Goa’s deputy Chief Minister’s pronouncements of ‘I am a Hindu Christian’ and ‘India is a Hindu nation’ makes for more than a cursory examination. The very meaning of Hindu is under the scanner and much as he may now try to obfuscate, he is actually mouthing the founding principles of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its creator Mahadev Sadashiv Golwarkar. The BJP looks upon the RSS for moral, spiritual and political guidance and Golwarkar is Modi’s patron saint.
But who is Golwarkar? This is a question which the electorate should have asked before they voted Modi to power.
Golwarkar is the ultimate Hindu Supremacist. He was born in 1906, a linguist, a zoologist and a lawyer, well read in sciences and the Hindu scriptures. Historian Ram Guha’s book, Makers of Modern India, features him alongside other 18 grandees; it also needs to be said Golwarkar was deeply distrustful of diversity and his love for India was intensely bound with Hindu culture. The founder of the RSS is best understood in his own words, he was a great orator like Modi and like his protege a Brahmachari, a celibate; he was a realist and not a romantic like Nehru who was the exact opposite of Golwarkar and the antipathy of the RSS to all things Nehru started way back in the 30’s. Indeed none of the other greats like Sardar Patel, Rajagopalachari and Ambedkar draw venomous tirades from the RSS like those against Nehru.
Why? Before we get to that we need to listen to Golwarkar. And to all those who say, forget history, the Modi story is all about development— Vikas — take a pause and hear the RSS patriarch speak his truths.
“When we say, this is the Hindu nation, there are some who ask, What about the Muslims and the Christians, are they not also born and bred here? How could they become aliens just because they have changed their faith? The crucial point is whether they remember that they are children of this soil. What is the use of merely our remembering? The question is what is the attitude of those people who have converted to Islam and Christianity? They are born in this land but are they true to its salt”? No anchor, no news reporter, no Congress spokesman asked Modi — Do you or do you not subscribe to this world view of Golwarkar? Yes, these comments are now lost in history but do you now repudiate this supremacist’s idea of an India? If not, reason with the many who have kept faith with Nehru’s idea of an India; coax them to think otherwise.
Rewriting of history books
The standard explanation has been, when Golwarkar talks of Hinduism, he uses it as a cultural artefact, a civilisational set of values, the Hindu way of life rather than in a narrow religious context. Moderation in all things and tolerance to all is the bedrock of this great religion! This is a clever play of words to hide a mindset that is racist and monochromatic, the very opposite of India’s much acclaimed diversity. And Nehru more than any other leader leaving aside Mahatma Gandhi stood firm on this idea of India. With Modi’s rise to power more and more of such majoritianism will surface; rewriting of history books being just one of the more immediate casualties of this surge.
Dinanath Batra, the convener of Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti has written nine books which have now have been prescribed for schools in Gujarat. Read extracts from his books:
‘’Birthdays should be celebrated by shunning the western culture of blowing candles. Instead, we should follow a purely Indian culture by wearing swadeshi [native] clothes, doing a havan [a fire ritual] And praying to ishtadev (preferred deity), reciting mantras such as Gayatri mantra, distributing new clothes to the needy, feeding cows, distributing prasad and winding up the day by playing songs produced by Vidya Bharati [a network of schools run by the RSS]’’.
He then goes on to ask: ‘’Students, how would you go about drawing a map of India? Do you know that countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar are part of undivided India? These countries are part of Akhand Bharat’’. The saffronisation of culture and history goes much deeper; a RSS man Yellapragada Sudershan Rao will now head, The Indian Council of Historical Research, a prestigious institute which incidentally with Rao’s induction will devote all its energies in a project to fix the date of the Mahabharata war — the famous Indian epic.
Modi after his ascent to power has studiously kept silent and distanced himself for these absurdities being bandied about. His creed of development and inclusiveness recently quoted by John Kerry, the US secretary of State, — ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ gives credence to Modi’s claim to work for the betterment of one and all. Perhaps that is the real Modi. His silence is however ominous. Has the prime minister suddenly seen the virtues of his predecessor? When he was the prime minister in waiting he was voluble, has he been infected with Manmohan Singh’s affliction in a mere 60 days!
Ravi Menon is a Dubai-based writer, working on a series of essays on India and on a public service initiative called India Talks.
