RSS Supports Americas War on Iraq
By Ram Puniyani
15 April, 2003
Decades ago M.S. Golwalkar, the then RSS Sarsanghchalak, supremo, had supported the Americas aggression on Vietnam. That was the time when most of the World was condemning the US offensive, its use of inhuman weapons on the unarmed citizens of Vietnam. The pretext for US was that the emerging Vietnamese nationalism is a threat to freedom and democracy, as the flag, which Ho Chi Minh held high was a communist one. While most of the world had problems with the US agenda, RSS
chief complimented US as the one, leading the forces of Dharma
(Correct moral-ethical values)? It is another matter that RSS
certified forces of Dharma had to bite the dust and retreat in a most disgraceful manner. Neither was US trying to protect freedom and democracy nor did RSS supremo mean to defend morals and ethics.Currently (April 2003) the reigning RSS chief is embarrassing the BJPGovt. by defending the US aggression on Iraq, apparently to liberate the Iraqi people and to install the democracy, which is supposedly the divine mission of Uncle Sam. Mr. Sudarshan is upholding Geroge Bush on two grounds. (Times of India 29th March) The first one being that it is a clash of civilizations and the backward, retrograde, Jehadi Islamic culture is a threat to the World as a whole and to the advanced, humane Western civilization in particular. The second one being that Mr. Bush is only defending his own country, as Iraq is a threat to US security. Iraq as per this argument is having weapons of mass destruction and being Muslim, it will support all the terrorists who any way are Muslims so the US action is justified as per our home bred inheritor of Nazi ideology, the chief of RSS.
At one level the hollowness of these arguments of Mr. Sudarshan is tooobvious. By now most of the world with some humanism left, knows thatneither is USs aim is to eliminate WMD (very little discovered by the UN Inspectors anyway) neither is this tyrant, US imperialism, interested in Democracy being there in other parts of the World. US regime has not only supported and encouraged the despots and dictators all around, it has also installed such butchers by overthrowing legitimate democratic regimes, time and over again. Mr. Sudarshan as the major apologist for George Bush also argues that UN has failed to appreciate the USs concerns so Mr. Bush is within full moral authority to attack Iraq.
RSS, the proponent of Hindutva, Hindu Rashtra has a very complimentryideology to the one of colonial powers and imperialists. It has a lot to do with the ideology of status quo and suppression of the rights ofWorkers, Dalits and Women at deeper level. It is exemplified right since the beginning of the rise of Hindu Right wing ideology in late nineteenth century. With the arrival of British this section of Hindu elite accepted the British propaganda that they have come here to liberate the Hindus from the tyranny of Muslim rule and also to civilize the country (White Mans burden). This precisely was the culmination of the events in the famous novel Anand Math where the heroes of Bankimchandras novel, Santans (offsprings), overthrow the Muslim rule and celebrate the coming in of British rule. These
anglophiles also went on to argue that our ancestors,
Aryans while coming from arctic zone split into two streams, one
going to Europe and other coming to India. So the coming of British to India is like meeting of the parted cousins, so we celebrate the arrival of our own parted brethren. Now of course this Aryan arrival thesis itself has been put under question by ideologues of Hindu right because if this is to be accepted than Aryans and thereby the Hindus are also invaders like the Muslims so how can the idea of Hindu Rashtra be asserted?Any way, the Hindu Right wing stream later on went on to form variousorganizations, Punjab Hindu Sabha, Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. The agenda of these organizations has apparently been to build the strength of Hindu society in the face of Muslim aggression. In reality the agenda of Hindu Right wing, Hindutva, has been to oppose the transformations, leading to caste and gender equality.
So in a way it should not be surprising that the Hindutva votaries
never opposed the British rule. United India Patriotic Association,
(UIPA, Which incidentally had Muslim elites also as the members), which was the most initial organization of Hindu and Muslim Right wing (1880s) went on to proclaim that Congress is talking against the ruler (Queen Victoria) and this way of oppsing the ruler is against our religion, which teaches us to be loyal to our King (Queen in this). Accordingly, UIPA resolved to cultivate the loyalty of Indian people to British crown. Later UIPA paved the way for the communal organizations, Muslim league and Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar was an anti-British revolutionary before he became the major ideologue of Hindutva. After he assumed the leadership of Hindutva outfit,Hindu Mahasabha, he never opposed the British rule. And that is the mild way of putting the reality.RSS came up with the goal of Hindu Rashtra and since the freedom movement was striving for Secular Democratic India and was opposing the British rule, so RSS kept aloof from the freedom movement. Efforts are on to dig out an occasional jail term by a RSS swayamsevak to prove that RSS was also for freedom struggle, but such incidents if any, are there by default or for some other motive. Mr. Hedgewar the first RSS supremo joined the Non Cooperation movement in 1930s and went to jail but he clarified that it was to get in touch with Hindutva minded workers who at that time might have been a part of freedom movement. Mr. Vajapayee, wrote Hindu Tan ManHindu Jivan (Hindu body and soul, Hindu life) when the majority of Nation was singing, living and dying for Indian body, soul and life. Incidentally Mr. Vajpayee was also put in jail for a couple of days, a case of mistaken identity. This was rectified soon as he gave a written statement that he had nothing to do with the Quit India and
associated movements and that he was a mere onlooker in the village when the local people were going to break Forest law as a part of Quit India movement.Rather than aberrations it should be seen as to why and how could Hindutva or Pakistan votaries be a part of Freedom movement as both these were having a deeper social alliance with the British rule. British were having revenue alliance with the landlords. And in a way the base of Pakistan Movement was in the landed articracy and so was the case with Hindu Mahasabha and RSS. Anyway they did not oppose the British rule or one can go to the extent of saying that British ruled India in alliance with the ideological followers of Muslim League and Hindutva. The political alliance of Colonialism was with the votaries
of Hindu Rashtra. A votary of Hindutva murdered Gandhi, as the Father of Nation was the biggest obstacle to the agenda of Hindu Rashtra. After his murder RSS was banned and Mr. Golwalkar was jailed. From jail also Mr. Golwalkar requested to be released and promised that RSS will collaborate with the Govt. to eliminate the Communist menace. Incidentally that was the era when American Imperialism was unleashing McCarthyism and hunting communists. US agenda and RSS agenda matched exactly.RSS and its progeny Jana Sangh adopted the US agenda in economic andpolitical matters to the last comma. With collapse of Soviet states the US imperialism has projected Islam as the main enemy of Human kind (clash of civilization etc.). RSS and its progeny have also chosen this time to sharpen its Trishuls against Islam and Muslims precisely at this juncture in global politics. Imperialism always props up the retrograde politics and social relations in countries where it controls. Its projection of itself as spreading civilization or defending democracy is a cover for plunder and exploitation at all levels. Colonialism aligned itself with landed gentry who were adhrents of pre-modern hiearchies of caste and gender. Imperialism similarly aligns with the most retrograade social forces. RSS fits into the bill of US designs more than perfectly. BJPs coming to power at the center has opened the floodgates of US grip in India. BJP foreign policy has been to be subservient to the US designs intoto. No doubt the RSS sponsored swadeshi is a bit like fly in theointment in its subservience to the Imperialism. But no social phenomenon can be without some contradictions in their gambit. Overall Colonialism was OK for RSS, and Imperialism is also OK for
RSS. Thats the major umbrella for forces standing for arresting the transformation in social relations of caste and gender the central goal and agenda of Religion based politics, and this is what Hindutva and Hindu Rashtra is all about. So at one level we should not be surprised that RSS is all support for US aggression of Iraq, that is its agenda, to be complimentary force to Imperialism.