Patna: After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, many things have changed in the country and hardcore neo-Hinduism has become a core issue of debate.
The opposition leaders believe that the government has been continuously promoting its hidden agenda to implement hardcore Hindutva in the country and the situation has reached such a pass that the existence of a united India is under threat. On the other hand, organizations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) believe that it is the only way for the country to stay united and the BJP is the political party which is capable of achieving the goals.
Shivanand Tiwari, vice president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and a socialist leader of Bihar, said: “There is no doubt that the RSS was a cultural organization earlier when it was formed in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar but his ideology was hardcore Hindutva. After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, several RSS pracharaks and Hindu Mahasabha leaders like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar) went to jail for the alleged conspiracy to kill Mahatma Gandhi. After they came out of jail during the tenure of Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, they had decided to form a political party which could achieve their goals.”
Veer Savarkar, president of the Hindu Mahasabha, was acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence.
“If we go back in history, our former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, current PM Narendra Modi, Nitin Gadkari, Ram Madhav and many others who were and are holding key posts in the government were RSS pracharaks. Thus, if the RSS is claiming that it is a cultural organization with a neo-Hindutva ideology, I believe they are misleading the common people of the country,” said Tiwari.
After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of the country, the RSS began implementing its hidden agenda. The situation has reached such a stage that its consequences can now be seen. The southern states are not happy with this government over the language issue. In Punjab, the previous leaders managed to wipeout the Khalistani sympathizers from the state. The leaders of the Narendra Modi government called farmers Khalistani terrorists during the farmers’ agitation. As a result, the Khalistani groups are again spreading their wings. The BJP leaders called the youths agitating against the Agnipath scheme of military recruitment jihadis and terrorists, Tiwari said.
On the other hand, Vinesh Prasad, the Karyawahak (Secretary) of the RSS Bihar wing, said: “RSS is an organization having the ideology of cultural Rashtrawad (Nationalism) and it supports only those political parties which have a similar ideology. In our country, there are many RSS pracharaks in different political parties but as the BJP is having a similar ideology to us, we support this party. We support a political party only on the ground of ideological similarity and we have nothing to do with politics.”
“The BJP has its own working style to run the country and the RSS cannot interfere in it but when it comes to bring normalcy in Kashmir valley, removal of article 370, Ram temple in Ayodhya or any other issues like Varanasi’s Gyanvapi row or the mosque controversy in Mathura, we support the BJP only because our ideology is similar to the BJP,” Prasad said.
“Every time anyone comes into the debate of neo-Hindutva, I point out the history of the country. Our ancestors were Hindus 700 to 800 years ago. Then came the Mughals and ruled the country. Then came the Britishers and ruled for more than 200 years. The basic question here is who are the original natives of the country. At present, the population of Muslims is increasing. The Christians are receiving foreign funding for the expansion of their religion. In that case, how would we stop such practices? One way is to promote Hindutva,” Prasad said.
“If any BJP leader had used the words jihadis or terrorists for our youths who were involved in the Agnipath agitation, it was wrong. At the same time, I also want to say that using violence on such a large scale and setting government properties on fire cannot be justified either. There are various ways to protest against the scheme but violence is simply unacceptable.”
Nikhil Anand, national general secretary of the BJP Bihar unit, said: “The RSS is a cultural organization based on nationalism. It has nothing to do with politics.”
