If there is one aspect of the RSS-led Sangh Parivar which evokes admiration, it is candour ...

The observations of the new RSS chief, K.S. Sudarshan, including his eager anticipation of a new battle in the fields of Kurukshetra against anti-Hindus, confirm this penchant for truthfulness. They show that the organisation remains as firmly committed to its sectarian world-view as before. His arguments for swadeshi to placate the local merchants and the domestic manufacturing class who have always been the Jan Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party's supporters, his pleas against cow- slaughter, his condemnation of Valentine's Day, his demand to change the Constitution - all underline a carefully crafted policy to build up and sustain the support base of tradition-minded Hindus.

Such a conservative community, wary of modernity and of foreign influence in the economy or in art and culture, constitutes the base of all fundamentalist forces ...

In Hindu Rashtra, too, as Golwalkar pointed out with remarkable clarity, "The non-Hindu people ... must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and revere Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but the glorification of the Hindu nation, i.e., they must not only give up their attitude of intolerance and ingratitude towards this land and its age-long traditions, but must also cultivate the positive attitude of love and devution instead; in one word, they must cease to be foreigners or may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even citizens' rights."

What is noteworthy is that this parochial view has few takers in today's world. Even the BJP avoids mentioning this passage if it can help it. The RSS cannot be unaware that the expression of such religious chauvinism will hurt the Vajpayee-led coalition. Why, then, does it continue to adopt an extremist posture when it knows that the fallout can damage the Government's wider acceptability? ...

Is adherence to truth and faith in success the only reasons for the candour of the far right, or is there something else -- a special game plan? In his book, The Dark Side of Europe, on the neo-Nazis, Geoffrey Harris writes: "Fascist groups operate on the basis of control by a strong leader with a small inner circle ... The aim is not necessarily immediate mass mobilisation or electoral success. It is the creation of tension, the incitement of hatred and the sapping of confidence in democratic society."

So, when the RSS focuses on the Ayodhya temple, the "liberation" of the Mathura and Varanasi shrines, Article 370, special privileges for Haj yatris, forcible conversion by Christians, rewriting history, etc, it is not looking for immediate success but only to pave the way for it. And its purpose is served, for the society remains on edge and there is a feeling of nervousness among the minorities ...

The fascists ... have been faring much better recently than in all their seven-decade old history. Except for two things. The voters are seemingly losing their earlier preference for them. And, secondly, there is resistance from the moderates within the Sangh Parivar to the RSS hard line. If the RSS has opted for a "strong leader" it may be because of the second reason.

The uneasiness of the moderates is perhaps due to the fact that they have realised that the surge in popular expectations ... is petering out, as the recent election results in Bihar, Orissa and Haryana have shown. What is more, the party suspects that the adoption of a hard line at this stage will hasten the process of its decline.

The same factors, however, have made the RSS draw the opposite conclusion. First, it probably believes that as a result of the BJP's success in the last 10 years, India is ready to be transformed into its cherished Hindu Rashtra and that all that the Parivar needs to do is make a determined final effort. Secondly, to do so, an unadulterated version of its philosophy has to be presented in order to enthuse the committed who, in its view, constitute a clear majority.

What is more, the RSS probably feels that it hasn't waited seven decades to reach a stage when success seemed within grasp only to begin a return journey to the political periphery ... (Source: The Hindustan Times, 27 March, 2000)