It's as mysterious as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can get. The newspapers in Chandigarh are full of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, there are vociferous protests when RSS chief KS Sudarshan inaugurates the Sangat's national executive meet - and yet this RSS affiliate hasn't set up shop in the city ...

... It's typically RSS - create a controversy, retract and recant, lie low for a few months and then return to test the water again ..

The Sangat was formed in 1986 in Lucknow ... The country had witnessed Operation Bluestar, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the macabre riots of 1984 Earlier, the terrorist movement in Punjab had targetted the Hindus. The RSS feared that exodus of Sikhs into Punjab and migration of Hindus from the state, would only give a fillip to terrorism and even bolster the claims of the Sikh community being a separate nation.

It was around this time that the RSS initiated a socio-religious movement among . the Sikhs staying outside Punjab; it harped on the ties between Sikhism and Hinduism, celebrated Sikh festivals, and added the Sikh gurus to the pantheon of national heroes. In fact, despite bloody attacks on RSS shakhas in Punjab, the RSS restrained its activists from treading the path of vengeance. Post-terrorism, the BJP and the Akali Dal have together come to power, and the RSS thinks the moment is opportune to become proactive. -- and change tack.

Already, RSS shakhas have mushroomed statewide. The goal ... is to ensure that terrorism does not strike root in Punjab 'again. For that, the militant leaders must be denied the fodder that the Sikhs are a separate nation. How can this be achieved? Cite Sikh scriptures to harp on the common strands between Hinduism and Sikhism, undermine their separate identity, and gradually bring the Sikhs into the RSS. Once this happens, an alternative Sikh vote bank would silence the guns forever ...

But hasn't all this backfired? Doesn't this threat of eating beef militate against the goal of the RSS ?... RSS leaders admit that they have to still go a long way in Punjab. For one, there aren't many Sikhs in the RSS. yet, nor are there exclusive Sikh Sangat shakhas.

Attempts are afoot to lure the youth into the RSS shakhas. But RSS leaders say that their recent camps have elicited good response - in some, 15 to 20 per cent of participants were Sikhs ..

BJP leaders, though in coalition with the Akali Dal, are nurturing the hope of splitting the Sikh vote bank. Quoting former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras "every .Sikh is not an Akali and every Akali is not a Khalistani" – they say there's room for them to represent the religious Sikh politically. With the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) playing a key role in Akali politics, the BJP leaders intend to provide an alternative religious platform for the Sikhs ... Indeed, some BJP leaders see a. political opportunity in the Supreme Court ruling that the Guru Granth Sahib is an entity . that can own property ... Once selected individuals are assisted in building gurdwaras, and huge funds donated to the Granth Sahib, these could then be insulated from the influence of existing Sikh institutions.

All agree that the RSS has retreated only temporarily. Quite equable about the virulent opposition, the RSS is willing to lose a few battles to win the war -- of turning rural Punjab saffron. (Source: The Hindustan Times, 7 May, 2000)