The RSS Project

The Kerala High Court recently ruled that a petition to remove Modi’s photograph from vaccine certificates is “dangerous”. The court’s reasoning was silly, but never mind that for now.

Free association reminded me of an accidental interview with Sharad Pawar, way back in 1998. (Links: Part 1 and Part 2). That year, I was covering elections in various parts of the country. Curious to know why Pawar won in Baramati without bothering to campaign — he usually gets there late on the penultimate day of campaigning, does a road show on the last day, and winds up with a speech in Baramati — I’d spent a couple of days in the constituency for this story.

His brother Appasaheb asked me to come early in the morning to meet Pawar, before he set out on the campaign trail. I landed at his home around 7 AM — and as I walked through the gate, I saw Pawar walking towards a Pajero. parked by the porch. I ran up and asked him about the interview. Get in, Pawar said, waving towards the car — so I did, and found myself vis a vis with Girija Vyas. Pawar got in the front seat, and off we went, on a whirlwind tour of the constituency.

Pawar had nothing to do in between stops at various villages — and so he chatted, responding in detail to my questions, and occasionally segueing to themes he wanted to talk about. We set off at 7.30 AM; we returned to Baramati town at 5 PM — a reporter’s dream, getting that kind of quality time with a senior politician.

Inter alia, we got talking of why, in his opinion, the BJP was dangerous. The exchange follows:

Me: Talking of mistakes, a very senior BJP leader said that the Congress made a big one when it didn’t allow the Vajpayee government to survive the vote of confidence… Why?

Pawar: The argument I heard was that if the Congress had abstained, the Vajpayee government would have survived the vote of confidence. But being in a minority, it would not have been able to achieve anything at all, and in time it would have fallen. And with its fall, the stability plank would have been lost to the party for ever…. The BJP should never be allowed to rule, it is too dangerous. For instance, Advani was a minister during the Janata government — and in his short tenure, he managed to fill his ministry with RSS people, and that gave us a headache when we came back to power.

The BJP and the RSS practise the politics of infiltration. I’ll give you an example. Before the fall of the Babri Masjid, Bhairon Singh Shekawat and I were negotiating with the Babri Masjid Action Committee and the Ram Janambhoomi people, for three days we had intense negotiations. We reached a stage where, in one more day or maybe two, we could have come to an agreement. But at that time, the senior RSS person involved in the discussions said he had to leave for three days.

I asked him why, I argued with him, told him nothing could be more important, but he was adamant. So finally I asked him where he was going, and he said Hyderabad, to attend the seminar of the Indian History Congress. I was quite shocked that he thought a seminar was more important that this.

That is when he explained. The IHC controls the way Indian history is written and studied, it approves syllabus and textbooks, it has total control. And the key weapon of the RSS is education, its goal is to rewrite Indian history to suit its agenda. In fact, the RSS is already doing it — the portrayal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as anti-Muslim is only one example, they talk of how Afzal Khan tried to trick him and how Shivaji killed Afzal Khan, that is the story the kids read about, but conveniently, no one mentions that Shivaji’s chief army commander was a Muslim, that he personally constructed three mosques for Muslims… One of my candidates in the state is a direct descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, and his family still pays money for the upkeep of these mosques, but this is never mentioned. Shivaji maintained that all communities and religions should live in harmony, but look how that is being distorted today!

Me: Sorry, but how does all this tie up with the IHC?

Pawar: To be a member, you have to do post graduation, and masters, in Indian history. So over the years, the RSS has been systematically selecting students, instructing them to study history, and getting them into the IHC, at last count the RSS-oriented students are 46 per cent of the society. Another five per cent, and the RSS will control it, and then it will write Indian history to suit its own ends. That body is like that, it plans ahead, and works systematically to achieve its goals. In fact, I must say that though the RSS and the BJP are my political enemies, I admire this quality in them, they plan for the future and they work steadily towards a goal.

This exchange connects up with the Kerala High Court judgment referenced at the start. And with various other judgments that seem to fly in the face of logic. It connects up with why the police behave as they routinely do. With why the various arms of law and order — the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax department and such — are so ready, willing, even eager to harass and to intimidate.

Because it is not just the IHC that the RSS infiltrates. It’s master plan is total domination of all arms of the government and, to this end, the organisation has been systematically picking out bright young men and women, funding their studies, and moving them into the various wings of government, beginning with the IFS, IAS and IPS on down.

The project has been ongoing for decades now — and the early infiltrators have gradually worked their way up the promotion ladder, while each year new entrants via the RSS route fill the lower cadres.

That body is like that, it plans ahead, and works systematically to achieve its goals. In fact, I must say that though the RSS and the BJP are my political enemies, I admire this quality in them, they plan for the future and they work steadily towards a goal.

Remember this quote — because, as Pawar presciently said way back in 1998, this is why the RSS is so dangerous to the future of this country. We are so distracted by the quotidian thuggery of the RSS’s baby organisations — and distraction is the purpose behind such overt acts — that we do not notice the long-term plan.

Addendum dated November 6: Also read this essay by Sonali Ranade on Modi’s mission. The focal point:

PS: Since my last post, I have shifted into a new home. We are by no means settled — but at least the broadband is back, and I am functional. Starting the 12th, I have a four day trip coming up, but other than that I hope to be far more regular on the blog.

As always, please treat this as a discussion forum — it is not me talking to you, but everyone talking to everyone else. Use the comments space liberally; I’ll respond as early as I can.

(Cover image courtesy IndiaTV News)