Book
Review
Title: The RSS: A Menace to India
Author: A G Noorani
Publisher: LeftWord Books, Delhi, 2019
Pages: 547
India
is passing through a painful phase, arguably the most challenging one in its
post-Independence history. The nation’s very fabric is under threat of being
ripped apart. It may no longer be what the Preamble to its Constitution claims:
a secular republic among other things.
India
has one of the best Constitutions according to many experts. That Constitution
is likely to be dumped soon. Slowly and not so clandestinely, many of its principles
are being undermined by the present dispensation. That dispensation is
controlled by an organisation which dons a cultural garment: the RSS.
What
is the RSS? Whose culture does it seek to uphold? Why does it claim to be a
charitable organisation when it comes to paying the income tax? Why does it
harbour so much hatred in its subterranean layers? How did it come to accrue so
much political clout recently? A G Noorani’s “magisterial study” [as The
Hindu review calls it] gives scholarly and illuminating answers to these
and many other questions. If you wish to understand the RSS from a researcher’s
point of view, this is the just the right book for you.
The
RSS sprang from the conviction of people like Hedgewar, Savarkar and Golwalkar
that India belonged primarily to the Hindus and that others, particularly the
Muslims and the Christians, might live here as subordinates of the majority
community who were the only rightful citizens here. These pariah citizens were
originally Hindus and so they can return to their original faith [ghar wapsi]
and enjoy better citizenship; better, not full, as they would be
regarded as a special caste. Noorani says that today the RSS has enough funds
to offer a price of Rs 5 lakh to every Muslim who returns to the fold and Rs 1
lakh to every Christian. Why the Christian is so cheap is not mentioned, however.
The
RSS has a clear vision and crafty schemes. The vision is nothing short of
Akhand Bharat, a grand unified India that will bring back Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Afghanistan to its geographical expanse. The schemes are already afoot
under the able leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Most of the
institutions that matter in the country have already been infiltrated with RSS
men. Noorani lists many of those institutions and the persons who head them
now. “By the end of 2018, the Modi government had worked hard to turn
institutions upside down, planting favourites from the RSS wherever possible
especially in ones which would shape public opinion.”
Modi
manages to get the support of even educated people in this process. It is “not because
of their erudition but their appeal to national pride,” says Noorani. “The RSS injects
an inferiority complex in the minds by playing on historical falsehoods and
then pleads for restoration of ‘national pride’ by suppressing Muslims and Christians.”
A
lot of evils are being perpetrated and justified in the name of that national
pride, a brilliant phantom conjured up by the RSS. “The RSS was conceived in
sin; the sin of criminal violence,” writes Noorani referring to the organisation’s
origins. Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of non-violence was ridiculed by the founders
of the RSS as effeminate. Gandhi himself became their greatest enemy. Just to
defeat the Gandhian vision for India, the RSS joined hands with the British whenever
that suited the organisation.
Opportunism
is the lifeblood of the organisation. Any value or principle may be sacrificed
if expediency required that in the process of working towards the sole
objective of creating the Akhand Bharat. Today there are whole armies fighting
this subtle war [not so subtle anymore] against sizeable sections of the
country’s citizens. Noorani mentions many of them such as ABVP, VHP and Bajrang
Dal. They know when, where and how to strike. They have also been taught that
they are fighting a new Kurukshetra battle in which the majority are the
Pandavas. Devious strategies were part and parcel of the Pandava arsenal.
Noorani’s
book lays bare the entire anatomy of the RSS with menacing ruthlessness. Read it at your
own risk.
Your last line is the most important one - read it at your own risk. I have read n number of articles of Mr. A.G. Noorani over the past few decades. I appreciate his rational line of thinking and his ability to analyze the things with utmost objectivity. I will be able to comment on the book after reading it only albeit I have got a glimpse of it through your article.
ReplyDeleteRSS is no longer the RSS of yesteryears which controlled BJP. Now it does not have any say either in the BJP or in the (union) government. The political party as well as the government is controlled by Modi-Shah duo only in entirety and they do not pay two hoots to what the RSS thinks or says. This Gujarati duo is not interested of the philosophies of RSS. Its sole interest in keeping and expanding its power only. RSS is as good a tool for Modi-Shah as the (formerly autonomous) institutions of India to further their own agenda which, strictly speaking, is a single point one. The prime minister of India has aggrandized his personality much beyond his party as its parent organization, that is, RSS. Now he does not listen to RSS. RSS listens to his dictates instead.
Noorani does touch upon Modi's dictatorial style. He discusses Shah too with candour. RSS leaders like Bhagwat are also not spared.
DeleteUltimately it's Modi-Shah that run the country today. But the RSS seems to love what they're doing.