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.