HINDU CHAUVINISM
Sudheendra Kulkarni
On RSS's Role in Reform and Consolidation of Hindu Society
One of the important truths about the RSS, and (Deoras), the man who led it for 21 years, is its silent but steadfast endeavor to unite the Hindu society on the basis of the harmony principle... There is simply no other socio-cultural organization which has been working with so much dedication and determination as the RSS to re- forge the weakened bonds of equality and fraternity in the caste-ridden Hindu society. No doubt, the RSS has been wedded to the goal of Hindu unity since its inception in 1925. But, indisputably, Deoras it was who transformed samarasata (harmony) from merely being a fine concept embedded in the philosophy of the organization into its main programmatic direction.
Just one sentence of Deoras - "If untouchability is not a crime, then nothing in this world is a crime" - should suffice to show the intensity of his concern for social reform in the Hindu society. He had correctly diagnosed that the chief source of the weakness in Hindu society was internal - its hierarchical caste system and the injustice it heaped on those who were unfortunate to have been born into the so-called lower castes. He did not care much for ritualistic Hinduism. Deoras preferred to be a Karma yogi. The emphasis on action, service-oriented action, increased during his helmsmanship of the RSS.
Deoras realized that the Hindu society's neglect and apathy towards it own poor and downtrodden would prove costly in the long run if the Hindus continued to be weak and divided. He looked at the stark dichotomy between the philosophy and reality of Hinduism. Hindu society was losing its vitality and creative energy due to caste divisions, the occasional flare-up of these divisions into violent conflicts, and the blatant exploitation of these divisions by politicians for their narrow electoral gains. Minakshipuram and the steady, albeit unpublicised, demographic hemorrhage of the Hindu society caused by fraudulent proselytisation in different parts of the country illustrated the other face of the dangers inherent in the neglect of the Dalits, tribals and the poor in general. The RSS learnt necessary lessons from this reality and, under Deoras' quiet guidance. (Its) volunteers became more active in slums and Harijan bastis than ever before.
The decades of the 1970s and the 1980s witnessed unprecedented levels of political activism by Dalits and backward castes. Occasionally, it also manifested in various forms of mindless militancy. Surfacing sometimes as an independent political stream, but oftener being co-opted by the Congress and other parties, the multi-hued Dalit and backward caste movement had nonetheless one common source of inspiration: B.R. Ambedkar. The question before the RSS was: "How do we assess the personality and legacy of Ambedkar?" It was by no means an easy question. Ambedkar had, in the evening of his life, left the Hindu fold to embrace Buddhism along with tens of thousands of his followers. (Some) Ambedkarites were unanimous in badmouthing the Hindu culture, society and the RSS.
Deoras faced the challenge head-on. The life and legacy of Ambedkar was no doubt complex, but one could not even begin to understand it unless one had the head and the heart that revolted against the inhuman conditions in which the people of his caste were condemned to live. Besides, Ambedkar himself had a far from antagonistic relationship with Hindu nationalists of his time, such as Savarkar. To cap it all, the reasons he gave for embracing Buddhism, in the face of many allurements from Christian and Muslim proselytizers, were such as would remove all doubts about his innate commitment to India's cultural nationalism. Thus, under the leadership of Deoras, contemporary Hindu movement began a serious and honest re-appraisal of Ambedkar. The process has progressed so far that, today, the RSS considers the great champion of social justice to be pratah smaraneeya (worthy of being reverentially remembered every morning).
It was again Deoras's visionary outlook which prompted the RSS to start in 1983 a new affiliated organization, Samajik Samarasta Manch, solely devoted to the cause of creating social harmony between various castes and sub-castes in Hindu society... The RSS way of establishing samarasata is through a combination of samata (equality) and manata (kindness of heart). This also shows that the RSS movement for samarasata carries a distinct imprint of Gandhiji's perspective on social reform. This Manch today gets the highest attention from the Sangh's top leadership.
Undoubtedly, the Hindus have a long way to go before the ideals of equality, fraternity and harmony are fully reflected in their decidedly multi-cultured, multi- lingual and multi-caste existence. But if, at long last, this maddeningly plural Hindu society is beginning to experience some kind of confident self-identity-an identity which, even while respecting Hinduism's rich diversity, proudly upholds its underlying unity- then at good part of the credit must go to theRSS.
(Source: The Pioneer, 13 August, 1996)
