The RSS strategy: Test the water and retreat
Posted by Balvinder Singh S Bal
The RSS strategy: Test the water and retreat
Posted by Balvinder Singh S Bal on Wednesday, 5/02/2007 10:29 PM MDT
| http://www.media-watch.org/articles/0500/215.html The RSS strategy: Test the water and retreat http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/070500/detFEA02.htm The RSS strategy: Test the water and retreat It€™s as mysterious as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) can get. The newspapers in Chandigarh are full of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, there are vociferous protests when RSS chief KS Sudarshan inaugurates the Sangat€™s national executive meet €” and yet this RSS affiliate hasn€™t set up shop in the city. Once you dial the RSS number in Chandigarh, you are cryptically informed that the Sangat€™s national president, Chiranjiv Singh, operates from the Jhandewalan office of RSS in Delhi. What about Sangat€™s organising secretary Madanjit Singh? €œHe€™s here but he€™s sleeping right now,€ declares the office attendant. A little later, you try your luck again. The story has changed: Chiranjiv Singh is on tour, and Madanjit Singh is at Ludhiana. €œNo, you can€™t reach him over the phone,€ informs the attendant in Ludhiana€™s RSS office. You tell this to others in the city, and they say it€™s typically RSS €” create a controversy, retract and recant, lie low for a few months and then return to test the water again. Following protests against Sudarshan, and more than just a passing mention here in the newspapers, the Sangat leaders issued statements declaring that Sikhism is separate from Hinduism. But cynics say the Sangat will be back again. You, obviously, turn to the RSS office-bearers to explain to you what the Sangat is all about. And they are more than willing. The north zone sah prachar pramukh of the RSS, Ram Gopal, says the Sangat was formed in 1986 in Lucknow. Its April 29 national executive meeting, which Sudarshan attended, was the organisation€™s first public programme in Punjab. Why was it dormant for these 14 years? Forget that, first understand why the RSS floated the Sangat. By 1986, the country had witnessed Operation Bluestar, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the macabre riots of 1984. Earlier, the terrorist movement in Punjab had targetted the Hindus. The RSS feared that exodus of Sikhs into Punjab, and migration of Hindus from the state, would only give a fillip to terrorism €” and even bolster the claims of the Sikh community being a separate nation. It was around this time that the RSS initiated a socio-religious movement among the Sikhs staying outside Punjab; it harped on the ties between Sikhism and Hinduism, celebrated Sikh festivals, and added the Sikh gurus to the pantheon of national heroes. In fact, despite bloody attacks on RSS shakhas in Punjab, the RSS restrained its activists from treading the path of vengeance. Post-terrorism, the BJP and the Akali Dal have together come to power, and the RSS thinks the moment is opportune to become proactive €” and change tack. Already, RSS shakhas have mushroomed statewide. The goal, says Ram Gopal, is to ensure that terrorism does not strike root in Punjab again. For that, the militant leaders must be denied the fodder that the Sikhs are a separate nation. How can this be achieved? Cite Sikh scriptures to harp on the common strands between Hinduism and Sikhism, undermine their separate identity, and gradually bring the Sikhs into the RSS. Once this happens, an alternative Sikh votebank would silence the guns forever. What also enthused the RSS was the response to their tercentenary yatra. Former jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Puran Singh welcomed the yatris, and the Damdami Taksal€™s Baba Thakur Singh washed the feet of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Parmanand before leading him into the gurdwara. Also, the belief that the masses have had enough of separatist politics persuaded the RSS into believing that the hardliners espousing the cause of a separate Sikh nation wouldn€™t receive support. But hasn€™t all this backfired? Doesn€™t this threat of eating beef militate against the goal of the RSS? The All-India Dharma Jagran Pramukh, Vishwanath, who was earlier the zonal prachar pramukh of the RSS, declares, €œLet them eat beef in the villages, and then see the reaction of the masses. The separatists want to bring down the Badal government. We acknowledge that Sikhism is a separate religion but not a separate nation. We are only saying that Sikhism has its roots in Hindutva.€ But RSS leaders admit that they have to still go a long way in Punjab. For one, there aren€™t many Sikhs in the RSS yet, nor are there exclusive Sikh Sangat shakhas. Attempts are afoot to lure the youth into the RSS shakhas. But RSS leaders say that their recent camps have elicited good response €” in some, 15 to 20 per cent of participants were Sikhs. €œIt€™s a challenge for us, wait for two or three years and we€™ll show the results,€ boasts a RSS leader. BJP leaders, though in coalition with the Akali Dal, are nurturing the hope of splitting the Sikh votebank. Quoting former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras €” €œevery Sikh is not an Akali and every Akali is not a Khalistani€ €” they say there€™s room for them to represent the religious Sikh politically. With the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) playing a key role in Akali politics, the BJP leaders intend to provide an alternative religious platform for the Sikhs. Says a BJP leader, €œIf tomorrow the Sikh Sangat has a chain of gurdwaras under its control, it can challenge the money and political power of the SGPC and hence make a dent in Akali politics.€ Indeed, some BJP leaders see a political opportunity in the Supreme Court ruling that the Guru Granth Sahib is an entity that can own property. Till now, historic and big gurdwaras are managed by the SGPC; those that are small are looked after by local committees. But the Supreme Court ruling just might change all this. For, once selected individuals are assisted in building gurdwaras, and huge funds donated to the Granth Sahib, these could then be insulated from the influence of existing Sikh institutions. All agree that the RSS has retreated only temporarily. Quite equable about the virulent opposition, the RSS is willing to lose a few battles to win the war €” of turning rural Punjab saffron. |
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