Decoding RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's 'Shivling' remark

One can welcome his statement but must not expect the 'search for Shivlings' to end

How do we understand RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's speech made in Nagpur on June 2, in the course of which he also said that it is not necessary to look for Shivlings in every mosque? While he reiterated a special devotion towards the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, where Hindu petitioners claim a Shivling has been found, his words seem to suggest the need to deescalate the hunt for Hindu symbols and motifs under mosques and sites attached to Muslim rulers, that has been ongoing in recent months across the country.

First, it must be stated that the chief of the RSS is one of the most powerful men in India, and his organisation has thousands of members and multiple wings that organise mobilisations that are both political and built around the cultural/religious motifs of the Hindu nation. The two often overlap. And the very people who have been hunting for "Shivlings in every mosque", as the sarsanghchalak said, are either directly linked to the universe of the RSS, or members of the many new Hindu identities assertion groups that have sprung up. They, too, are also loosely connected to the Sangh.

So, was the chief disapproving of their actions? No, but he is keeping up the tradition, of being all things to all men. So, one can welcome his statement but simultaneously must not expect the "search for Shivlings" to end. We can, however, deduce that there will be no centralised agitation on the lines of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that propelled the BJP to national prominence. The BJP does not need to do so, as movements get their momentum from being against those in power and, well, the BJP/RSS are in power.

Also Read | Gyanvapi row: Why look for 'Shivling' in every masjid? asks RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Both the RSS and BJP practice the chaos theory of shaking down the secular foundations of the republic in order to achieve certain political goals creating a psychological mood that marks their supremacy and asserts a narrative of great Muslim wrongs and Hindu reasonableness. Simultaneously, the current chief strives to come through as a pater-figure. The RSS chief often speaks of building the nation together because - as other sarsanghchalaks of the past have also said - Indian Muslims were all Hindus, to begin with! In this speech, too, while seeking a path of mutual agreement on issues such as Gyanvapi, Mohan Bhagwat said that "the ancestors of today's Muslims were Hindu too." He also said that Islam came from outside via attackers.

He is half right and quite wrong as well. Certainly, there were attackers and invaders, some of whom made India their home. But most conversions of entire caste groups, particularly artisans, took place under the influence of the Sufis of the sub-continent. History suggests that one of the impulses toward conversions was the desire to escape a certain caste status in the Hindu hierarchy.

But more significant than the Muslim origin argument is the question of what constituted the Hindu down the ages. Did it include Dalits that M K Gandhi referred to as Harijans and Bhimrao Ambedkar called the untouchables in his writings? The two men fiercely disagreed and on Gandhi's attempts to bring Dalits into the Hindu fold, Ambedkar had said that "a bitter thing cannot be made sweet…Poison cannot be changed into nectar." When he converted to Buddhism in 1956, Ambedkar famously said that "by discarding my ancient religion which stood for inequality and oppression, today I am reborn."

In contemporary times, however, it must be noted that the RSS has spoken out strongly against excluding Dalits from temples and crematoriums and, via the BJP, has a clear political outreach to the historically disadvantaged castes. But the RSS leadership comes from the upper castes and promotes what can be called a Brahminical interpretation of Hinduism.

When the search for Shivlings began, what went unnoticed in the mainstream media was the counter-narrative being showcased on YouTube platforms that cater to Dalit opinion makers. Here fierce arguments are being offered and viewed by lakhs about how Buddhist sites were destroyed by Brahmins. It may also be noted that two professors, one from Lucknow University and the other from Delhi University, have been charged with outraging Hindu sentiment with their remarks on the Gyanvapi issue and the Shivling, both happen to be Dalits.

The late Ancient India expert, historian D N Jha was the most prolific among his tribe in documenting the destruction of Buddhist sites by what he called a "Brahmanical onslaught", tracing it back to the post-Mauryan age. He described the wanton destruction of hundreds of Buddhist sites in areas that lie in present-day Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In one of his books, titled Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History, Jha also quoted the famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim and traveller Hsuan Tsang as stating that thousands of Buddhist stupas were destroyed and monks and laity killed in the 6th century.

The point is not what historians wrote in books, but the fact that this claim about Buddhist sites being destroyed is circulating on the alternative media sites that have a following in contemporary times, although there is no representation or impact on what we call mainstream media. Yet, it's entirely possible that the RSS would have gathered that digging up the past can also reveal facts that do not suit their narrative. These stories of Buddhist persecution in the land where Buddha was born are fundamentally problematic. Therefore, it's much better to be reasonable men and say for the record that the past is past, and we cannot blame the living for it, as the RSS chief did say. This argument can be made even as the project to change the present, and shape the future continues.

(Saba Naqvi is a journalist and author)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.