A day after the Muslims were targeted in violent attacks in different parts of India on the occasion of Dussehra, Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the RSS, asked the minority community to condemn violence against the Hindus. He didn’t have a word of remorse or condemnation for the violence by the Hindus. That is what the RSS is.
The claim that the Hindutva has now become inclusive is like proposing fascism as an ideology, which can accommodate the Jews. Hindutva is a political ideology which treats Hindus as the owners of India and others as their tenants. It is as simple as that.
When the RSS says that it treats Muslims and others as Hindus it needs to be asked why it cannot accept them as how they want to be seen, that is Muslims and Christians. Why does it insist on giving others an identity they don’t want? And, who has given the RSS this authority? Similarly, they also need to be asked why they call India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
To say that Hindu is not a religious category is a lie and a fraud on the people. Neither can Sikhs or Buddhists or Jains, leave alone Muslims and Christians, be called Hindus.
Secondly, even if we accept for a moment that everyone living in India is a Hindu, why does the RSS keep warning, that too falsely, about a ‘particular community’ procreating more and creating imbalance in population? If all children born are Hindus, why fear the birth of a child from parents who bear Muslim sounding names? Why does Mohan Bhagwat ask Hindus to produce more children? What is the meaning of this population competition?
The RSS, in its latest annual report, has spoken about a conspiracy by a ‘particular community’ to infiltrate the state machinery.
The members of its affiliated bodies have been calling for a total boycott of Muslims in all aspects of life.
They are even exhorting Hindus to annihilate traitors and terrorists which are code words for Muslims. It is remarkable that with each utterance of the RSS chief about Hindutva being inclusive and accommodative, violence against Muslims and Christians intensifies even more. There are attempts to absolve the RSS of the crime of this violence, citing these proclamations. Does it mean that the RSS doesn’t have any control over its affiliates? Then why should it be taken seriously? The history of the RSS tells us it is adept in doublespeak. Its insistence on calling India a Hindu Rashtra is sufficient to understand that it wants non-Hindus to live as vassals of Hindus.
It also wants Hindus to live the way it wants. For example, it wants the Malayalis to celebrate Onam as Vaman Jayanti. There shouldn’t be any confusion about its aim. It is to capture absolute power in India by offering Hindus the pleasure of lording over Muslims and Christians.
(The writer teaches Hindi literature at Delhi University)