The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday held its first public meeting in West Bengal in “several decades.”
Nearly “4,000 people” attended the two-hour programme at Baruipur in South 24 Paraganas district, 20 km south of here, sources in the police said.
Senior leaders of the RSS in south Bengal and top BJP functionaries attended the programme and lambasts Trinamool Congress (TMC) for attacking BJP workers and RSS activists.
RSS spokesperson in south Bengal Jishnu Basu confirmed that the event was the first public event organised in Bengal in “several decades.” The activists came in vehicles organised by the Sangh though many others also walked-in. Senior police officers who covered the event do not remember the RSS holding any “public” event during their “20 year long career.” “I always witnessed [the] organisation’s programme only for the activists,” a senior officer said.
The Prant Sanghchalak, or the zonal in-charge, of the RSS in south Bengal Atul Kumar Biswas also accepted that it was unusual for the organisation to hold public events. Explaining the organisation’s reasons, he said, “Since last Lok Sabha election our [BJP and RSS] activists are coming under severe attack. Even the RSS activists are not spared and we have never witnessed such atrocities …some danger is lurking some where and so we decided to go public.”
Though Mr. Biswas did not name any party, his colleagues from the BJP pulled no punches against the TMC. BJP’s national council member and senior leader Tathagata Roy severely criticised TMC chief Mamata Banerjee.
“She is a meritorious student of the CPI(M). But neither could the CPI(M) survive [by attacking opposition], nor can you,” he said. He also explained why it was important for the RSS to hold a public meeting. “RSS never involves in politics…we only get inspiration from RSS but they [RSS] had to hold a public rally as they are under attack.”
The RSS has grown phenomenally in the State in the last few years. In areas where the organisation had almost no presence, dozens of ‘shakhas’ (daily conventions of branches) and hundreds of ‘sammelans’ (weekly conventions) have been started.In the Sundarbans, the RSS has nearly 150 ‘shakhas’, the number has “doubled in [the] last few years,” Mr. Basu told The Hindu .
