'Karmayogi'
Golwalkar Guruji
Coming
Soon to a theatre near you
by
Subhah Gatade
True or false !
- RSS had participated in freedom struggle ?
- Congress had demanded help from RSS for Gandhi's protection ?
- Godse had never been a member of RSS ?
Well, for laypersons like you and me who have the 'misfortune' of
attending any normal school, the answers to these queries would be in
the negative. But if you happen to see the yet to be released
film/docu-feature titled 'Karmayogi' you would be enlightened with a
different set of answers.
You would be told that it is a myth to say that RSS kept itself away
from freedom struggle and in fact it had decided in its high level
meeting to participate wholeheartedly in the struggle. (It is a
different matter that till date one has not yet discovered a single
freedom fighter who owed allegiance to RSS brand of Hindutva). If one
goes by this bollywoodian version of Sangh trajectory, you would know
that Congress government led by Nehru had made frantic calls to the
Sangh bosses for Gandhi's safety and a team of Swayamsevaks in fact
happened to be brave enough to volunteer for his security.
Ofcourse there could be many more surprises in store for you. And I
would not like to deprive you from 100 % pure entertainment when this
film which has been directed by Nitish Bhardwaj, ( of 'Mahabharat'
fame) arrives in a cinema hall near your home.
Ofcourse it need be told that this presentation of 'filmy' version of
Sangh history is formally a part of the grand birthday centenary
celebrations of the second Supremo of RSS, Madhav Sadhashiv Golwalkar.
Fondly called 'Guruji' by his followers for his brief stint in Banaras
Hindu University as a teacher of zoology, Golwalkar led the RSS for a
period of 33 years, after the demise of its first Supremo Dr. Hedgewar
(1940). Within the Sangh circles, he is credited with providing a
theoretical basis and a practical organisational framework for this
formation.
It has been more than five months that the anniversary celebrations of
Golwalkar are on starting with a big gathering of his followers at
Nagpur (24th February 2006). It has also been resolved that the
celebrations would culminate in a rally to be held on 18 th February
2007 in Delhi. The focus of the yearlong celebrations is 'social
harmony' wherein meetings, seminars, rallies are being held all over
India with special focus on the deprived sections namely the dalits and
the tribals.
Definitely nobody can question the prerogative of his followers to
concentrate on 'social harmony' during the yearlong celebrations, but
it is clear to any impartial observer that the kind of politics which
Golwalkar practiced all his life stood miles away from the actual
essence of the term.
VIRTUES OF MANUSMRITI ?
- (He was known as 'guruji' (revered
teacher). I find that at least in some vernacular papers he is being
referred to as 'shreeguruji'. The addition of shree to his title guruji
makes him nearly sacred, an avatar of sorts. Within the Maharashtrian
context this has an additional meaning or signification. Mystic gurus
are often referred to as 'shreeguruji'. You can see thus that there has
been rather subtle glorification of Golwalkar, the new appellation
making him stand a little above the human level.)
(March 25, 2006, EPW GPD, An Occasion for RSS)
Ofcourse neither the film nor any of those twenty short booklets which
are being prepared and distributed, explaining his worldview to the
common people tell us about the facets of his life which the Sangh
itself finds uncomfortable. And one of the most underreported aspect of
his life is the way he espoused the cause of Manusmriti all his life.
It was late '60s when Maharashtra witnessed a massive mobilisation of
people, cutting across party lines, which was precipitated by a
controversial interview given by Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the then
Supremo (Sarsanghchalak) of RSS, to a Marathi daily Navakal
Golwalkar in this interview had extolled the virtues of Chaturvarnya
(the division of the Hindus in four Varnas) and had also glorified
Manusmriti, the ancient edicts of the Hindus.
Ofcourse, it was not for the first time that the Supremo's love and
admiration for Manusmriti, which sanctifies and legitimises, the
structured hierarchy based on caste and gender, had become public. In
fact, at the time of framing the constitution also, he did not forget
to show his disapproval towards the gigantic effort, claiming that the
said ancient edict could serve the purpose. 'Organiser' ( November 30,
1949, p.3) the organ of RSS gave vent to his ideas :
But in our constitution there is no mention of the unique
constitutional developments in ancient Bharat. Manu's laws were written
long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day laws as
enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and
elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional
pundits that means nothing.
It was the same period when attempts were made to give limited rights
to Hindu women in property and inheritance through the passage of the
Hindu Code Bill., which were opposed by Golwalkar and his followers,
with the contention that this step was inimical to Hindu traditions and
culture.
HATE AS HARMONY
A journey down the memory lane makes it clear that the period during
which he led the organisation (1940) was one of the most tumultuous
periods in world history. It was a period, which was signified by three
broad currents: The ascendance of the forces of Nazism and Fascism, the
surge in the anti colonial struggles in the present day third world and
emergence of militant socialist movements in many countries with due
help and support from Soviet Russia. Coming to India, the anti-colonial
struggles and the rising communist movement were mediating its path
through the socio-cultural movements challenging caste and gender
hierarchy, led by the likes of Periyar, Ambedkar. It was also for the
first time in this part of the world that new bonds of solidarities
cutting across caste, community and regional loyalties were being
forged in opposition to the British colonialists.
Retrospectively, it can be said that Golwalkar, whose project of Hindu
unity which took inspiration from the experiments in social engineering
undertaken by the likes of Hitler-Mussolini, miserably failed to see
this historic march of history. He celebrated the way Germans were
purging the country of Jews. In his controversial book 'We Or Our
Nationhood Defined' which he had penned down when he was appointed
SarKaryavah by Hedgewar, (1938) he had clearly stated :
To keep up the purity of Race and its culture, Germany shocked the
world by her (sic) purging the country of the Semitic races - the Jews.
Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also
shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having
differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole,
a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.
On the domestic front, his project of 'Nation Building' not only hinged
around opposition to the Muslims, Christians but also the challenges
posed by the anti-Brahminical struggles. In fact, with this
characteristic worldview, he had no qualms in keeping himself and the
organisation which he led, aloof from the anti-colonial movement and
oppose the assertion of the dalits and the tribals. He derided the
heroic anti-imperialist struggle of the masses as a struggle for
'territorial nationalism' as opposed to his fight for 'cultural
nationalism'.
The partition of the country and the consequent bloody riots suddenly
saw him catapulted to the centrestage of Indian polity. The world saw
him and his organisation surging ahead with the twin objective of
providing help to the hindu refugees and also take advantage of the
communalised ambience to strengthen itself. There are enough
documentary proofs to show its ignoble role during that period. It
would be opportune to look at the memoirs of a senior civil servant who
was posted as Chief Secretary of UP in those tumultous times to get to
know one such instance.
Rajeshwar Dayal, the then Chief Secretary reveals in his memoirs, A
Life Of Our Times ( 1998, Orient Longmann) notes that soon after the
partition the deputy IGP of the western range, BBL Jaitely produced
before him two steel trunks. They "revealed incontrovertible evidence
of a dastardly conspiracy to create a communal holocaust throughout the
western districts."There were accurate maps "marking out the Muslim
localities and habitations...Timely raid conducted on the premises of
the RSS had brought the massive conspiracy to light.The whole plot had
been concerted under the direction and supervision of the Supremo of
the Organisation himself - both Jaitley and I pressed for the immediate
arrest of the prime accused M.S. Golwalkar " Incidentally the then
Chief Minister of UP, Mr G.B.Pant refused to order the arrest. He was
arrested only after Gandhi's assasination.
The assasination of Gandhi at the hands of a fanatic not only saw the
RSS getting banned but was also witness to arrests of many leading
workers of the same. Vallabhbhai Patel, then Home minister, in a letter
to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, his Hindu Mahasabha colleague in the
cabinet, wrote :
Our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two
bodies particularly the former ( the RSS), an atmosphere was created in
the country in which such a ghastly tragedy ( Gandhi's assasination)
became possible...The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat
to the existence of the government and the state. Our reports show that
those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time
has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are
indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure.
( P. 28, The RSS and The BJP, A.G.Noorani, Leftword, 2000)
The subsiding of the communal riots and the way the leadership of the
independent India went ahead in meeting the challenges faced by the
nascent nation found himself and his organisation in a typical
quandary. The stigmatisation of the forces of Hindutva for their
ignoble participation in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, coupled
with their non-participation in the anti colonial struggle, had led to
their further marginalisation in the Indian polity. It was a time when
Golwalkar as a leader of his organisation, was forced to revisit the
ways and means of sustaining the project of building a Hindu Rashtra.
SANITISING THE SUPREMO
It is worth noting that the anniversary celebrations of Golwalkar, have
brought into short focus the discomfort experienced by his followers
over his controversial legacy. Ofcourse it need be underlined that as
far as basic understanding of the project of Hindutva is concerned
there does not seem to be any divergence of views. The 'successful
social experiment' which witnessed genocide of innocents in Gujarat in
the year 2002 bears testimony to his followers unabiding allegiance to
the Golwalkarian project of 'nation building.' To be very frank, their
unease has arisen over the packaging or presentation of the project.
The feverish attempts by his followers to tell the outside world that
he was not the author rather translator of the controversial book 'We
or Our Nationhood Defined' despite facts to the contrary, or their
daily new 'discoveries' of participation in the independence movement
or their claims from rooftops about 'untouchability' having no place in
hindu ethos, just go to show that the celebrations are also an occasion
for them to present before the gullible public a more acceptable and
more humane looking Golwalkar. It need be emphasisde that in his
Preface to We or Our Nationhood Defined dated March 22, 1939, Golwalkar
himself claims authorship of the book. The American scholar Jean A.
Curran who did a full length study on RSS in early fifties, Militant
Hinduism in Indian Politics: A Study of the RSS (1951) confirms that
Golwalkar's 77-page book was written in 1938 when he was appointed RSS
General Secretary by Hedgewar and he calls it as RSS's 'Bible'.
Looking at their foolish attempts to 'sanitise' their own Supremo, one
is rather reminded of George Orwell's novel 1984 where the Rulers of
Oceania, by their language of newthink and process of doublethink,
convinced the masses that statements formerly considered irrational
were rational. In other words, virtual reality became actual reality
and the Party's slogans, accepted by the ruled, were "War is Peace",
"Freedom is Slavery", and "Ignorance is Strength".
Perhaps the Sangh thinkers assume that India has already metamorphosed
itself into their very own Oceania, the Hindu Rasthra of the Supremo's
dreams.
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