INTERVIEW WITH K.C. KANNAN

Though he is based in Kozhikode, he travels continuously all over Bharat, instructing Swayamsevaks in yoga, ghosh and helping them to develop their physical and mental strengths to protect Hindu society.  

Kannan-ji recently spoke to Haindava Keralam at Kochi. Following are excerpts from the interview.

HK:  Hindutva seems to have weakened in Kerala. During 1980s and 1990s, Hindu organisations undertook mass Hindu agitations to protect the interests of Hindu society. But today Hindus in Kerala face discrimination, neglect, adverse circumstances and they have less voice. What could be the main reasons for these negative changes? 

KCK: The feeling that Hindutva has weakened in Kerala of late is baseless. Based on my experience as an RSS pracharak for the past 23 years, I can say that, far from going backward, Hindutva continues to march ahead in Kerala.   

For example, compare the response of Hindu society to the Nilakkal crisis more than two decades ago and to the recent Marad massacre. Hindu society, aided by the Hindu Aikya Vedi, an arm of the Sangh Parivar, responded far more vigorously during the Marad crisis which forced the then state government to give generous financial compensation to the families of the Hindu victims, those injured and jobs for their dependants. After the Marad incident the Hindu Aikya Vedi has gained considerable ground in all parts of the state. Today HAV has a strong presence all over the state and it is often the first to react to any anti-Hindu move in Kerala.  

HK: More than 20 committed Hindu activists have been killed in Kerala over the past two years – from Marad to the recent Alappuzha incident. There was little retaliation from the Hindu side.  Don’t you think this will affect the morale of other committed Hindu activists? 

KCK: No. RSS activists are fully capable of strong retaliation whenever our Swayamsevaks are killed. Sometimes, we do retaliate. But our decision to retaliate or not is not based on vikaram (emotion) but vivekam (wisdom). RSS respects the Indian Constitution unlike Islamic terrorist organizations in Kerala. They can carry and use any weapons without fear since they don’t believe in democracy and the Indian Constitution. Islamic terrorists are on a mission to spread communal violence in Kerala. 

For example, what the perpetrators of the Marad massacre wanted was Hindu retaliation which would develop into a major religious conflict. We did not fall for their evil designs. With strong Hindu solidarity among the Marad residents, backed by the RSS, we ensured that the guilty Muslims are locked up in prison and  the families of the Hindu victims are adequately compensated. 

HK: It is true that BJP is not a very powerful political party in Kerala as compared to other states. The communists and NDF terrorists are taking maximum advantage of this situation by increasing their terrorist activities against Hindutva forces in the state, especially against selected Hindu activists. But BJP is a ruling party with two-third majority in many states in India and is also the main opposition party in India. BJP has a good national network and is strong both politically and physically in many states where Communists’ presence is negligible. Yet, Kerala’s BJP and Hindutva organizations are not seeking the support of BJP and Hindutva organizations outside the state to dismantle communist / Islamic terrorist activities in Kerala. Do you think such a thing is possible? 

KCK: It may be possible but the Sangh is not in favour of Swayamsevaks taking the law into their hands. We are doing our best to protect Swayamsevaks while staying within the laws of the land. It is up to the communists to understand what is their strength all over the country.  

HK: Many Hindu activists in Kerala gave up their lives to protect the nation and Hindutva. Are there any special welfare plans to take care of their families?   

KCK: Whenever an RSS man is killed, Swayamsevaks of the area conduct a fund collection drive for the family of the victim which is not enough. Sometimes, they even have to borrow to give financial help for the family of the deceased. We are doing our best to ensure these families do not suffer.  Besides this, the legal cost of fighting the numerous cases is too much for us to bear.  

HK: There are continuous attacks against the Sangh and Hindutva forces by Kerala’s media, both print and visual. Some of their reports are totally baseless and against the ethics of journalism. In this situation and to deal the anti-national media, is there is any plan to launch a TV channel in Kerala with the support of well-wishers and NRI Hindus? Is this under serious consideration by the Kerala leadership of the RSS?   

KCK: Most of the media today functions without any journalistic ethics. Kerala’s print and visual media often conducts anti-Hindu and anti-RSS campaigns. But the Sangh has no plans to start a TV channel of its own because its style of functioning is not depends on media. 

HK : RSS leaders are not considered as media friendly. Why? 

KCK: As I told you, the style of RSS functioning is totally different than any other organizations in the world. From its inception, the Sangh never depended on the media and it is the same today too. If we concentrate only on media publicity, it could lead to us neglecting our groundwork. However whenever we want to convey any important message to the public through the media, we will definitely conduct press conferences or issue press notes. There are many political leaders in Kerala who are dependent on the media for their survival and you cannot compare the Sangh with these political parties.  

KCK: First of all, there are many journalists in Mathrubhumi’s editorial board who do not know anything about the Sangh. The Kerala Sangh leadership had advance information about the paper’s plan to publish these untruthful articles. Mathrubhumi’s editorial board and management forgot that an organization like RSS cannot be dismantled by writing a few articles against them. Mathrubhumi’s attempt was to create internal problems in the RSS at which they totally failed. The Swayamsevaks and Sangh sympathizers who read these articles were simply amused. The newspaper perhaps thought that infighting would erupt in the RSS following their articles, but no such thing happened. We simply chose to ignore Mathrubhumi’s untruthful articles with the contempt they deserved. 

HK : The latest article in Mathrubhumi reported cancellation of an RSS ITC camp in Kerala due to lack of swayamsevaks. Is it true? 

KCK : In 1989 the RSS had postponed / cancelled a number of OTC camps in different part of the country due to Dr. Hedgewar Birth Centenary celebrations but Mathrubhoomi failed to notice that. This year too, due to Guruji Birth Centenary celebrations most of the workers in Kerala are busy organizing various functions, hence we have decided to postpone the ITC Camp to April 2007. Regarding the shortage of Swayamsevaks as alleged by Mathrubhumi, the fact is every year there are more than 4,000 Swayamsevaks attending the camp and this year also we have more than this number and the camp will be conducted in all the 30 Sangh districts of Kerala in April 2007. Mathrubhumi will be surprised by the number of attendees taking part in the camp set for April 2007.   

HK : Guruji Birth Centenary celebrations are in their last phase. Since Kerala’s media, especially visual media, is totally ignoring this event, can you brief us on the functions going on in Kerala at present? 

KCK : Guruji Birth Centenary celebrations are going on all over Bharat for the past one year. In Kerala also the celebrations are in full swing. We have already conducted intellectual and media seminars and various other functions for the last few months. Recently a function was organized by inviting all caste-based organizations in Kerala in all districts. It was a big success. A number of functions were organized to increase participation in Sakhas. A meeting of college students was organized in 160 taluks of Kerala. Each meeting was attended by more than 100 students. The celebrations in Kerala will be concluded with mass Hindu sammelans in all taluks and districts from January 15 to February 15. Each taluk sammelan will be attended by more than 5,000 people and district sammelans by 35,000 to 40,000 people.  

Regarding media coverage, we are not bothered whether they give publicity to the events or not. We are concentrating only to make the functions a grand success.   

HK : Please tell us about the concluding celebrations of Guruji Birth Centenary at the national level? 

KCK : It will be concluded in Delhi with mass celebrations between 16 to 18th of February 2007. Selected 3,000 ghosh pramukhs (band players) drawn from all over India will conduct route marches at five places in Delhi. Top spiritual leaders and other prominent people of the country will participate in the celebrations. Top Army, Navy and Air Force commanders are also expected to witness the route march. On the last day i.e 18th February a Hindu Maha Sammelan will be conducted at Buradi Maidan, Delhi where more than two lakh people are expected to participate.   

HK: Being a full-time worker of the RSS, you have devoted your life to the nation and Hindu society. Do you have any regrets about this? 

KCK: Absolutely not. I consider it a great fortune, perhaps the result of the good deeds done in the past births, that I have become a dedicated full-time worker of the RSS. It is a great chance to serve Hindu society. 

HK: What is your message to Hindus in Kerala and abroad? 

KCK: Consider Bharat as your own mother and do what you can to add to her glory.

                                                [End]

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