Let's get back to its dynasty obsession of the Right to understand this.
The BJP, the political face of the Indian Right, loves to call itself a democratic party. Unlike the Congress, it claims, where decisions are taken by members of one family, it believes in collective leadership. Ability is respected in the party and despite many competent leaders at every level of the organisation, it remains a disciplined outfit. All this and many other noble qualities make it a party 'with difference'. How far from reality this could be!
Check these out. The party is one of the fronts of the mother organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an entity promoting cultural nationalism. Thus it is not a no strings attached independent existence for the party. The RSS often foists its choices upon the party, the choice is often someone with deep roots and connections within the organisation. If other senior leaders are not comfortable with lightweights being imposed upon them — Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari are examples – they don't have too many options.
The party recently changed its constitution to allow a second term for the BJP president, an apparent move at the RSS's behest to extend the tenure of Gadkari. If Sangh insists upon continuing with Gadkari despite all the allegations of financial irregularities against him, the party does not have a choice.
The freedom of party leaders to express free opinions is limited. They have to operate within the ideological framework of the mother organisation. The party's most successful leader, Atal Behari Vajpayee, dared to be different and he was hated across the Sangh fraternity. LK Advani, the party's tallest leader even now, was cut down to size promptly after he praised Jinnah during his Karachi trip. Narendra Modi is in a continuing battle with the RSS in Gujarat despite being the party's showpiece leader. The tussle began after he sought to restrain the interference of the powerful members of the Sangh in governance matters.
For the party members going hammer and tongs at the 'dynastic' rule in the Congress, the dependence on the RSS is baffling indeed. The reasons of this are obvious. The BJP, which does not have too much independent penetration at the grassroots, needs the organisational reach of the Sangh for voter mobilisation. Thus it has to bend to the dictats of the latter for its political survival. The recent case of a poll-bound Modi rushing to the RSS headquarters to quell anger within the Sangh affiliates in Gujarat is a case in point.
The point here is not to be judgmental about the merits of the RSS or the BJP but to highlight the double standards of the India Right in the context of the so called 'dynasty'. The 'dynasty' functions within the party and is responsible for the consequences of its actions. The RSS functions from outside the BJP's political space and is not accountable for its electoral performance. The power without responsibility phrase applies here more than in the case of the Congress.
It's time for the Right to instrospect.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/whos-worse-the-congress-dynasty-or-bjps-rss-504165.html
Between The Lines
The unimportance of Modi
Kuldip Nayar
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is testing the water. It too realises that elections are many months away but wants to know whether Hindutva is acceptable to the voters. Spreading the name of anti-Muslim Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is meant to assess if his non-secular image would attract the ordinary Hindu voter. The party has not yet got over from the defeat of last parliament elections when it was all set to occupy the treasury benches only to find out that the communal tag attached to it had pulled the party down. Its Hindutva image brought the surprised Congress back to power.
The BJP is open to all options this time. The RSS is in the picture from the beginning. Its chief Mohan Bhagwat has not only welcomed Narendra Modi at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur but has also announced that Modi would get a higher position in the BJP after the Gujarat assembly election next month. This, indeed, reaffirms who controls the reins of the BJP. However, to lessen the party leaders' humiliation, Bhagwat has said that the selection of prime minister's candidate is the prerogative of the party. Yet, on the other hand, he has rubbed the salt on their wounds by making it clear that Modi is the best candidate available in the party.
Modi does not go higher in the estimate of people just because Britain says that it wants to do business with him, though it does not endorse his actions. Taking the initiative of sending its envoy, James Bevan, to Modi after maintaining the touch-me-not stand for a decade conveys London's keenness. America or other countries may follow suit in due course of time.
Yet this does not make him acceptable to India, which is the subject matter. Modi has bamboozled Gujarat in the name of identity as if its people have a different entity than the rest of Indians. Had Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal done it, the entire nation would have pounced upon him for leading the Sikhs to separatism.
Modi is responsible for misleading the Gujaratis, who look like re-electing him. They have been daring the country for almost for 15 years that for them the state government is more important than the nation which is sworn to the principles enunciated in the constitution. For the Gujaratis, equality before the law and separation between state and politics has stayed on paper because their Chief Minister Modi has been determined to flout the principles. This was visible in 2002 when some 2,000 Muslims were butchered because they were not considered equal and because they were sacrificed at the altar of Modi's innovation of mixing religion with the state.
Had the guilty been punished in 1984 when the Sikhs were the victims at Delhi, the Gujarat Hindus would not have dared to indulge in ethnic cleansing. The burning of 46 Hindus in a compartment at Godhara was a provocation. But the pogrom in Gujarat would have taken place even without the Godhara incident as a few plucky journalists have brought out in their write-ups.
The guilty in Guajrat have not yet been brought to book. There are some pending cases in which Modi's name is mentioned. To project him as India's next prime minister tantamount to dragging down the country to the dust of shame and oblivion. How can a political party think of Modi even if it shuts its eyes to the murders, rapes and lootings?
The BJP has been hurt by another unexpected quarter. Its chief Nitin Gadkari is allegedly possessing bogus firms which he has created to make money while he was the PWD minister in Maharashtra. The charges against him are so serious that even the RSS sources have reportedly said that the BJP's image has been severely dented. The Congress has been given a god-send opportunity and it has already ordered what it refers to as "soft inquiry." In any case, the BJP will not bse in a position to roar in parliament as it did in the last session. Its image of cleanliness has got a serious beating.
The party will have to reckon with Gadkari's episode in the next election. Therefore, it does not have to confine its strategy of finding out whether the wind is blowing in favour of Hindutva by giving currency to Modi's name. There are other issues which the opposition will be exploiting. And corruption, so far tagged to Congress, will be a charge against the party to which it will have to reply. One's scams will be pitted against another's to the confusion of the electorate.
As for Hindutva, India, with all its faults and failings, is a country which prides itself in the spirit of accommodation and a sense of tolerance. Unfortunately, communal riots still take place, not at the scale as they used to be in the fifties, sixties and even later. But the nation is sensitive enough not to return those who have only religion to sell.
In the last six decades, India has come to settle down as a democratic, pluralistic nation. Whatever else happens -- it happens to the country's shame -- democracy has got entrenched deep. Religious slogans cannot destabilise it. It may well be truism but the fact is that there can be no democracy without pluralism. It is a pity that the BJP has not yet understood this very basic thing. It should remember that when it came to power at the centre, it had to cut off its communal fangs and give an undertaking, among other things, on giving a special status to Kashmir and not build temple on the place where the Babri masjid stood before destruction.
In fact, Modi himself should withdraw his claim for the post of prime minister because he reduces the stature of the position as well as the chances of the BJP. If he were to say sorry and undo the wrongs he has done to the Muslims, he would perhaps come to be known as a reformed Modi. Then there may be a chance for him and his party.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=255276
Democracy alone won't modernize India
By Ding Gang (Global Times)
10:15, October 25, 2012
Recently I hosted a backpacker from China visiting Bangkok. She started to look for cheap airline tickets as soon as she received her India visa. Finally she booked a flight from Bangkok to Chennai.
"What does Chennai look like?" She asked me. I told her it's the fourth largest city in India. In the words of locals, Chennai is the "Shenzhen of India," it is the manufacturing center of the country.
Nevertheless, Chennai is much less well known in Asia than Shenzhen. This is related to the position of India's manufacturing industry in both Asia and the world at large.
Talking of India and China, Indian scholars often prefer to use the labels "the biggest democratic country" and "the biggest authoritarian country." In my eyes, it might be more accurate to describe India as "the biggest service country" and China as "the biggest manufacturer."
Some believe that India, with a more flexible political system, will catch up with China sooner or later. It sounds like the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare, which we've heard a thousand times.
But they forget that no matter which development path they choose, developing countries like India and China have to experience certain stages, rather than simply jump over them.
Across the world, there is no single poor country that can develop through service industries. Manufacturing growth is indispensable, especially for populous countries like India and China.
Without development in manufacturing, neither India nor China could address the problem of employment and improve service industries.
It is manufacturing, rather than democracy, that has the key gap between India and China. Generally, industry is divided as follows: Primary industry includes agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, secondary industry includes industry and construction, and tertiary industry mainly refers to service industries.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/7990777.html
India awaits an Arab spring
Aijaz Zaka Syed
Friday, October 26, 2012
From Print Edition
Dubai eye
In Ridley Scott's epic, Gladiator, Senator Gracchus says of Emperor Commodus: "He knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they will roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate; it's the sand of the coliseum. He'll bring them death – and they will love him for it."
No matter what Edward Gibbon would have us believe, if the Roman Empire eventually collapsed, it was as much for the corruption of its elites as it was for the impetuous zeal of the mob. The kind that Robert Vadra, son-in-law of India's most powerful politician and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, so ingenuously describes as "mango people."
The overzealous, new faithful that corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal has gathered around himself and goes about breaching red lines and demolishing revered icons left, right and centre has the political class in a tizzy. His self-righteous, holier-than-thou grandstanding against the high and mighty grates on the delicate sensibilities of the elites. Kejriwal is a man in a hurry. Since he parted ways with Anna Hazare, the original spark behind the anti-corruption crusade, to float his own political party, he has been springing up one nasty surprise after another against the UPA coalition.
By going after Vadra and the cloistered, first political family of the country, he has signalled that in this game of big stakes, he's ready to play dirty. And he can be vindictive too. When Salman Khurshid, the soft-spoken Oxonian law minister, stuck out his neck to defend Vadra, offering his blood for the Gandhis' honour, he invited the mob's wrath on himself and the trust his wife runs in his constituency.
When accused by the Congress of being the 'B' team of the BJP, Kejriwal turned his attention in the other direction. The attack on BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, exposing his theft of government land and overnight metamorphosis of his group of companies, has set the cat among the pigeons in the so-called party with a difference. Gadkari's driver and astrologer are named as directors and investors in his group of companies. After the initial loud protestations of innocence and solidarity with the party president, the BJP and larger Sangh Parivar seem to have abandoned the skipper.
The BJP spokespersons, who have all these weeks and months been permanent fixtures on national television egging on the media in its nightly inquisitions against the governing party, were nowhere to be seen when their own party is in the dock. Evidently, no one in this Turkish public hammam has a stitch on. The government's muted response to the damning accusations against Gadkari only proves that it's a mutually protective club. With its own first family in the spotlight, the Congress is playing it soft, clearly hoping for some quid pro quo from the opposition party.
Corruption isn't just part of life; it has become our way of life now – an open loot of national resources with everyone helping everyone else. We have lost the count of the number of scams involving hundreds of billions of rupees that have blown up in the nation's face over the past few months and years. At least two former ministers and several senior civil servants, not to mention their minions are behind bars. It's a tiny minority that accidentally exposed itself. Who knows how many are out there who continue to quietly bleed the great republic to death?
Why even Dr Manmohan Singh, the once honest and sincere face of this government and architect of India's economic revolution, finds himself under a cloud of suspicion. Indeed, the honest Dr Singh now enjoys the distinction of having presided over the largest number of scams in the nation's history.
Is it any wonder then upstarts like Kejriwal are being feted as the hope and future of the billion-strong nation? The overbearing, moral certitude of the India-Against-Corruption crowd acting as the prosecutor, jury and the judge, delivering swift, instant justice is breathtaking.
The "vision document" that they have unveiled to run the country is even more terrifying. Full of half-baked, ludicrously naive ideas to "save" the country, this "vision" may very well end up making a mobocracy of the world's largest democracy, little different from Hitler's idea of a pure nation. But who is to blame for this state of affairs? If the people's trust in the system and political and democratic institutions of the nation stands decimated, the politicians have no one to blame but themselves.
Our politics has long been a rotten, putrid cesspool. But the stench has become unbearable now. Institutions are falling apart all around us. In government offices no file moves without money changing hands. Politics is now the easiest and quickest way to get rich – and stinking rich. In the global corruption index, India has jumped from the 87th position to a humiliating 95th rank.
Of course, being the grand old party that has ruled the country for four out of six decades and still does, the responsibility for much of this rests with the Congress. And with the Hazares, Ramdevs and Kejriwals constantly gunning for the governing party over the past year or two, it has suffered the most, effectively losing all the support of the rising middle classes. Sonia Gandhi's dream of seeing her son succeed PM Singh in the top job may well remain a dream.
However, a loss for Congress won't mean a victory for the BJP. From Yeddyurappa to Gadkari, there are enough skeletons in its own cupboard. In fact, no political party, perhaps with the exception of the Left, can today claim to be above board.
The two main political parties boast of 44 MPs each who have a proven criminal record. It's the same with other parties. No wonder there's so much frustration and anger against the political class all across the country. India is craving and pining for change – its own Arab spring, if you will. However, there's little hope or promise of change from anywhere. And Kejriwal and his followers are looking to occupy this space as they tap into the long years of accumulated, simmering public frustration and rage against a rotten system.
However, the 'India Against Corruption' is still a Delhi-based phenomenon and in no way represents the complex reality of a complex country. In a country of a billion people, you need more than a small crowd to be the agent of change. What India needs is a nation-wide movement for change. There is a need for a positive, healthy and democratic force for real transformation – and not the kind of witch-hunt that we have been witnessing all this while.
You can't bring about change by subverting the country's political and democratic institutions. India's chief strength is its democracy. Let's use it to build a better nation. And financial corruption isn't the only demon that we are fighting. Intolerance, ignorance, political and economic dispossession and caste and gender discrimination aren't any less hazardous for the country.
The writer is a commentator on Middle East and South Asian affairs. Email: aijaz. syed@hotmail.com
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-139688-India-awaits-an-Arab-spring
25 Oct, 2012, 06.57PM IST,
Poke Me: Why India has become a living tragedy of self-delusion
This week's " Poke Me", invites your comments on Why India has become a living tragedy of self-delusion. The feature will be reproduced on the edit page of the Saturday edition of the newspaper with a pick of readers' best comments.
So be poked and fire in your comments to us right away. Comments reproduced in the paper will be the ones that support or oppose the views expressed here intelligently. Feel free to add reference links etc. in support of your comments.
Raghu Dayal
A land of myths, India takes mythology rather seriously till some myth-buster jolts it down to reality. We have not unoften deluded ourselves that we are intellectually up there with the best in the world till the OECD-conducted PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) of 15 year school children had Indian students scoring second from the bottom, only ahead of Kyrgyzstan, among half a million students from 73 countries.
While the PISA ranking laid bare India's poor school education, the 2012 QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University rankings include none of Indian universities or institutes among world's top 200. China has seven in the top 200 list. India has over 26,000 higher education institutes with 15 million students on rolls; a survey has found 92% of their graduates are deficient in programming or algorithms and 78% of them falter in English.
Although there are more children in school, they are now learning less. As per Annual Survey of Education 2011, only 48% of class V children are able to read a class II text, and less than 30% of those in class III can do a 2-digit sum. Some 1.25 crore students come to the job market every year who have no skills. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen is at pains to lament, "education in India is in peril".
Mere enunciation of rights to education can be no solution. Andre Beteille termed the UPA move as "the Marie Antoinette Solution" - "they don't have schools, so give them rights..." India's high growth potential is largely predicated by its assumed demographic dividend. This very demography appears likely to end up as the Achilles' heel and worse, with country's youth remaining inadequately educated and trained. There is serious dearth of employable technicians - plumbers, carpenters, electricians. India's 1.4 million schools are in need of 4 million new teachers and 8 million more to be retrained.
Like education, health too has been a sad story. As many as 130 million of Indians have no access to basic health care; as Census 2011 shows, half of country's population defecate in the open; 20% of households have to travel more than half a km for drinking water; more than two-thirds of houses (87% rural, 26% urban) use firewood, crop residue, cow dung, coal. The number of physicians per 1,000 population for the world is 1.5, for India it is 0.6; the number of hospital beds per 1,000 population in India is 0.9, much lower than the world average of 3.3. Almost 2 million children die in India before reaching their first birth day. The country boasts of more than 30 million tonne of grains stacked, some of which in open for want of warehouses; yet 40% of its children are underweight and 70% anaemic. According to a WHO 2000 estimate, of the annual 529,000 maternal deaths globally, 136,000 or about 26% of them occur in India.
Although some pockets of the country have experienced material gains and people now live longer, no fewer than 37.5% of countrymen are reported to remain mal-nourished, 41.6% of them subsisting on less than $ 1.25/day (The World Development Report, 2012). While, on one hand, the Global Hunger Index 2007 by International Food Policy Research Institute ranked India 96th among 119 countries, well below all its neighbours except Bangladesh, on the other hand, it imported 1,100 tonne of gold last year, valued at Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
When the wide world around said India had all the basic wherewithal of an emerging global economic powerhouse, we started behaving as if we were already there. The Pew Research Centre survey of 21 major economies just conducted has revealed how Indians have had their optimism faded, how they have lost faith in the Indian economy and its future. Along with a dysfunctional Parliament, country's polity is mired in sleaze; a bumper crop of robber barons mulct the national wealth.
Albeit a vibrant democracy it claims to be, India remains torn by language, region, caste, religion, no less than by pockets of wealth. We took pride in the steel frame of governance we had; today, it is left to be a creaking bamboo frame. Symptomatic of a major myth, some erudite commentators have found in Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson a facile belief that India would ultimately outpace China by dint of its inclusive political institutions, China being pulled back, as they perceive, because of its extractive political institutions. This pervasive myth of the delusion of democracy, as in effect it is practised in India, engenders only derision. More and more of us keep striving to become more equal than others. Money and muscle rule the roost. An Election Commission analysis revealed that no less than 40 among Hon'ble MPs and 700 MLAs among the legislators had suffered criminal indictment.
India lays great stores by the world's largest democracy it is with constitutional freedom of expression, yet it has no qualms in slapping a young cartoonist with a incredible charge of sedition. India's parliamentarians, notwithstanding their hysterical avowals of its sovereignty, meddle in the minutiae of deciding which textbooks will have what text or which cartoons, exposing the hollowness of our democracy. With more than 30 million cases pending in courts, up to 26 years old, it takes an average of 17 years to get a judicial decision. What better embodiment of our enduring myths than Delhi being touted as world's "most beautiful city", or Mumbai outshining Shanghai, or, better still, Kolkata soon transforming, Mamata di-style, into "better than London"!
We generally like to believe nice things about ourselves - a kind of collective mythomania. We fancy ourselves as a tolerant society and yet we have cases like Rushdie, Taslima, M F Hussain, et al. We hold the teaching profession in reverence, yet we kill a teacher who says no to cheating. We similarly give our parents a pedestal just short of godhead but countless cases occur of old parents being dispossessed, cheated, even murdered in property disputes. We respect womanhood as nothing short of devi or Mother (yatra naryastu pujyante, ramante tatra devata) but cases of rape and other crimes against women, shameful treatment of girl child (in embryo and after birth) and the fact that no woman considers herself safe after dark in the capital of India show that this is the biggest myth of all. We believe in welcoming tourists and visitors to our country (atithi devo bhava) but few such guests would ever revisit after the harrowing time we give them.
Rabindranath Tagore's Tasher Desh has a message wherein citizens, who had lost their vitality and elan, and their capacity to respond to the rhythm of life, were played a magic flute whereupon their vitality flowed back. Some similar transformation India needs, a leader to play that magic flute, to turn some myths into reality.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/poke-me/poke-me-why-india-has-become-a-living-tragedy-of-self-delusion/articleshow/16954322.cms
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http://www.rss.org/
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. (April 2012) |
 Flag of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | |
| Founder(s) | Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar |
|---|---|
| Type | Voluntary,[1] paramilitary[2] |
| Founded | Vijaya Dashami 1925 |
| Headquarters | Nagpur |
| Coordinates | 21.04°N 79.16°E |
| Area served | India |
| Focus | Upholding Hindu culture and traditions |
| Mission | "Selfless Service to Motherland" |
| Method | Physical and mental training through group discussions, meetings and exercises |
| Members | 5-6 million[3] |
| Website | www.rssonnet.org |
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) (pronunciation: /rɑːʂʈriːj(ə) swəjəmseːvək səŋgʱ/, Literal translation: National Volunteer Organization[4] or National Patriotic Organization[5]), also known as Sangh, is a right-wing, nationalist paramilitary[2] volunteer[1] Hindu nationalist organization in India. RSS ideology is based on the principle of selfless service to the nation.
It was founded in 1925 by K. B. Hedgewar, a revolutionary and doctor from Nagpur, as a social and cultural organization in British India,[1] to oppose both British colonialism in India and Muslim separatism.[6]
RSS volunteers participated in various political and social movements including the freedom movement[1] and the organization became the leading nationalist Hindu organization in India.[6] By the 1990s, the group had established numerous schools, charities and clubs to propagate its ideology.[6]
Its volunteers are also known for their role in the relief and rehabilitation work during natural calamities[7] and for running more than 100,000 service programs in the field of education, health care, rural development, tribal emancipation, village self-sufficiency, Farming Programmes in rural India and the rehabilitation of lepers and special needs children.[8][9][10]
It was banned by the British,[6] and then after independence three times by the Government of India — first in 1948 when Nathuram Godse, a former member[11] who left RSS, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi;[6][12][13] then during emergency (1975–1978); and after the Demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. Human Rights Watch says that the RSS has plotted to uproot the Muslim population in India, and that during the 2002 Gujarat violence, "the RSS circulated computerized lists of Muslim homes and businesses to be targeted by the mobs in advance".[14]
Contents |
History
RSS was founded in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who was a doctor in the central Indian city of Nagpur.[15] Hedgewar as a medical student in Kolkata had been a part of the revolutionary activities of the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar striving to free India from British rule.[16] He had been charged with sedition in 1921 by the British Administration and was imprisoned for one year.[17]
Hedgewar was educated by his elder brother. After matriculating, he decided to go to Kolkata to study medicine. He was sent to Kolkata by Dr. B. S. Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. There he lived with Shyam Sundar Chakravarthy[18] and learned the techniques of fighting from the secret revolutionary organisations like the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar in Bengal. He is said to have joined Anushilan Samiti and had contacts with revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil.[19]
Previously he was involved in such type of revolutionary activities, This fact has been disclosed by so many writers viz. C.P.Bhishikar,[20] M.S. Golwalkar,[21] K.S.Sudarshan[22] and Rakesh Sinha[23] previously. He came to believe that although the revolutionaries had immense determination, in a country of continental proportions it was impossible to instigate an armed insurrection.
After completing his graduation, he returned to Nagpur, disillusioned with the armed movement. In his memoirs, the third chief of RSS, Balasahab Deoras narrates an incident when Hedgewar saved him and others from following the path of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.[24] Later he left the revolutionary organisations in the year 1925 and formed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Since Hedgewar was primarily associated with the Hindustan Republican Association so he adopted the full constitution of erstwhile HRA and implemented it forcibly in his newly established organisation RSS later on. The RSS first met in 1925 just after two months of Kakori train robbery in a small ground of Nagpur with 5-6 persons on Vijaya Dashami. After the formation of the RSS, Hedgewar kept the organization away from having any direct affiliation to any of the political organisations then fighting British rule.[26] But Hedgewar and his team of volunteers, took part in the Indian National Congress, led movements against the British rule. Hedgewar was arrested in the Jungle Satyagraha agitation in 1931 and served a second term in prison[17][27][28]
Activities during partition
The Partition of India was a very traumatic event in the young nation's history with millions of Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims attempting to escape the violence and carnage that followed.[29]
Noted Gandhian and recipient of the highest civilian award in India, Bharat Ratna, Dr. Bhagwan Das commended the role of the "high-spirited and self-sacrificing boys" of the RSS in protecting the newly formed Republic of India, from a planned coup to topple the Jawaharlal Nehru Administration in Delhi[30][31]
First ban and the acquittal
Following Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 by a former member[13] of the RSS, Nathuram Godse, many prominent leaders of the RSS were arrested and RSS as an organization was banned on 4 February 1948.
A Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to murder of Mahatma Gandhi was set and its report was published by India's Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 1970. Accordingly Justice Kapur Commission[32] noted the following:
...RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organization as such as being responsible for that most diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace. It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS...—Kapur Commission Report, [33]
RSS Leaders were acquitted of the conspiracy charge by the Supreme Court of India and following an intervention by the Court, the Indian Government agreed to lift the ban with condition that the RSS adopt a formal constitution. The second Sarsanghachalak, Golwalkar drafted the constitution for the RSS which he sent to the government in March 1949. In July of the same year, after many negotiations over the constitution and its acceptance, the ban on RSS was lifted.[15]
On 15 January 2000, a daily, The Statesman, carried a story about the RSS by A G Noorani, which depicted the RSS as the killer of Gandhi.[34] Subsequently the Delhi unit of the RSS filed a criminal case of defamation against author of the article A G Noorani along with the cartoonist and the Managing Director of the publishing house. When two of the accused did not respond to the Court summons, non-bailable warrants were issued in their name by the Court.[35] On 25 February 2002, Noorani wrote an unconditional apology to the court in which he regretted writing the defamatory article against the RSS. On 3 March 2002, 'The Statesman' also published an apology regretting the publication of the said article.[36]
Liberation of Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Goa
After the independence of India, RSS was one of the socio-political organisations who aspired to liberate Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese occupation. In early 1954, volunteers Raja Wakankar and Nana Kajrekar of the RSS visited the area round about Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman several times to study the topography and also to get acquainted with the local workers who were agitating for the liberation. In April 1954, the RSS formed a coalition with the National Movement Liberation Organization (NMLO), the and Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD) for the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.[37] On the night of 21 July, United front of Goans, a group, working independently of the coalition, captured the Portuguese police station at Dadra and declared Dadra as free. Subsequently on 28 July, volunteer teams of the RSS and AGD captured the territories of Naroli and Phiparia and ultimately the capital of Silvassa. The Portuguese forces which escaped and moved towards Nagar Haveli, were assaulted at Khandvel and were forced to retreat till they surrendered to the Indian border police at Udava on 11 August 1954. A native administration was set up with Appasaheb Karmalkar of NMLO as the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on 11 August 1954.[37]
The liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli gave a boost to the freedom movement against the Portuguese in Goa.[37] In 1955, RSS leaders demanded the end of Portuguese rule in Goa and its integration into India. When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru refused to obtain it by armed intervention, RSS leader Jagannath Rao Joshi led the Satyagraha agitation straight into Goa itself. He was imprisoned with his followers by the Portuguese police. The peaceful protests continued but met with severe repressions. On 15 August 1955, the Portuguese police opened fire on the satyagrahis, killing thirty or so people.[38]
Role during the 1962 Sino-Indian War
The RSS which had been keeping low profile after the lifting of the ban, earned recognition based on its volunteer work during the Sino-Indian War in 1962.[39] RSS was invited by Prime Minister Nehru to take part in the Republic Day parade of 1963.[40] It along with several other civilian organizations took part in the parade.[41] This event helped the RSS increase its popularity and its patriotic image.[42][43][44]
Later in 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars too, the RSS volunteers offered their services to maintain law and order of the country and were apparently the first to donate blood.[45]
Movement for the restoration of democracy
In 1975, the Indira Gandhi government proclaimed emergency rule in India, thereby suspending the fundamental rights and curtailing the rights of the press.[46] This extreme step was taken after the Supreme Court of India, cancelled her election to the Indian Parliament on charges of malpractices in the election.[46] The democratic institutions were kept under suspended animation and prominent opposition leaders including Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan, were arrested and thousands of people were detained without any charges being framed against them.[47] RSS, which was seen close to opposition leaders, and with its large organizational base was seen to have potential of organizing protests against the Government, was also banned.[48] Police clamped down on the organization and thousands of its workers were imprisoned.[27]
The RSS defied the ban and thousands participated in Satyagraha against the ban and against the curtailment of fundamental rights. Later, when there was no letup, the volunteers of the RSS formed underground movements for the restoration of democracy. Literature that was censored in the media was clandestinely published and distributed on a large scale and funds were collected for the movement. Networks were established between leaders of different political parties in the jail and outside for the coordination of the movement.[49] It said that the movement was "dominated by tens of thousands of RSS cadres, though more and more young recruits are coming". Talking about its objectives it said "its platform at the moment has only one plank: to bring democracy back to India".[50] The Emergency was lifted in 1977 and as a consequence the ban on the RSS too was lifted.
Participation in land reforms
It has been noted that the RSS volunteers participated in the Bhoodan movement organized by Gandhian leader Vinobha Bhave. Vinobha Bhave had met the RSS leader M. S. Golwalkar in Meerut in November 1951. Golwalkar had been inspired by the movement that encouraged land reforms through voluntary means. He pledged the support of the RSS for this movement.[51] Consequently, many RSS volunteers led by Nanaji Deshmukh participated in the movement.[1] But Golwalkar has also been critical of the Bhoodan movement, on other occasions for being reactionary and for working "merely with a view to counteracting Communism". He believed that the movement should inculcate a right and positive faith in the masses that can make them rise above the base appeal of Communism.[52]
Organization
RSS does not have any formal membership. According to the official website, a Hindu male can become member by joining the nearest 'Shakha', which is the basic unit.[53] Although the RSS claims not to keep membership records, it is estimated that the organization has between 5–6 million members.[3]
Sarsanghchalaks
The Sarsanghchalak is the head of the RSS organization; the position is decided through nomination by predecessor. The individuals who have held the post of sarsanghchalak in this organisation are:
- K. B. Hedgewar (1925–1930. 1931–1940)
- Laxman Vaman Paranjpe (1930–1931)
- M. S. Golwalkar (1940–1973)
- Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras (1973–1993)
- Rajendra Singh (1993–2000)
- K. S. Sudarshan (2000–2009)
- Mohan Bhagwat (incumbent since 21 March 2009)
Shakha
"Shakha" is Hindi for "branch". Most of the organizational work of the RSS is done through the coordination of shakhas or branches. These shakhas are run for 1 hour in public places. In 2004, more than 60,000 shakhas were run throughout India.[54] However the number of Shakas has fallen by over 10,000 since the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in 2004.[55]
The shakhas conduct various activities for its volunteers which include physical fitness activities through yoga, exercises and games. It has other activities which emphasize on qualities like civic sense, social service, community living and patriotism.[56] The volunteers are trained in first aid and in rescue and rehabilitation operations. The volunteers are also encouraged to get involved in the developmental activities of the village or locality.[56][57]
Mission
The mission of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been described as the revitalization of Indian value system based on universalism and peace and prosperity to all.[52] Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the worldview that the whole world is one family, propounded by the ancient thinkers of India, is considered as the ultimate mission of the organization.[58]
But the immediate focus, the leaders believe, is on the Hindu renaissance, which would build an egalitarian society and a strong India that could propound this philosophy. Hence, the focus is on social reform, economic upliftment of the downtrodden and the protection of cultural diversity of the natives in India.[58] The organization says, it aspires to unite all Hindus and build a strong India, which could contribute to the welfare of the world. In the words of RSS ideologue and the second head of the RSS, M S Golwalkar, "in order to be able to contribute our unique knowledge to mankind, in order to be able to live and strive for the unity and welfare of the world, we stand before the world as a self-confident, resurgent and mighty nation".[52]
In Vichardhara (en.Bunch of Thoughts) M. S. Golwalkar affirms the RSS mission of integration as[52]:
RSS has been making determined efforts to inculcate in our people the burning devotion for Bharat and its national ethos; kindle in them the spirit of dedication and sterling qualities and character; rouse social consciousness, mutual good-will, love and cooperation among them all; to make them realise that casts, creeds and languages are secondary and that service to the nation is the supreme end and to mold their behaviour accordingly; instill in them a sense of true humility and discipline and train their bodies to be strong and robust so as to shoulder any social responsibility; and thus to create all-round Anushasana in all walks of life and build together all our people into a unified harmonious national whole, extending from Himalayas to Kanyakumari.
Golwalkar also explains that RSS does not intend to compete in electioneering politics or share power. He asserts that there is no place in RSS for any hatred or opposition towards any particular caste, creed or party. The movement considers Hindus as inclusive of Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, tribals, untouchables, Veerashaivism, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, etc. as a community, a view similar to inclusive referencing of the term Hindu in the Indian Constitution.[59][60][61]
Sangh Parivar
Organizations which are inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ideology refer themselves as the members of the Sangh Parivar.[3] In most of the cases, pracharaks (full-time volunteers of the RSS) were deputed to start and manage these organizations. The organizations within the Sangh include the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vanbandhu Parishad, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Vidya Bharati, Seva Bharati and many others spread in all parts of society.[62] Numerous other Hindu organizations take inspiration from the RSS's philosophy.
RSS has never directly contested elections, but supports parties that are ideologically similar. Although RSS generally endorses the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), yet at times had refused to do so due to difference of opinion with the party. Also, RSS is open to support any political party that subscribes to its views.[63][64]
Of late, the volunteers of the RSS have also held prominent political and administrative positions in India including the Prime Minister of India, the Vice President of India, the Home Minister and Ministers in the Central Government, Governors and Chief Ministers of various states and the members of elected bodies at the state and the national level and also the Indian ambassador to the US[65][66][67]
Social service and reform
The RSS has advocated the training of Dalits and other backward classes as temple high priests (a position traditionally reserved for Caste Brahmins and denied to lower castes). They argue that the social divisiveness of the Caste system is responsible for the lack of adherence to Hindu values and traditions and reaching out to the lower castes in this manner will be a remedy to the problem.[68] The RSS has also condemned 'upper' caste Hindus for preventing Dalits from worshipping at temples, saying that "even God will desert the temple in which Dalits cannot enter"[69]
Christophe Jaffrelot finds that "there is insuficient data available to carry out a statistical analysis of social origins of the early RSS leaders" but goes on to conclude, based on some known profiles that most of the RSS founders and its leading organisers, with exceptions were Maharashtrian Brahmins from middle or lower class[70] and argues that the pervasiveness of the Brahminical ethic in the organisation was probably the main reason why it failed to attract support from the low castes. He argues that the "RSS resorted to instrumentalist techniques of ethno-religious mobilisation – in which its Brahminism was diluted – to overcome this handicap."[71] However Anderson and Damle 1987, find that members of all castes have been welcomed into the organisation and are treated as equals.[1]
During M. K. Gandhi's visit to RSS Camp accompanied by Mahadev Desai and Mirabehn at Wardha in 1934, he was surprised by the discipline and the absence of untouchability in RSS and commented "When I visited the RSS Camp, I was very much surprised by your discipline and absence of untouchablity." He personally inquired to Swayamsevaks and found that they were living and eating together in the camp without bothering to know their castes.[72]
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar while visiting the RSS camp at Pune in 1939 observed that Swayamsevaks were moving in absolute equality and brotherhood without even caring to know the cast of others.[73] In his address to the Swayamsevaks, he said that " This is the first time that I am visiting the camp of Sangh volunters. I am happy to find absolute equality between Savarniyas (Upper cast) and Harijans (Lower cast) without any one being aware of such difference existing." When he asked Dr Hedgewar whether there were any untouchables in the camp, he replied that there are neither "touchables" nor "untouchables" but only Hindus.[74]
It is noted that RSS is taking a lead role in providing the education to people of rural India and socially backward classes living under the extreme poverty.[75]
Relief and rehabilitation
This is a long and continuous tradition with the RSS. The RSS was instrumental in relief efforts after the 1971 Orissa Cyclone and the 1977 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone.[76]
An RSS-affiliated NGO, Seva Bharati, has adopted 57 children (38 Muslims and 19 Hindus) from militancy affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir to provide them education at least up to Higher Secondary level.[77][78] They have also taken care of many victims of the Kargil War of 1999.[79]
Natural calamities
The RSS assisted in relief efforts quite extensively during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. They helped rebuild villages.[80] They "earned kudos" from many varied agencies and sources for their actions.[76] For instance, in the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, K. Srinivas, District Collector of Ahmedabad, Indian newsmagazine Outlook and India Today reported:
This is an old tradition in the RSS. To be the first at any disaster strike: floods, cyclone, drought and now quake. In Kutch, too, the RSS was the first to reach the affected areas. At Anjar, a town in ruins, the RSS was present much before the Army took the lead in finding survivors and fishing out the dead.—K. Srinivas, District collector, Ahmedabad
Literally within minutes RSS volunteers were at the scenes of distress. Across Gujarat, the (RSS) cadres were the saviors. Even as the state machinery went comatose in the first two days after the quake, the cadre-based machinery of the Sangh fanned out throughout the state. Approximately 35,000 RSS members in uniform were pressed into service.
It is conceded by even their worst detractors that the RSS has been in the forefront of the non-official rescue and relief (operations). This has led to an upsurge of goodwill for the Sangh
Seva Bharati conducted relief operations in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Activities included building shelters for the victims, providing food, clothes and medical necessities.[83] The RSS assisted relief efforts during the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.[84]
In 2006, RSS participated in relief efforts to provide basic necessities such as food, milk and potable water to the people of Surat, Gujarat who were affected by massive floods in the region.[85]
The RSS volunteers carried out massive relief and rehabilitation work after the floods ravaged North Karnataka and some districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh.[86]
According to Cho Ramaswamy, the editor of Tughlaq magazine, the RSS-sponsored Seva Bharati did yeoman service following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, despite a lack of formal acknowledgment.[87]
Protection of Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
RSS helped protecting Sikhs during 1984 anti-Sikh riots.[88] Sikh intellectual and author of 'A History of the Sikhs', Khushwant Singh, credits members of the RSS with helping and protecting Sikhs who were being targeted by members of the Congress (I) party during the riots.[89]
RSS has played an honorable role in maintaining Hindu-Sikh unity before and after the murder of Indira Gandhi in Delhi and in other places It was the Congress (I) leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers.—Khushwant Singh, [89]
Discrimination against RSS volunteers
Many cases have been reported in post-independence India where RSS volunteers have been discriminated against by the government due to their allegiance to the RSS.[90] In a court case of a teacher who was dismissed from service due to his past links with the RSS, the Supreme Court labeled the government's action as "McCarthyism" and a "violation of fundamental rights".[91][92][93][94][95][96]
A municipal school teacher, Ramshanker Raghuvanshi, was dismissed by the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh in 1974, which stated that he had taken "part in the RSS" activities and hence was "not a fit person to be entertained in Government service". The Supreme Court dismissed the arguments of the government and said that the government had not adhered to the provisions of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Syed Murtuza Fazalali and Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy observed that "India is not a police state" and pleaded that the "promise of fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution not become a forgotten chapter of history". Delivering the landmark judgment, the Court observed that "seeking a police report on person's political faith", in the first place, "amounted to the violation of fundamental rights". The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the municipal teacher and ordered his reinstatement.[91][92][93][94][95][96]
Similar observations were made by the High courts of different provinces of India in different cases of political persecution of RSS volunteers.[90] One case involved Ranganathacharya Agnihotri, who was selected for the post of Munsiff but was not absorbed into service as he had been a volunteer of the RSS in his past. When Agnihotri approached to the then High Court of Mysore (now Karnataka High Court), he was reinstated. The Court observed:
Prima facie the RSS is a non-political cultural organization without any hatred or ill will towards non-Hindus and that many eminent and respected persons in the country have not hesitated to preside over the functions or appreciate the work of its volunteers. In a country like ours which has accepted the democratic way of life (as ensured by the Constitution), it would not be within reason to accept the proposition that mere membership of such peaceful or non-violent association and participation in activities thereof, will render a person (in whose character and antecedents there are no other defects) unsuitable to be appointed to the post of a Munsiff.
The RSS also has been banned in India thrice, during periods in which the government of the time claimed that they were a threat to the state: in 1948 after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, during the Emergency (1975–77), and after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. The bans were subsequently lifted, in 1949 after the RSS was absolved of charges in the Gandhi murder case, in 1977 as a result of the Emergency being revoked, and in 1993 when no evidence of any unlawful activities was found against it by the tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.[98]
Reception
Field Marshal Cariappa in his speech to RSS volunteers said "RSS is my heart's work. My dear young men, don't be disturbed by uncharitable comments of interested persons. Look ahead! Go ahead! The country is standing in need of your services"[99]
Dr Zakir Hussain the former President of India once told to Milad Mehfil in Monghyar on 20 November 1949 "The allegations against RSS of violence and hatred against Muslims are wholly false. Muslims should learn the lesson of mutual love, cooperation and organization from RSS.[100][101]
Noted Gandhian leader and the leader of Sarvoday movement, Jayaprakash Narayan, who earlier was a vocal opponent of RSS had the following to say about it in 1977 "RSS is a revolutionary organization. No other organization in the country comes anywhere near it. It alone has the capacity to transform society, end casteism and wipe the tears from the eyes of the poor." He further added "I have great expectations from this revolutionary organization which has taken up the challenge of creating a new India"[102]
Criticisms and accusations
Christopher Jaffrelot, the director of the Center for Studies and Research (CERI) observes that although the RSS with its paramilitary style of functioning and its emphasis on discipline has sometimes been seen by some as "an Indian version of fascism",[103] he argues that RSS's ideology treats society as an organism with a secular spirit, which is implanted not so much in the race as in a socio-cultural system and which will be regenerated over the course of time by patient work at the grassroots. He writes that ideology of the RSS did not develop a theory of the state and the race, a crucial elements in European nationalisms; Nazism and Fascism"[103] and that the RSS leaders were interested in cultural unity rather than racial homogeneity.[104]
The likening of Sangh Parivar to "fascism" by Western critics has been critiqued by Jyotirmaya Sharma as an "attempt by them to depress indian patriotism and unity". And that such "simplistic transference" has done great injustice to our knowledge of Hindu nationalist politics.[105] Belgian scholar Dr Koenraad Elst, points out that such accusations have come mainly from the Marxist academia in India and abroad and that they are less driven by facts than by their ideological zeal. He also criticises the Hindu organisations for being "piecemeal" in their replies to such "polemical" accusations.[106]
The RSS has been censured for its involvement in communal riots in at least six reports by judges who presided over commissions of inquiry:
- Jaganmohan Reddy report on the Ahmedabad riots 1969
- D.P. Madon report on the Bhiwandi riots in 1970
- Vithayathil report on the Tellicherry riots in 1971
- Jitendra Narayan report on the Jamshedpur riots in 1979
- P. Venugopal report on the Kanyakumari riots of 1982
- Report on the Bhagalpur riots in 1989[107]
After giving careful and serious consideration to all the materials that are on record,the Commission is of the view that the RSS with its extensive organisation in jamshedpur and which had close links with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had a positive hand in creating a climate which was most propitious for the outbreak of communal disturbances. In the first instance, the speech of Shri Deoras (delivered just five days before the Ram Navami festival) tended to encourage the Hindu extremists to be unyielding in their demands regarding Road No. 14. Secondly, his speech amounted to communal propaganda. Thirdly, the shakhas and the camps that were held during the divisional conference presented a militant atmosphere to the Hindu public. In the circumstances, the commission cannot but hold the RSS responsible for creating a climate for the disturbances that took place on the 11th of April, 1979
Allegation of involvement in riots and violence
The Human Rights Watch group has accused Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council, VHP), Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and BJP to have been directly involved in violence which erupted after 56 Hindus were burnt alive in a coach of Sabarmati Express train at Godhra station.[citation needed] Local VHP, BJP and BD leaders have been named in many police reports filed by eyewitnesses.[110] Contrary to the accusations made by Human Rights Watch, RSS and VHP calimed to have made appeals to put an end to the violence and to have asked their volunteers, sympathizers and friends to prevent any activity that might disrupt peace.[111]
2008 anti-Christian riots in Orissa
RSS along with its offshoot organizations Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal (BD) and Hindu Jagaran Sammukhya (HJS) stand accused of orchestrating the August 2008 anti-Christian riots in Orissa by Christian groups.[112]
A US-based Christian charity working in Orissa claimed that Hindu extremists persuaded mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes.[112] RSS denied these allegations calling them "absolutely false" and in turn blamed Congress for the pogrom.[112][113] The violence was triggered by the murder of a senior VHP member Swami Lakshamananda Saraswati.[114] VHP blamed Christians and called for revenge, even though Maoist militants claimed responsibility for the killing.[112] RSS/HJS blamed Mr. Radha Kanta Nayak, a member of Congress party of being responsible for the killing and accused his NGO, World Vision of being involved in religious conversions.[113]
Alleged involvement in Babari Masjid demolition
The Liberhan Commission report accused the Sangh Parivar of being the chief architect of Babari Masjid demolition.[115][116] The Commission said- "The blame or the credit for the entire temple construction movement at Ayodhya must necessarily be attributed to the Sangh Parivar".[117] It also noted that the Sangh Parivar is an "extensive and widespread organic body", which encompasses organizations, which address and assimilate just about every type of social, professional and other demographic grouping of individuals.
-
- "Each time, a new demographic group has emerged, the Sangh Parivar has hived off some of its RSS inner-core leadership to harness that group and bring it within the fold, enhancing the voter base of the Parivar."[118]
The RSS has disputed the reliability and objectivity of the report. Former RSS chief K S Sudarshan said the mosque was demolished by the government men and not by the Karsevaks, and that the commission reports are fabricated and motivated primarily by anti-Indian sentiment than any objective desire to seek justice."[119]
On the other hand, the Government of India's white paper dismissed the demolition of the disputed structure as preplanned.[120]
...Everything was normal, the karseva was proceeding 'as per the plan' of the organisers;but 'in a sudden development' the karsevaks broke the police cordon and entered the
structure in large numbers and then the demolition took place.—White paper released by the Government of India, [120]
The Allahabad High Court made its verdict on 30 September 2010 that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided equally into three parts among Hindus and Muslims and that the place where the makeshift temple of Lord Ram exists belongs to Hindus.The following is the verdict of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad high in brief:
Whether the disputed site is the birth place of Bhagwan Ram?A: The disputed site is the birth place of Lord Ram. Place of birth is a juristic person and is a deity. It is personified as the spirit of divine worshipped as birth place of Lord Rama as a child. Spirit of divine ever remains present every where at all times for any one to invoke at any shape or form in accordance with his own aspirations and it can be shapeless and formless also.
Whether the disputed building was a mosque? When was it built? By whom?
A: The disputed building was constructed by Babar, the year is not certain but it was built against the tenets of Islam. Thus, it cannot have the character of a mosque.
Whether the mosque was built after demolishing a Hindu temple?
'A: The disputed structure was constructed on the site of old structure after demolition of the same. The Archaeological Survey of India has proved that the structure was a massive Hindu religious structure.
The Verdict was constructive to the RSS allegation of demolition of a temple for the construction of mosque.
Photo gallery
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RSS karyalay - main entrance
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RSS Icons - Lions a life size sculpture
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Wealth that Guruji had in his lifetime.
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Wealth that Guruji had in his lifetime and built a large organisation!
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Iconic exhibition
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Iconic exhibition
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Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar Life size posture
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Gifts from people
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Appreciation of work from London Metropolitan police department UK
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Recognition of work - Hindu Council of Kenya
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Dr.Keshav Baliram Hedgewar figure at the main office in Nagpur.
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Gifts from indigenous people
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Gifts from indigenous people
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A Welcome note from City of Milpitas California, USA to K Sudarshan
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Chair that Guruji used towards the RSS office in Nagpur.
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Icons at main gallery - RSS office in Nagpur.
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Place where Vijaya Dashami 'shakha' is organised.
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A historic place where first 'shakha' was organised.
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Disciplined Shakha organised.
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee first swayamsevak to become Prime Minister of India.
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- ^ "Excerpts from the Liberhan Commission report". Hindustan Times. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ "How the BJP, RSS mobilised kar sevaks". Indianexpress.com. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ "Liberhan comes down heavily on Vajpayee, Advani – Rediff.com India News". News.rediff.com. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ "Vajpayee, Advani severely indicted by Liberhan Commission – India – DNA". Dnaindia.com. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ PTI (24 November 2009). "Sudarshan contests Liberhan's claim : India: India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ a b old dead link to report Liberhan Takes Suspicions As Proof – The New Indian Express, Bengalooru Edition 7 December 2009
Bibliography
- Bhishikar C.P. Keshav Sangh-Nirmata 1976 Hindi Translation by Tapasvi Moreshwar 1991 Suruchi Prakashan New Delhi 110055 India
- Golwalkar M.S. Shri Guruji Samagra Suruchi Prakashan New Delhi 110055 India
- Sinha Rakesh Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar 2003 New Delhi Publication Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government of India
- Bhatt Chetan Hindu nationalism: origins, ideologies and modern myths 2001 Berg Publishers.
- Madan Lal Verma 'Krant' Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna (4 Volumes) Research work on Ram Prasad Bismil 1/1079-E Mehrauli New Delhi Praveen Prakashan 1997
- Dr.'Krant' M. L. Verma Swadhinta Sangram Ke Krantikari Sahitya Ka Itihas (Set of 3 Volumes), 4760-61, IInd Floor, 23, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002, Praveen Prakashan, 2006, ISBN 81-7783-122-4 (Set).
- Dr.Mehrotra N.C. & Dr.Tandon Manisha Swatantrata Andolan Mein Shahjahanpur Ka Yogdan 1995 Shahjahanpur India Shaheed-E-Aazam Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil Trust.
Publications
- "Panchajanya" (in Hindi). RSS weekly publication.
- "Organiser". RSS weekly publication.
- Bunch of Thoughts. Banglore, India: Sahitya Sindhu Prakashan. 1966. ISBN 81-86595-19-8. (A Collection of Speeches by Golwalkar).
- Weekly Swastika (A Nationalist Bengali News Weekly)
- (in Hindi and English) Biographies of Dr. Hedgewar.
Books
- Anderson, Walter K.; Damle, Sridhar D. (1987). The Brotherhood in Saffron. Delhi, India: Vistar Publishers.
- Anand, Adeesh (2007). Shree Guruji And His R.S.S.. Delhi, India: M.D. Publication Pvt. Ltd..
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