Can equate RSS with SIMI?

The Indian print media of 7th October 2010 carried out with the fabulous joke of the year by Mr. Rahul Rajiv [according to the Indian customary inheritance and practice he is not Rahul Gandhi], the heir apparent of Congress Party. His funny comment was that the banned fundamentalist Islamic organization SIMI and RSS are equally fanatical. It is sorry to say that this comment is the outcome of his ignorance. Above all he is totally ignorant of the connotation and history of fanaticism. The Hindu-phobia of the dynasty, which was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, the great grandfather of Rahul, was well known to the nation. The self-styled philosopher king and popularity monger Nehru was bit disdainful to Hindu; his own parental legacy. Thus he comments that “It is incorrect and undesirable to use ‘Hindu’ or ‘Hinduism’ for Indian culture, even with reference to the distant past, although the various aspects of thought, as embodied in ancient writings, were the dominant expression of that culture. Much more is it incorrect to use those terms, in that sense, today”. [Discovery of India, Meridian Books Ltd, London, 1960, p 64].

On the other hand Gandhiji believed that, “Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after Truth, and if today it has become moribund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued; and as soon as the fatigue is over, Hinduism will burst forth upon the world with a brilliance perhaps unknown before”. Rahul as a successor of the Congress dynasty has nothing to claim as a proud Indian. His mother, mother-tongue and mother-land are not Hindustan. Thus he realized the tradition, culture, Indian struggle for freedom, heritage, etc from the text books; a secondary sources. That is why Rahul failed to experience the end of the age old Hindu tiredness in the new millennium. What he inherited from the dynasty is not more than the self-contemptuous observation of his great grandfather. 

Let us examine the national commitment which proved classically by Swayamsevaks [RSS men] during the days of our national crisis. The credit of the liberation of Portuguese settlements of Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Goa fully goes to the of RSS cadre. Nobody can negate the role of RSS in this endeavour of liberating the Portuguese settlements in India. Furthermore no one can refute the brave and courageous role of Swayamsevaks in the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Jawaharlal Nehru himself praised the Swayamsevaks for the spontaneity of their patriotism. At this critical juncture of the crisis of India, even the Communists also betrayed nation. Their leader E. M. S commented that, “The Chinese had entered territory that they thought was theirs and hence there was no question of aggression as far as they were concerned. At the same time, the Indians were defending territory that they considered theirs and so they were not committing aggression either. …..”[quoted from Comrade Mohit Sen, A traveller and the Road – The Journey of an Indian Communist,  Rupa & Co, New Delhi, 2003]. Whatever it be, even Nehru at the capacity of Prime Minister remarked the Chinese occupation of Aksai Chin in the Parliament during October 1962 that “a place where, not a blade of grass grows”. However as mark of gratitude of the nation RSS was invited by Prime Minister Nehru to take part in the Indian Republic Day Parade of 1963.

In the dawn of our independence RSS was closely involved in the Bhoodan Movement of Acharya Vinobha Bhave, the disciple of Mahatma Gandhiji.  It was well attested by the contemporary political India. Gandhiji much impressed the work of RSS through his visit of the Wardha camp in 1934. Later he addressed the Swayamsevaks at Bhangi colony of Delhi in 1947 September and said “very much impressed with the discipline, the complete absence of untouchability and the rigorous simplicity among the Swayamsevaks”. [M. S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Bangalore, 1996, p 359].

Similarly in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 RSS had once again proved its national commitment to the cause of the nation. RSS volunteers rendered help to the Indian armed forces at various levels of civil defense. The praiseworthy one was its blood donation to the wounded soldiers. RSS as a social organization is well proved its commitment to the restoration of democracy during the 1976 Emergency Regime of Indira Gandhi. To the Hindu the applied democracy is the part of its age-old modus-vivendi. That is why RSS came forward to defuse malicious designs of Indira Gandhi and her caucus. Then The Economist, London, attested RSS as “the only non-left revolutionary force in the world”, and “its platform at the moment has only one plank: to bring democracy back to India”.

Rahul could not understand India and Hindu ways. That is why he compared SIMI [now banned], an organization stood for the restoration of Dar-ul-Islam all over the Dar-ul-harabs. According to SIMI India is a Dar-ul-harab, because its inhabitants are Khafirs. For this end they rely on jihad. To them freedom is limited to their religion and faith only. Thus William Muir observes that “The sword of Mohomet, and the Coran are the most fatal enemies of civilization, liberty and truth which the world has yet known” [Sir William Muir, The Life of Mohomet, Smith Elder & Co, London, 1859, Vol. I, p 111]. To the Hindus the limit of the same freedom is sky. That is why Hindus respected all religions, incarnations and prophets/gurus with esteem and reverence; instead of crucifixions. The comment of Mr. Rahul is an elegy of a heir apparent of the fragile [Congress] dynasty. Before concludes may I quote Confucius: “Ignorance is the night of the mind, a night without moon and star”.

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