Should we just blindly assume RSS to be Criminal and BJP to be Communal?

RSSSunrise.jpg

Congress Party’s Chief Barking Officer Digvijay SIngh has a unique plan to hit two birds with one stone.  He attacks anyone who talks against corruption and links them to Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and by means of association with assumed and alleged criminality of this organization, the opponent becomes tainted.  This is how he is attacking Anna HAzare.  He used the same tactic against Baba Ramdev and has been hitting Team Anna with this as well.  Not just that, he has used BJP’s association and backing also as disqualification of Team Anna.

The entire strategy is predicated on one unquestioned assumption – that “RSS is criminal” and “BJP is communal”.  Which I think is damaging in a democracy, where the main opposition party is tainted just because, well .. it is the Opposition.  The effort to taint the RSS and the Jan Sangh (BJP’s old avatar) has been going on from right after independence.  Nehru used it, Indira used and now this generation uses it.

But is that the truth?  A truth that ostensibly should not even be questioned?  And this presumptive moral statement against RSS and BJP is what lends the polity of our country to an autocracy where the Secular brigade uses Religion as a weapon to divide as opposed to unite!  First, as we start to discuss this issue, let us first watch Former Supreme Court Justice KT Thomas speak about RSS.  He is not a Hindu, and he is not any lay man with no scholarship on the subject in question – unlike 99% of the journalists and “commentators” / writers of the Secular Brigade.  He knows what he is talking about based on Law of the land and the constitution.

IN a country with multiple religions and community, where most of them are represented by their own representatives, to paint representative of just ONE religious community as “Communal” or Criminal is to create a wedge so deep that it will not heal.  And if that community happens to be the majority, then things get worse.

We need peace and development in India.  But let us be very clear that the very Inclusive character of India is due to the Hindu Ethos.  If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, then one is a rather dumb social observer.  For, India and Pakistan can be considered to be the closest one can come to a “Social Laboratory Experiment”.  Here are two nations, where one went on its own because it suggested that its religiosity couldn’t co-exist with the others’.  The other (India) remained Diverse because it asserted what Vedas had said thousands of years back – Paths are many, but destination is one.

And, in that, one can consider India and Pakistan to be the most controlled Social Experiment ever done.  The results in just a little over 65 years are clear and unambiguous.

There is a fight between the Aggressive and Exclusive ethos of Abrahamic dispensations and the Inclusive Ethos of the Eastern Mysticism as established by Hinduism and borrowed by other Eastern Dharmic dispensations.

If the Exclusive takes out his sword and butchers 2 of the Inclusive’s family, and the latter stands up to defend and the fight goes on to shed more blood, then some observer can easily say – “Well, both are violent”.  But is that the truth?  If the Inclusive guy in India had not fought, then India would have been either like Afghanistan and Pakistan of today; or like Latin America.

Walmartization is the ONLY model that Abrahamic dispensations follow and understand.  They cannot tolerate or stand the local flavors.  But efficiency of Organization damns Spiritual Quest.  Efficiency might be a great goal for business, but it is terrible for Spiritual pursuits.  The more “efficient” you make an organization, the more Organized it is.  Organized religion is a bane for peace.

RSS’ failure

It is sad that RSS officers have not seen through this damning game of Criminalization by Association tactics.  And it is worse that it never speaks up.  It just takes whatever is heaped on it – good or bad – without much noise!  In many ways, RSS is archaic and probably should be dissolved.  For, as it lives on and continues to keep quiet over the relentless campaign against it by others, it does more harm to Hinduism than good.  Today, the color Saffron has been projected as the “official Communal Color” by many indirectly.  If you are even wearing Saffron, you have to be communal.  Such is the level of campaigning.

Conclusion

We need to find a better model for articulating the many millenia old Inclusive character of Hindu ethos.  Not because Hindus have to assert themselves on others, but because it is absolutely necessary for the well being of this nation and the world.

Every religious dispensation should in some way or the other be motivated to adopt Inclusive character and abandon the Exclusive “Walmart” model of promoting their ideologies at the expense of Public Peace and Good.

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to Drishtikone - Online Magazine on Geopolitics and Culture from Indian Perspective.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.