Though the writer begins the piece, “The makeover of the RSS” (Dec. 22), saying that not enough intellectual effort has been made to understand the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, his article also does not understand the organisation fully and ignores the reasons behind its emergence. While trying to project a new face of the RSS, the writer forgets the role played by some of its cadres in numerous communal riots.
It can’t be ignored that assertion of a Hindu Rashtra is the foundation of the RSS. The organisation was established in an era when reform movements among the Hindus attracted support of the masses, and the lower castes became aware of their rights and began to challenge the centuries-long exploitation by Brahministic forces. It was to divert attention from these reform movements that the RSS was founded, declaring that Muslims and Christians are enemies of Hindus and all Hindus should unite against them.
The “big change” in the RSS’s outlook towards Dalits and the “more accommodative stance towards B.R. Ambedkar” are not because of the Sangh’s “new appraisal” of them, but the result of new political compulsions. Mention of the Sufi Samagam appears to be an attempt to whitewash the organisation’s ‘ghar wapsi’ activities. The question is, will the RSS widen its definition of India to include different people irrespective of their religion?
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K. Muhammed Ismayil,
Kozhikode