Hindutva

06-20-2005, 10:51 PM

MuKa and this clown are not against rituals but against 'aryan' rituals. What is odd is they still want 'hindu' marriages and want a different rituals within the framework of 'hindu' marriages. God only knows what that means.. These clowns have no position of their own - their psycological makeup is centered around opposing hindus - just like the pakis. On fine days, one feels sorry for these jerks.

11-04-2005, 03:57 AM

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/81709

QUOTEThe article in question is a little dated (08/29/2003), so it is
possible that it has already been discussed in this forum.

Please see the following link:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletco...php3?artid=2951

In the article titled "Jews And India: Troubling Ties"
Mr. Zahir Janmohamed writes, (and I quote)
"Advani also has a track record of endorsing anti-Semitic Indian
organizations and leaders recruiting and training proponents of hard-
line Hindu nationalism.

One of the organization's pioneering ideologues, Veer Savarkar,
endorsed the Nazis' persecution of German Jews."

Now I am fairly certain that these above statements are **pure**
**fabrications**. Veer Savarkar, far from endorsing anti-Semitism,
was a Judeophile. (As I am sure forumites are aware).

There is also stuff about Indian students admiring Hitler which I
frankly find incredible. But that would be harder to disprove, it
seems to me.

Any comments? Perhaps we should contact the web-site/magazine in
question?

The magazine in question is "The Jewish Week", a NYC
publication.

Shri Elst replied..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/81725

QUOTEReference may be to his speech in Bombay ca. 1938 in which he simply
says that every country is entitled to its own system, the USSR to
Communism, Germany to Nazism etc. It is a reply to an attack by
Nehru on Nazi Germany. Savarkar says that in terms of political and
economical effectiveness, Nazism seems to serve Germany well (as was
also said at the time by Churchill, Lloyd George, Kennedy father annd
son, et al.), better than anything the ignorant outsider Nehru could
dictate to it. Persecution of the Jews does not figure in the speech
at all.

Savarkar was at any rate not a member (but in fact an acerbic critic)
of the RSS family to which Advani belongs and to which this paper
seems to refer. So, apparently, there is a confusion here with RSS
sarsanghchalak Golwalkar, who did famously write a line in 1938 that
could be interpreted (with some malice, but there's enough of that
around) as endorsing the Nazi oppression of the Jews in the forms it
took before the Kristallnacht, i.e. essentially the Nuremberg laws
limiting or excluding Jewish participation in certain professions and
prohibiting Aryan-Jewish intermarriage. Because most people's
knowledge of the chronology of WW2 is hazy, the public can easily be
fooled into reading this as an endorsement of the deportation and
mass killing of the Jews of 1941-44.

In reality, Golwalkar merely intended to observe that the German
experience proved how nations cannot live together in amultinational
state but had better live in separate nation-states, a point promoted
at the time by the Zionist movement. I'm not saying that the "proof"
is valid, merely that he saw it as "a lesson for us to profit by",
viz. that multinational coexistence under one roof is the cause of
friction. Golwalkar's booklet We, in which this point is raised,
contains a number of pro-Jewish passages and one specifically anti-
Nazi one concerning Sudentenland, where he thought the Czechs should
have assimilated the Germans. He also contrasts the
German "barbaric" and "violent" character with the Hindu character,
whose path is outlined by the sages rather than by the bloodthirsty
warriors who make up the national pantheon of so many other nations
including Germany.

All the same, Golwalkar's language was careless and a little foolish,
and this not only in the Germany-related pasages. Later on, he
realized this himself, and after the impounding and destruction of
the booklet's fourth reprint's remaining stock by the government in
1948 (after the Mahatma murder), he ordered it not to be reprinted,
explaining to his lieutenants that it was "a bit immature". About
99% of present-day Sanghis have had no exposure to the booklet
whatsoever. Yet, if you were to believe current reports about
Golwalkar, every RSS-BJP member gets up and goes to sleep with this
line on his lips.

In a normal world, the sidelining of the booklet by Golwalkar himself
would have been the end of the matter, as indeed it was for the Sangh
activists themselves. But actually, Nazi-centric Communist
propagandists saw the damage value of this yellowed and forgotten
booklet. They found it especially useful after their traditional
support base collapsed and their presence in UK/US universities
became their main bastion. There, they had to reckon with the factor
of Jewish influence, which could only favour the pro-Zionist Hindu
nationalists over the virulently anti-Zionist Indian Mullah-Marxist
combine. So, to trump this, they needed truly strong stuff, viz.
depicting the Hindu nationalists as India's even bigger enemies of
the Jews, i.e. as Nazis. So now, after a few years of working at it,
they have achieved the opinion-engineering feat of reducing the
name "Golwalkar" to a Pavlovian identification with the one-liner
about "Germany's race pride" etc.

You may consider this all most unfair, but this is the reality with
which the Sangh leadership has to deal. On the occasion of
Golwalkar's upcoming centenary, it should have organized a conference
to re-evaluate Golwalkar's work, concluding it with an official
statement confirming or abandoning specific positions taken by
Golwalkar. Instead, as sarsanghchalak Sudarshan has announced in his
Vijayadashami speech, there will be the usual hagiographical
programmes, the same repetitive speeches about "his enduring lessons"
and "his undying example" blabla. Mindless, stupid, collectively
narcissistic, materially wasteful, and totally counterproductive.
Golwalkar today is a millstone around the Sangh's neck, in fact one
that keeps on getting heavier, and Sudarshanji cheerfully announces
that he will keep on inflicting that millstone on his followers. And
the whole world press will announce in bold print: "Hindu chauvinists
confirm allegiance to Nazi leader". Thus further and durably
estranging any potential allies.

It is related that two youngsters once visited Savarkar, telling
him: "We are willing to give our lives for the Motherland." He
replied: "If you want to die for the Motherland, you go to the old
man (Mahatma Gandhi). But if you want to kill for the Motherland,
then I can indicate a few useful targets for you." Well, tongue-in-
cheek of course, but if I were the Savarkarite adviser of these would-
be killers eager to serve the Hindu cause, I guess I would suggest
the current RSS top brass. Throw them into the Indian Ocean with a
millstone around their necks.

> There is also stuff about Indian students admiring Hitler which I
> frankly find incredible. But that would be harder to disprove, it
> seems to me.
>

Anyone can get any desired result from an opinion poll, it all
depends on how you frame the question. But it is quite possible that
many Indian students consider Hitler a remarkable man,-- so do most
Americans. In Time's pop poll for the "man of the 20th century", the
goal posts had to be changed in order to prevent Hitler from coming
out on top. Thanks precisely to moral and historical illiterates
such as Time's own editors, whose moral universe is one-dimensionally
Hitler-centred, Hitler has become easily the most-mentioned 20th-
century public figure in current political discourse. Note, by
contrast, that the names "Hitler" and "Nazi" do not figure in
Golwalkar's We, whereas in those days anyone favouring Hitler and
Nazism could have openly said and written so.


User Harish posted a few quotes from Savarkar..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/81729

QUOTEThe following are the statements of Veer Savarkar about Jews:

Veer Savarkar, ideologue of Hindutva, saw the Jews as allies in a
common struggle. In his famous Hindutva of 1923, he wrote:

"if the Zionists' dreams were realised, if Palestine became a Jewish
State, it would gladden us almost as much as our Jewish friends."

Savarkar had been pro-Zionist since 1908 and remained so as Bharat's
betrayers went in the opposite direction. In 1952, Savarkar looked to
the Jews an example for the Hindu to emulate if they wished to be a
modern nation:

"Even a tiny state like Israel has sensibly started developing fish
field and sand fruits and because of that they are able to meet the
needs of the countless immigrants who would have otherwise half-
starved. The Jews are a brave and intelligent people. And although
their State looks like a child before our great state of Bharat we
must emulate its example."

In the post-1947 years Savarker denounced Comrade Nehru's refusal to
recognise Israel, saying quite frankly that he feared that it would
invite the very Muslim opposition which he was so eager to please. In
February 1956 at the annual session of the Hindu Mahasabha in
Jodhpur, he was clear that this was a suicidal course:

". . . if tomorrow there breaks out a war between Pakistan and Bharat
almost all Muslims will be arrayed on the side of Pakistan in
opposition to us and their enemy Israel will be our only friend.
Therefore I say that Bharat should give unequivocal recognition to
Israel. If we desire to safeguard the independence of Bharat we
should be militarily strong."

http://www.swordoftruth.com/swordoftruth/a...voice/yhbb.html

The man had great foresight whatever his shortcomings (like his indo-
centric definition of a Hindu),he predicted many things way before
they occured, too bad idiot Hindus never realised that he was the
real leader of Hindus not the semi xtianised Gandhi and in the end
they got their karmic punishment during partition and are still are
suffering right now for following Gandhi and Nehru.

11-10-2005, 12:10 AM

Follow up on the above article.. This Zahir Janmohamed keeps on writing lies. Wonder what he is upto these days..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/81927

QUOTENamaste Forumites

This thread may be getting a little old. But some additional stuff has
come to my notice, which I want to share with you.

In the first message in this thread, I mentioned that this piece had
appeared in the Jewish Week, a NYC publication.

My Jewish friends, to whom also I mentioned the article in question,
have responded with some advice and suggestions for a response.

One of them sent me the following link, which is a longer
version of the piece in the Jewish Week by the same author. The link
is: http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1053_0_25_0_C38

This is to keep you informed.

Sincerely
Krishnamoorthy.


The link posted above is worth a read on how lies are peddled..

http://www.altmuslim.com/perm.php?id=1053_0_25_0_C38

11-10-2005, 01:06 AM

What else one can expect from Paki? They are world best liar. He is still on.
QUOTEZahir Janmohamed,
National Outreach Director
Indian Muslim Council-USA 
1717 K Street NW Suite 600 Washington D.C., 20036
Tel: (202) 349-3967
About him
served on the Board of the Aga Khan Education Services, Pakistan.

Poem written by himQUOTEA Day of Remembrance Poemthis morning while I siton my faded blue prayer rugI remember the one million Iraqis who diedwhose names I do not knowperhaps a Shenaaz like my sisteror a Munir like my brothermaybe a Sajad like my fatherand somehow I knowas I pray this morninga son or a brother or a father named Zahirhas his forehead pressed against his prayer rockas he faces Meccaasking Why?
Zahir Janmohamed is graduating this May in Political Science and plans to attend law schoolHe is busy <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

11-10-2005, 02:05 AM

Why do they call it INDIAN muslim council ? How many INDIAN muslim council members are TSPians ?

11-10-2005, 02:35 AM

QUOTEWhy do they call it INDIAN muslim council ? How many INDIAN muslim council members are TSPians ? 
Its all about Mogul raj nostalgia.
Till they are Muslim and hate Hindus, all are welcome in IMC.

11-10-2005, 02:53 AM

Why dont they just call it Mughalistan Muslim Council instead ?

11-10-2005, 03:17 AM

They can name it as International Mughalistan Council .

11-16-2005, 09:40 PM

QUOTE Why this war on Hinduism? - Part I
November 20, 2005
Organiser
Freiburg, Germany
george.thundiparambil@gmail.com

What would you do if someone declared a war on you? Old wisdom says there are two options in such a scenario. Resist and fight back with all your might, even if the enemy is the strongest of giants. Or, if you cannot stomach the fight, switch sides and join the enemy!

In the fight against evangelists and jihadis, Hindus too have the choice. Fight and save dharma, or convert and submit to adharma! The enemies are not targeting the Hindusâ material wealth, but their spiritual wealth accumulated over numerous millennia by the immense yagas of their ancestors.

Shri K. S. Sudarshanâs request for suggestions to counter the war of conversions declared by the evangelists is legitimate and the need of the hour. But Atam Vettaâs advice (Organiser, October 9) to make friends with Christian extremists of the West sounds silly, if not utterly ludicrous. He advises Hindus to initiate a âChristian-Hindu bhai bhaiâ campaign. Vettaâs proposal could be extended to Al Qaeda and pray that even though the jihadi attacks would not stop immediately, there is a hope!

Even if the enemy were your brother, Hindu wisdom advises against making compromises with adharma. The greatest expositor of dharma, Sage Vyasa, speaks at the end of Mahabharata: âDharma is that by which everything endures. It is the substratum of everything. It is untranslatable into any language. Through desire for wealth or out of greed or fear, do not give up dharma, aye even to save your own life. Dharma is eternal happiness.â

The underlying scriptural dynamics that make Muslims target Hindus is the same as those which make the Christians target Hindus. From the Hindu point of view, there is no difference perceivable between these two enemies, since it is the fundamental Hindu belief system that these two oppose. These two hostile ideologies, flawed because they are not based on human experience but on spurious and fantastic literature, are based on a priori illusion that human beings are genetically flawed and can be redeemed only by symbolic conversion and the acceptance of their bookish deity. These two religious groups target Hindus because they cannot tolerate the ideas tacitly mooted by the Hindu way of life that human beings are originally good and that dharma is innate and natural.

The phenomenal Hindu tolerance of other creeds, even of Christianity and Islam, arise from the fundamental belief that humans are basically innocent and that dharma is the innate element that connects with eternity. Individual freedom finds its utmost expression in human existence and propels every individual by his/her karma towards redemption and ultimate happiness. Ironically, it is this belief itself that makes the Hindu vulnerable to these two hostile religions, for the Hindus mistake these creeds for dharma and think of these two religions as valid as their own. This is the fundamental mistake Hindus should avoid in their defence against Christian and Islamic aggression.

Islam and Christianity by their fundamentally mooted concept of natural evil are natural enemies of the Hindu notion that humans, like all other beings, are born with the inherent right to redemption by their own means, whatever it may be. So, at the crux of things, there is a fundamental gulf between the Hindu standpoint and the Christian-Islamic standpoint that can never be bridged. Christianity and Islam sense this gulf much more than the Hindus, because their unnatural ideologies rightly perceive the mere continuance of the Hindu as a threat to their sustenance. For these primitive but acute intellects, the mere existence of the Hindu is a danger, because they unwittingly accept that their aberrant creed cannot subsist and grow naturally side by side with the Hindu (the natural religionists) without the aggressive pursuance of their ideological objectives such as evangelisation or jihad, combined with moral police, inquisition and the like.

For instance, if the Christian and Islamic clergy do not propagate and force their sterile ideologies down the throats of unsuspecting or helpless people through dubious means, or do not force them to stay on with censure and punishment, their religions would be wiped out in decades. Europe is a primary example. They also know that if all kinds of people were to become educated and come to know their rights and discern what is right and wrong (as mentioned in Genesis), the only religions that would continue to thrive would be Hinduism and all those natural religions that assume humankind and all natural existence as innocent and originally good. Moreover, they also know that the followers of natural religions can easily and fearlessly conduct pious lives without the need of a professional clergy or organised institutions to preach goodness or to carry out acts of compassion. Goodness and compassion are innate in every creature, at least as long as there are no professional g!
od men walking around preaching original evil and hate. But most Hindus, like Atam Vetta, are not aware of the real nature of the enemy, or the war declared upon them.

The USA might remain a world super power for a long time to come, and the NeoCons (or by whatever names these Christian fanatics are called) might have a say in the US government for all time to come, but what can a Hindu (under attack) in India gain by making friends with these insane men, who are practically the same kind as all bin Ladens of this world? George Bushâs fight against Islamic terrorism might evoke a false sense of camaraderie with him and his entourage, but it is worthwhile to keep in mind that Bush is the major member of a big team from all over the world collecting money and resources for organisations and individuals who have vowed to convert all the remaining heathens of this world.

One might ask at this point: Why this obsession with the heathen? The motivational reason is twin pronged and a bit abstract, but nothing beyond easy comprehension by a simile. The first is based on cause and effect: if there is light, even a faint light, total darkness cannot prevail. Dharma is light and adharma is darkness. As long as the Hindu exists, the natural goodness that is dharma exists, and in the presence of dharma, adharma can prevail neither conceptually nor qualitatively. Darkness can prevail only in the absence of light. Therefore, for Christianity and Islam to prevail, they have to annihilate Hindu dharma. That is the innate force that drives the two adharmic forces to target Hinduism as the remaining and only hindrance to pursuing their scriptural objectives. Hindu dharma is the lamp these two asuric forces want to extinguish, so that their evil ideologies can prevail. Unfortunately, many Hindus fail to perceive their enemies as the forces of darkness.

The second prong of the enemy motivation is related to their spurious books, which verbally buttress the necessity to suppress the light of dharma. It is expressly mentioned in the Bible that the Christian objective of establishing perpetual adharma (âKingdom of Heavenâ in their terms) on earth can occur only if the remaining heathens either convert or perish. For the NeoCon fanatics, the two things that stand between them and their scriptural objective, which is the materialisation of the prophecy of doom (biblical apocalypse), are the Hindu heathens and the remaining stable ecology of the planet. According to their diabolical book, their Prophet of doom (Jesus Christ) will appear before them and take them to the netherworld of sinners only when no heathen exists on this earth and our blessed planet earth is completely destroyed.

As long as a Hindu lives and as long as a virgin tree stands on this earth, the two demonic religions and their ideologies cannot prevail. They know it, and hence the declaration of war on Hindus. The only redemption these two alien and hostile religions can offer human beings is the eternity of doom (as looked forward to by Christians and Muslims), which Hindus call adharma. It is the dharma of all Hindus to save Sanatana Dharma and offer all humankind the eternity of freedom and goodness. In order for dharma to prevail, all the Hindus have to do is to remain unconquered; whatever might be its costs. Not to let the light go out, so to speak. For this purpose, it is the imminent need of the Hindu community to organise and chart out an overarching and global plan to combat and subdue the enemies who scheme and work for their extinction.

(To be continuedâ¦)

11-18-2005, 10:13 PM

AbhimanuG,
Your post is in Hindu Human Right thread under Indian culture
Link

**shamu** · 11-29-2005, 06:13 AM

Did not know where to post this

Last of Gandhi plotters is dead <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' />

HT Correspondent

Pune, November 27, 2005

Gopal Vinayak Godse, a conspirator in the Mahatma Gandhi assassination case and younger brother of Nathuram Godse, died here on Sunday following a brief illness. He was 86.

A Hindu Mahasabha worker, Gopal Godse continued to be neglected in his death, with just a few family members and followers of Veer Savarkar attending his funeral at Vaikunth crematorium in Pune.

Slogans like Vande mataram and Akhand Bharat karke rahenge were raised by Savarkarâs followers when the body was taken to the crematorium.

Gopal Godse remained behind bars for almost 18 years in connection with Gandhiâs assassination. He wrote several bestselling books on Gandhiâs killing. Written in Marathi, they were translated into several Indian languages.

His 55 Kotinche Bali is based on the statement Nathuram gave before the court during the Gandhi assassination trial. Though the government banned the statement, Gopal Godse came out with the book based on it after his release from jail.

Other books that sold well included Gandhi Hatya ani Me and Fashi ani Nathuram Godse. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

01-07-2006, 01:48 PM

Has this been posted before ?

http://www.media-watch.org/responses/0602/1.html

QUOTETitle: RSS needs no lessons in patriotism
Author: Dinesh Agrawal
Publication: India Abroad
Date: May 31, 2002

Response Text:

Title: RSS Needs No Lessons In Patriotism
Author:Â Dinesh Agrawal
Publication: India Abroad
Date: June 7, 2002

In an article âWhat does Mr Agnihotri mean by âfreedomâ?â Vijay Prashad (India Abroad, May
17, 2002) repeats certain old and familiar accusations against the RSS, and in this
exercise the author has tried to use Ambassador-at Large Bhism Agnihotri as the tool to
beat the RSS with.Â Vijay Prashad indulges in the now familiar RSS-bashing using old and
hackneyed clichÃ©s, false premises, and already discredited sources. The entire commentary
is loaded with calumny and malicious propaganda and lacks originality and credibility.

Prashad accuses the RSS on three counts: RSS incites communal violence; RSS is guilty of
Mahatma Gandhiâs murder, and RSS is not a patriotic organization. All his arguments and
âfactsâ in support of the accusations are based on a single article published in The
Statesman on January 15, 2000 (A.G. Nooraniâs âRSS & Services, A Half Centuryâs Gory
Recordâ). The newspaper has already apologized to the RSS for publishing the article. By
quoting such a discredited source Vijay Prashad displays Goebblesian propaganda technique
that is the hallmark of the small cabal of diehard RSS-bashers and leftist
fellow-travelers.

When the article was published in the Statesman on January 15, 2000, the RSS office in New
Delhi filed a defamation suit against A. G. Noorani, C. R. Irani, Ravindra Kumar (Editor
and Managing Editor of the Statesman, respectively), and Devvrata (cartoonist), in a New
Delhi court. When two of these men did not respond to the court summons, non-bailable
warrants were issued against them. The case even went to the Delhi High Court. When the
accused realized that they would not be able to escape the guilty verdict, they begged the
court that they be allowed to submit an unconditional apology to the RSS. Finally, on
February 25, 2002 A.G. Noorani submitted a written apology to the Court in which he
regretted writing the article.Â He promised that the newspaper would publish his apology
prominently within a fortnight in the editorial pages. This was done on March 3, 2002. The
apology says the following:

Clarification: âWe wish to clarify that the publication was made without malice and with no
intention to denigrate or defame any person or persons, or RSS. We regret the publication.â
(The Statesman, March 3, 2002)

And now Vijay Prashad digs out this old and discredited article to pen his malicious piece,
which strangely India Abroad found fit to publish.Â He rehashes the contents of the Noorani
article and uses his very fertile imagination to play fast and loose with facts and
history. What are the real facts regarding the three main accusations Prashad has hurled at
the RSS? Let us find out.

RSS and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Prashad finds the RSS guilty because Nathuram
Godse, a former RSS man, shot dead Mahatma Gandhi. If Godse was in the RSS and later
drifted away from it because he found the RSS too soft towards Muslims, and then shot the
Mahatma, could we say that it was RSS which inspired him to assassinate Gandhiji? In his
testimony to the court Godse admitted that before joining RSS, he was a member of the
Congress Party and actively participated in many Gandhiji-led movements. So, should we not
then accuse both the Congress Party and Gandhiji himself for what Godse did? To give an
analogy, every Naxalite activist began as a member of the CPI or CPM.Â Naxalite groups have
been indulging in violence for the past 35 years and have killed hundreds if not thousands
of innocent people.Â According to Prashadâs logic it is the CPM/CPI which are the real
culprits behind the mindless violence of Naxalites.

The fact is that RSS has been absolved of the charge by a number of courts and commissions:
by the special trial court of Atmacharan (this special court was set-up to try the accused
in the Gandhi murder case); by the High Court; and by the Kapur Commission which was set up
in 1966 under T. L. Kapur, Supreme Court judge, to make a fresh and thorough inquiry into
the conspiracy to murder Gandhiji. The Commission sat at different places, examined more
than 100 witnesses and 407 documents, and published its report. Deposing before this
commission, Mr. R. N. Banerjee, the Union Home Secretary at the time of Gandhiji's
assassination, testified that no member of the RSS was involved in the assassination. The
report says the following about the RSS: "It (RSS) had a slant against Gandhism but its
anti-Gandhism did not seem to go to the extent of personally harming Mahatma Gandhi."
(Kapoor Commission Report, Vol.II, p.75).

Further, in 1978, the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai on the floor of Parliament had
absolved the RSS completely from the charge of murdering Gandhiji.

In response to a letter from Nehru suggesting that Gandhiji's murder was, "a part of a much
wider campaign organised chiefly by the RSS," the then Home Minister Sardar Patel, in
charge of the investigation replied, "I have myself gone through the Mahatma Gandhi
assassination case, and... it... clearly emerges that... the RSS was not involved at all
â¦." (Sardar Patel's Correspondence:1945-1950, Ahamdabad, Navjeevan Publishing House, 1973).

Blitz, a Mumbai weekly, had accused the RSS of Gandhiji's murder, and later had to tender
an unconditional apology when faced with a court case.

Is the RSS responsible for communal riots? Mr Prashadâs (or A.G. Nooraniâs) accusation that
many enquiry commissions have implicated the RSS in communal riots is a blatant lie,
studiously propagated by the self-professed "left-democratic, secular, progressive
intellectuals". First, hardly any report of the enquiry commissions into communal riots has
ever been made public, and not one of those made public has opined that the RSS initiated
any riots. However, once the Home Ministry told the National Integration Council in May
1969 that a survey of 23 riots covering the year 1968 and the first 3 months of 1969 showed
that in 22 of these cases, Muslims had started the riots. And the same applies to almost
all the riots since then. No RSS leader was ever prosecuted or arrested for communal riots,
while Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi has over 17 arrest warrants against him pending for
inciting violence and communal riots.

What is the cause of communal riots in India? A well-respected Muslim religious leader,
Maulana Waheeduddin Khan, Director of the Islamic World Center, New Delhi, has said that
the âMuslim temper is extremely volatile and they are hyper-sensitive, and have become a
perennial problem for the law enforcing authorities, and the need of the day is to learn
how to live in harmony and understanding with non-Muslim communities.â He further says, âIf
we marshal all facts, we see that in every case, the situation has been aggravated more by
the Muslims in question being easily provoked than by a desire on the part of police to be
aggressive. And it is noteworthy that wherever Muslims are to be found living together in
any concentration, this over sensitiveness is very much in evidence; sooner or later, it is
the Muslims themselves who have to pay dearly for it.â¦â (Muslim India, January 1988)

There is another very intensive research on the cause and effect of communal riots
since 18th century. The research was conducted by Zenab Banu of Gujarat, it was a topic of
her Ph.D. thesis. Her thesis has been published in a book entitled 'Politics of
Communalism' (1978). In this she had analyzed and documented major Hindu-Muslim riots
spread over 250 years. And the conclusion of this research shows that in over 95 % cases
the riots were initiated by Muslims.

Doubting the patriotism of RSS: The RSS does not need any lesson or certificate from
anyone, especially from the treacherous Indian Left whose inspiration lies outside India.Â
Prashad draws inspiration from those who supported the British during Indiaâs independence
struggle, who supported the partition of India, who supported the invasion of India by
China, and who have made it their profession to denigrate Hindus on any pretext. Such
people have no moral authority to pontificate to anyone about patriotism, least of all the
RSS, which is one of the most nationalistic of Indian organizations.

Though RSS opponents have accused the RSS of many things, they have never doubted its
patriotic credentials and its dedication and commitment to the cause of Mother India. The
RSS has been one of the most maligned and most misunderstood organizations in India. Its
critics have developed extremely prejudicial views against it mainly from the mischievous
Left propaganda. One such critic was Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan who was suspicious of the
RSS in the 1940s. But his contacts with RSS workers and leaders made him appreciate its
work and ideology. He was very much impressed when he found during the Bihar famine of 1966
that, for relief work, RSS workers collected the most, spent the least on collection and
distributed the collections the best. After the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, on
November 3, 1977, JP addressed a huge RSS training camp in Patna. Following are some
excerpts from his speech:

"...RSS is a revolutionary organisation. No other organisation in the country comes
anywhere near it. It alone has the capacity to transform society, end casteism and wipe the
tears from the eyes of the poor. Its very name is 'Rashtriya', that is national. I am not
saying this to flatter you. I believe you have a historic role to play.... I have great
expectations from this revolutionary organisation which has taken up the challenge of
creating a new India. I have welcomed your venture wholeheartedly. Sometimes I have offered
you my advice and have even criticised you, but that was as a friend...There is no other
organisation in the country which can match you...The RSS should think over this: how to
bring about economic transformation? How to transform the villages? All our leaders,
including Mahatma Gandhi, have worked for it. You have included Mahatma Gandhi also in your
morning prayers and he is indeed worth remembering every morning. This is very good thing
you have done . If he had lived a little longer he would have guided us a little more to
remove untouchability and other evils from the Hindu society. But the way is clear now and
I think that more than myself you can undertake this mission because you are more competent
to do it. You think and deliberate upon the various aspects of our traditions, our culture
and Dharma constantly ... This society, its glorious history and the heritage of our
forefathers, the sacrifices of the builders of this country and their achievements and the
freedom that we have won - you are the inheritors of it all and it is for you to make the
best use of it...Your word has far reaching effect. There is the force of spiritualism and
thousands of years of our ancient culture at your back. You are also in the forefront of
the transformation that is taking place before our very eyes. The results of this change
are also at your disposal...I commend to you the ideals of service, renunciation,
sacrifice. I have no doubt that you are already imbued with these ideals and are of
self-sacrificing nature and noble conduct. Here is the arena of a vast country open to you.
You can accomplish a lot. May God give you strength and may you live up to such
expectations."

Gandhiji appreciated the discipline and idealism of RSS and said that an organisation which
was rooted in high ideals and public service was bound to grow from strength to strength.
He described himself as a "Sanatani Hindu" and deeply appreciated the patriotic song with
which the Sangh meeting had started. (During a visit to a RSS camp in Bhangi Colony, New
Delhi September 14 1947).

Vinoba Bhave said "Mein Sangha ka asabhya sabhya hoon" (I am an honorary member of Sangha).

Dr. Zakir Hussain, told a Milad Mahfil in Monghyr on Nov. 20, 1949: "The allegations
against RSS of violence and hatred against the Muslims are wholly false. Muslims should
learn the lesson of mutual love, cooperation and organisation from RSS." Field Marshal
Carriappa, told the Mangalore Shakha in 1959: "RSS work is my heart's work."Â He added: "If
Muslims can sing the praises of Islam, what wrong is there if RSS sings the praises of
Hinduism?" He concluded: "My dear young men, don't be disturbed by uncharitable comments of
interested persons. Dr. Hedgewar, the revered founder of this great organisation, has set
before you a bright example of selfless devotion to the service of the motherland. Look
ahead! Go ahead! This country is standing in need of your services alone."

Dr. R.C. Majumdar, doyen of Indian historians, told the winter camp of RSS in Calcutta in
1970: "All the programs and activities of RSS have been visualised with a great aim and
plan by its creator. He started the work with a great view in mind, with the aim of
inspiring the true spirit of nationalism, and making the nation strong and powerful. He
rightly and boldly declared that Hindus are the true nationals of this great country. Many
people feel ashamed to accept this fact, though they also feel that it is true. We must
acknowledge boldly that it is Hindu History, Hindu Culture, Hindu Civilization that this
country is proud of, when we people speak of the great past and great culture of the
country. I do not know why they should feel ashamed of saying that the great past and the
great culture was nothing but the Hindu past and the Hindu culture."

Dr. K.N. Katzu, who had been Nehru's Home Minister and Defence Minister, addressed an RSS
Rally in Allahabad in 1963. Dr. Katju said that he had occasion to visit RSS camps and
rallies in the past too. "Chinese aggression has made the nation conscious of its great
unity, but this unity needs to be preserved forever -- whether there is war or peace. It is
this unity that the RSS founder sought to build up." He added: "Who says this is not Hindu
Rashtra? I am happy to see its miniature form in RSS. "

(Dr. Dinesh Agrawal is a Professor at the Pennsylvania State University).

+--------------------------------------------+
Additional Comments (if any):

+--------------------------------------------+
Original Article:

Article_Title: RSS needs no lessons in patriotism
Article_Author: Dinesh Agrawal
Article_Date: May 31, 2002

Article_Body:

Title: What does Mr. Agnihotri mean by 'freedom'
Author: Vijay Prashad
Publication: Indian Abroad
Date: May 17, 2002

Finally, decades after its formation, the Indian Republic wants to formally create a
relationship with those who micgrated from its shores. Nehru raised the question of
migrants in the Constituent Assembly as early as December 4, 1947. In a remarkable speech
he noted, "The history of Indian emigration abroad, including that of the humblest of those
who went from India, reads almost like a romance. They worked hard for themselves, and for
the good of the country of their adoption. They made good themselves, and the country they
had gone to also profited. How then must the new Republic relate to these migrants? 'While
on the one hand' Nehru said, 'we are obviously intent on protecting the interests of
Indians abroad, on the other hand we cannot protect any vested interests which injure the
image of the country they are in' . That is, if Indians abroad exploit the peoples of their
new land, and if resentment brews against them, the Indian government may not on the ground
of ethn ic connection alone come to their assistance. There is that difficulty, Nehru
noted, "Nevertheless undoubtedly we shall try to do our best to protect all legitmate
interests.".....

When BJP came to power these two motivations to the NRIs confidence and the cash, merged.
Therefore, this government has tried to do all it can to cement the connection.

In late August 2001, the Rajya Sabha had to close down because the Opposition left the
chamber. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced the appointment of BK Agnihotri
as India's AMbassador-at-large, an extraordinary post that was to represent the vast Indian
Diaspora.....

When India Abroad's Ramananda Sengupta asked him about his RSS roots, he responded, "I have
been associated with the RSS most of the time. They have been doing a good job, are
dedicated, patriotic, so why should anybody talk as if it's a criminal party? They deserve
all kinds of credit" (India Abroad September 7, 2001). Agnihotri is not alone in this
rhetrical posture. Home Minister LK Advani frequently brags," If there is any admirable
quality in me, I owe it to the RSS" and Law Minister Ram Jethmalini call the RSS as
'reservior of patriotism."....

Formed in 1925, the RSS removed itself from the freedom struggle and took as its main task
the creation of sectarian, militant bands whose only commitment was to Hindutva (the
political ideology) and not to India. Its commitment to India was so limited that in May
1947 the RSS leader in Jammu, Prem Nath Dogra, pushed the Akhil Rajya Hindu Sabha to pass a
resolution against the absorption of Kashmir into the Indian Union because a Hindu state
should not join secular India. The next year former RSS man, Nathuram Godse, assassinated
Mahatma Gandhi as an act of violence not only against one man, but also against the freedom
movement. The Indian Republic banned the RSS, not only for this act but also for the
ceaseless incitement to riot since at least 1946 (the garmuktheswar riot of that year, most
investigations found, had been incited in all probability by members of the RSS).

In jail, RSS leader MS Golwalkar begged Nehru to release him so that 'you with government
power and we with organized cultural force combine and eliminate [the Communist] menace'.
Banned once more during emergency, this time RSS leader MD Deoras tried to curry favor with
Indira Gandhi vis Vinobha Bhave in several letters from August to November 1975. Hardly a
model of probity, decency and commitment.

In secular India, various commissions of inquiry have found the RSS culpable of the most
heinous pogroms against working-class Muslims. Take five commissions as examplary: the 1969
Jagmohan Reddy Commission on the Ahmedabad riots, the 1970 Madan Commission on the Bhiwandi
riots, the 1971 Justice Vithavathi Report on the Tellicherry riots, the 1979 Jitendra
Narain Report on the Jamshedpur riots and finally, the 1982 Justice Venugopal report on the
Kanyakumari riots. In all five of these, before the BJP came to power, the independent
commissions found the RSS guilty of violence.

If Justice Vithayathil found the RSS guilty of 'rousing up' communal feelings, Justice
Narain censured RSS leader Deoras for contributing his 'full share in fomenting these
communal feelings' while Justice Venugopal found the RSS 'has taken upon itself the task to
teach the minority their place and if they are not willing to learn their place, teach them
a lesson' (all these quotes are in AG Noorani's A Half Century's Gory Record, The Statesman
January 15, 2000). The Sangh Parivar turns out to be a Jung Parivar, and yet, Mr.
Agnihotri, Mr. Advani and Mr. Jethmalini call it 'patriotic'.....

+--------------------------------------------+

Reference Code:
Response filed by: Dinesh AgrawalÂ
India Mediawatch : Filing Response to a Biased Article

01-10-2006, 11:00 PM

If somebody comes looking for a definition of Hindutva,it is hard to find it in these 4 pages.can weput the following up at thetop of the thread with a link to Birodkars site hindutva.org

What is Hindutva?

QUOTEThe term "Hindutva" is derived from the two terms 'Hindu Tattva", which literally mean "Hindu Principles". Now the question is, what are Hindu Principles and what comprises the "Hindutva" Outlook?
To answer this question we would have to begin with the history of the Hindus. The history of the Hindus is the history of a civilization which has developed in its natural state, without interruption, since antiquity. Its age is dated to be between five and nine thousand years. Hence Hindu History is a prototype of how human civilization would have looked, if civilization all across the globe had been allowed to develop in its natural state. This is the relevance for us to study Hindu Civilization, Hindu History and Hindu Culture.

The evolution of Hindu Civilization can be considered to be natural and continuing as there is no last messiah in the Hindu world view. In fact this is what distinguishes Hindu Civilization from the rest. And this is why Hinduism is called a Living Idea, guided by the sum total of human wisdom that is not considered to be embodied in one person, or one book, or one period of human history. Hence the term "Living". Hindutva is the articulation of this idea of continuity of freedom of thought from which emerge the multifarious Hindu Principles.

Two instances of Hindu Principles that symbolize the outcome of freedom of thought are the pronouncements made not today, but four thousand years back by unnamed rishis (Hindu ascetics) that, "This world is one family" (Vasudaiva Kutumbakam) and that "The Universal Reality is the same, but different people can call it by different names" (Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti). In these two proclamations made in ancient Hindu India, we see the seeds of globalism and freedom of thought, four thousand years before the world was to become the global village of today.

Thus in its true essence, Hindutva is a stridently assertive rational-humanist line of reasoning. And it is this essence of Hindutva that we have kept in mind, while developing this website. At the level of practice, the Hindutva outlook boils down to upholding righteousness (Sat-guna) and fighting ignoble attitudes (Dur-guna). Taking poetic license, we can describe the practitioners of this outlook as "Heenam Naashaayati iti Hinduhu" (Those who uphold righteousness and fight ignobleness are Hindus).

Thus, far from being a narrow nationalistic doctrine, Hindutva is in its true essence, 'a timeless and universal compilation of human wisdom'. Hence it is also called "Sanatana" which means, something that is "forever continuing."

At this site, you will read about different aspects of the history and culture of the Hindus in that part of our globe which is the birthplace of Hindutva. This land is known variously as Bharatvarsha, Hindustan or India. Our approach of looking at history is that of a rationalist and humanist. In the context of India, these two values are a result of the freedom of thought which forms the core of the tradition of Hindutva.

**acharya** · 01-29-2006, 03:11 AM

http://krishworld.com/politics/?page_id=22

Hindutva Debunked

I am going to debunk the claims of hindu fundamentalist groups like BJP, RSS, VHP etc. one by one. Under this series, I will debunk one claim after another. In my opinion, the hindutva concept should be wiped out from the planet. I am against all religious conservatives. It is my strong belief that

Conservatism â> Fundamentalism â> Terrorism

Since I am born in the hindu religion (donât consider myself an Hindu under the current version of Hinduism) and fundamentalism is a recent concept to hindu religion, I am going to take the fight with them. I am going to debunk all their false claims one by one.

Claim #1:

The rate at which Hindus are getting converted to christianity and islam, they will become minority one day.

Truth:

This is not true. If you take the census data from 1961 to 2001, the percentage of hindus in India has remainined more or less the same. The miniscule dip is very normal. it may be due to the fact that educated hindu family donât want to have 10 kids like previous generations. Also it is difficult to bring up 10s of kids in the current economic conditions. So many hindus have cut down on the number of siblings. This could have contributed to the miniscule dip. Also every religion will have their population go up and down. This miniscule dip is not due to conversions but due to factors like families realizing the stupidity of having many siblings, improvement in the economic conditions of many lower middle class families (poverty is a good breeding ground, remember), etc. Christians have remained almost the same and there is a miniscule increase in muslim population. The fact that Christian population has remained more or less the same proves that the conversion is not reducing the hindu population. Also the miniscule increase in the muslim population can be attributed to the fact that big chunk of muslim population lives under poverty and poverty is a good breeding ground. This is so miniscule that it cannot kill hinduism. Also if you take the census from 1871 and compare with 2001, there is an almost 8-10% increase in the hindu population. This also goes against the claim of hindutva bogeymen that hindu population is shrinking.

I call upon educated people to come out of their brainwash and look at the statistics to understand that the âHindutva Claimâ is bogus.

Sources:

* http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/statement.pdf - This gives the census by religion from 1961 to 2001.
* This is one of the rare British Era Document which gives the population by religion in 1871-72. .

Claim #2:

The Hindu population has reduced in many states where they were majority and they are pushed to minority status.

Truth:

This is not true. In all states and Unition Terrirories (except for Lakshwadeep, Mizoram and Meghalaya where Hindus were minority from day 1), Hindus are far ahead of their next nearest religion. There is no way this claim can be true.

Source:

http://www.censusindia.net/cendat/datatable23.html - Clearly shows the percentage of population by religion.

http://krishworld.com/politics/?page_id=41

Hindutva Hall of Shame

In this page, I am going to list the links in the news media about the shameful acts of Hindutva gang. This is not a comprehensive list of shameful events. This is just a list I have started acquiring in the past few months. This doesnât include many of the past incidents. This page will be updated as and when I come across shameful incidents. Please bookmark this page and visit again. There is a chance that Hindu extremists might take me on for the links showcasing their extremist agenda. If something like that happens, you know who is responsible for this :-) . I am just hoping that Hindu extremists give up violence some day and enter what is known as civilized society.

1. Muslim weds Hindu, WHP calls for bandh
2. This is what happened when gujarat burned
3. Distribution of 75,000 Trishuls by Hindutva forces
4. Muslim tea vendor was thrown out of coach in Godhra
5. Adivasis angry at RSSâs forced conversion plans
6. Sanghâs Dandia song: no Muslims, please
7. Sanghâs new Kumbh to take Hindutva offensive to the Dangs
8. Israeli coupleâs kiss at Pushkar raises hackles
9. BJP defends Sania Mirzaâs dress (Read this and compare with other acts of Hindutva groups to understand their hypocrisy).
10. Lotus in wrong place, feels EC
11. Is Narendra Modi about to bar love marriages?
12. Now Parivar backs college swap
13. To âprotectâ Hindu girls, BJP govt orders 2 colleges to swap buildings
14. Avoid reveling clothes, avoid rape - Shiv Sena
15. In 2004, the state of Gujarat was criticized for including anti-Gandhi passages in its mandated school history textbooks.
16. Weâll repeat our Gujarat experiment - Ashok Singhal
17. Hindu extremist attacks on Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta
18. Bajrang Dal ransacked M F Husainâs Mumbai apartment
19. Hindu activists storm Bombay Cinemas
20. Hindu leader says lesbian film should be about Moslem family
21. Maratha activists vandalise Bhandarkar Institute
22. Gujarat riots
2000 people killed in Gujarat, mostly muslims
2002 Gujarat violence
45 accused in riot murder walk free. Accused in burning of couple include BJP, RSS and VHP leaders
Riot-accused MLA at large, DIG moved. MLA Chaudhary shot at 2 Muslim youths, mob killed them: FIR
Governor in the time of riots Bhandari slams Modi
Forensic report disputes Godhra fire theory
23. Shiv Sena men go on the rampage
24. Anti-Valentineâs Day activists erupt in India
25. Sena threatens to disrupt Valentineâs Day celebrations
26. Shiv Sena renames Valentineâs Day as âProstitution Dayâ
27. Trishul distributed by VHP
28. 5 RSS men arrested for attack on American Missionary
29. Priest seriously injured in attack against Catholic Church
30. Australia-born missionary, children, burnt alive in Orissa
31. Father Aruldoss, was killed by suspected Hindu extremists in a remote village
32. The Srikrishna Commission Report, released at long last, underlines the Shiv Senaâs malevolent role in the communal riots in Mumbai in December 1992-January 1993, and points to the contribution of the BJP in the build-up to the violence.
33. Acharya Dharmendra was quoted in the Times of India as having said, âAlthough the local Hindu residents did ask me to hold the crowds from burning Muslim homes I would have never stopped them. This is the only way in which Ayodhya could become like the Vatican.â
34. Tearing down the Babri Masjid
35. Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi

02-11-2006, 10:32 PM

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/feb/11rss...&file=.htm

RSS documentary seeks to clear 'wrong' notions against Sangh

03-08-2006, 11:50 PM

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianCivili...n/message/86936

QUOTEDear Friends,
In the wake a very marginal succes in the California text book case,
it is important that Hindu intellectuals do not get into tantrums but
keep a cool head specially when it comes to self analysis.
Aatma chintan, vimarsha and prekshaa are all Hindu disciplines.
It is clear that any criticism of the RSS by Elst and other intellectuals
is done with the sincere desire that the Sangh Parivar shall learn
from its mistakes.

There is an overwhelming feeling among intellectuals that the RSS
does not interact sufficiently and extensively with them. Now I live
in Delhi and have seen things for the past forty years as they go on in
Leuten's Delhi and the party offices of all the major political parties.
The Congress has developed India International and Habitat Centre
IGNCA, and many such organisations to patronise, feed well and use the
intellectuals through seminars, awards, and media encounters.

For the six years that the BJP/ Sangh Parivar was in power it made a
mess of all these facilities and disregarded advice from well wishers
and capable persons. It handed over the major institutions like IGNCA
to persons of dubiousÂ allegiance like LM Singhvi and Sonal Mansingh,
ICSSR to Sondhi who ruined it. The cultural minister Jagmohan
was dismissive of academics and appointed IAS cadre people in all
positions of culture against direct and clear advice. There was no
corporate effort at all, not perhaps a single time when these people
in power discussed issues either among them selves or with
intellectuals at length and openly in any forum. They operated in the
chamcha culture as bad as the Congress.

Murli Manohar Joshi wasted six years as the education minister and
could get a single VC of his choice for any major university. He created
a counter productive controversy about phalita jyotisha nothing about
introducing yoga as physical education in schools. He could not set
up some good private universities nor involve the corporate sector
as donors and managers of the university system. He was very fond of
reading papers at seminars but never stayed for discussions nor did he
Â institute a body of academics that could have changed the
course of education set by secularists. He wanted to make no structral changes
in the education system but was obsessed with syllabus revision.
Most of his steps were disastrous such as giving pay revision to university
and college teachers without creating more exacting standards of performance. He
supported denial of promotional avenues and health faciltities,
neglect of self financing and innovative courses and general decentralisation.
Both Jagmohan and Joshi worried too much about Saraswati
and AIT and dreamt that such small changes in the syllabi or text books
would change the colonial system.

What I observed in the BJP and the Sangh was the keen desire to win over the
erstwhile congress walas like Najma Heptulla and sundry others to show that they
can wield the stick of the license permit raj better than Congress. They succeeded
in getting some 'chaaran.as' and flatterers who u-turned promptly after the BJP fall.

The fact is that RSS does not plan things with rigour and execute them
meticulously anymore, They can handle only short term crisis like Latoor,
Tsunami or an earthquake, but not counter the systematic attack on Hindu
well being which requires intellectual planning.

Of course this is not a exclusively RSS failure but a general Hindu disaster.
The Congress has lost its ideology and is a captive of crypto Islamo-Marxists
like Arjun Singh. Modi the great Hindu CM neglects his universities to the
point of shame (went to MSU, BarodaÂ last month and found it in the state of
Crumble as much as 15 years ago).

The RSS has given very little thought to promote Hindu democracy but has
entertained thoughts of setting things right by capturing power at the centre.
The Sanghis believe that they will set everything right once they have 300 seats
in the Lok Sabha. This trickle from the top does not change the structure of
colonial repression. The Hindu genius flourished even in monarchy because
the central power was very weak as compared to the present. Very Low taxation,
low interest rate, governance in Janapada, education only partially financed by
the State with no syllabus intervention, judiciary not under any monarchical
pressure and above all the freedom to intellectuals to criticise, protest and even curse (shaapa).

The RSS really needs to discuss what was Hindu freedom even under the
monarchical states and see how democracy and business enterprise can flourish now.

Please send a thousand emails individually to Ram Madhavji and Sudarshan ji
on how to stop nationalisation of hindu sites through media discussions and
legal redress, to create a massive fund for publication of ancient manuscripts, some Rs 5 lakh each awards to Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit scholars, to make it compusory for IAS and IPS to have the abilty to write well in at least two Indian languages, and for many other practical steps that promote national integration and Hindu excellence.

regards,
Bharat Gupt
Associate Professor, CVS, Delhi University,

03-09-2006, 01:06 AM

I agree in broad outline with Prof Gupt . The right wing as embodied in th sangh Parivar needs a theoretician to put it all together. somebody with the intellectual breadth of Balagangadhara. My purpose in (arleast partially)starting Indicethos,org is to find a voice and artculate such an indic ethos which will cover a braod range of the intellectual spectrum. I will work to bring together a blue ribbon panel and start a dialog on what should these underlying principles be

03-09-2006, 01:23 AM

acharya, that is an idiotic list and if we waste our time refuting nonsense,we will have no time for anything else.

03-11-2006, 12:50 AM

QUOTEGuruji's predictions coming true 
Pioneer.com
Rakesh Sinha, Academician and writer
Cultural nationalism has been a central theme in our socio-political discourse since the late 19th Century. A galaxy of thinkers, spiritual personalities and philosophers contributed to the evolution of this idea. Though they differed with each other in defining the contours of Indian nationalism, they concurred that it was our cultural foundation that gave it a definitive shape.

Besides, they perceived patriotism as a spiritual and cultural concept. But the hostility of Muslims to this concept is remarkable in the trajectory of Indian nationalism. The Muslim discourse has not only been predominantly based on the idea of pan-Islamism, but also hostility towards indigenous culture.

One finds the resolution of such Muslim antagonism in Guruji's philosophy. His spiritual self and tireless social activism made his thought original and pragmatic. He dealt with the fundamental issue of the detachment of Muslims from Hindu culture and nationalism. Unlike Jawaharlal Nehru, who hardly implemented his penned thoughts, Guruji stuck forever to his beliefs.

Guruji's thoughts were original vis-a-vis Muslims because he discussed issues and events in civilisational and cultural perspective, unmindful of dominant political ideology on the one hand and populist approach to the Muslim problem on the other. He applies practical wisdom to look into problems and their solutions, rather than being a sheer conservative idealist or dogmatic.

In spite of his liberal perspective on the question of nationalism and secularism, Guruji has been treated unfavourably by Islamic scholars and secularist social scientists. They mostly quote We or Our Nationhood Defined (1939) - a book that was influenced by elusive domestic and international politics of the time. This book represented neither Guruji's views, nor that of the RSS. He did accede to this when he revealed that the book carried not his own views, but was "an abridged version of GD Savarkar's work, Rashtra Mimansa". Yet, secularist social scientists find great solace in quoting from this book, while passing their judgement on Guruji.

The journey of Guruji's thoughts began with his succession as the RSS Sarsanghachalak in 1940 and continued till 1973 when he died. Ironically, his 33-year long journey has been ignored by the secularists. Guruji himself pointed out the malicious campaign against the RSS: "(The) aim of the Sangh is the same re-establishing the integrated feeling of oneness of the nation which has been flowing down since time immemorial. Some suspicions have been roused with regard to this because the government and certain important members of the ruling party (Congress) and some other political parties have maliciously described it as subversive." There is, therefore, the lack of objective assessment of Guruji, who encapsulated his ideological mission as "Worship the Nation", "Worship the Ideal". Calling him a communal is like calling a cow a fox.

Guruji represents Hindutva, which provides immense space and opportunities to sub-identities, sub-cultures, languages, personal laws, cults and philosophies to endure and flourish. He never formulated any separate ideological stream, which could be dubbed as "Golwalkarism".

Guruji's thoughts on secularism and nationalism are not only inseparable from the ideology of the RSS, but also tradition of cultural nationalism. Jalalul Haq writes in Nation-Worship in India: "Nearly all the thinkers beginning from Bankim Chandra to Bipin Chandra Pal (and Aurobindo Ghosh) to Annie Besant conceived the cult of nationalism as the purest form of religion and 'nation' as the supreme deity." In fact, Guruji is integrally associated with the Hindu thought process.

Guruji raised a fundamental question regarding the post-Partition Muslim mindset, when he asked, "Is it true that all pro-Pakistani elements have gone away to Pakistan? It was the Muslims in Hindu majority provinces led by UP that provided the spearhead for the movement for Pakistan right from the beginning. And they have remained solidly here even after Partition. In fact, Muslims of Punjab, Bengal, Sind and NWFP, which went over to Pakistan, had rejected the Muslim League in 1937 elections."

Sardar Patel, too, had warned Muslims in the Constituent Assembly, thus: "If the process that was adopted, which resulted in the separation of the country, is to be repeated then I say: Those who want that kind of thing have a place in Pakistan not here. Here we are building a nation and we are laying the foundations of one nation, and those who choose to divide again and sow the seeds of disruption will have no place, no quarter, here."

Guruji advised Indian Muslims to identify themselves with the culture and people of India. He said, "It is obvious that Indian history does not begin with Mahmud Ghazni." Patel endorsed the view as he advised Muslims to "change" their "attitude" and "adapt" themselves "to the changed conditions". 

Guruji's faith in cultural nationalism remained unshaken even during Partition. He did not regard it as a solution and believed that the cultural foundation of the country would one day overpower religious separatism.

(The above is excerpted from Shri Guruji and Indian Muslims, Suruchi Prashan, New Delhi, 2006, with the permission of the writer)

03-22-2006, 03:58 AM

QUOTEWhoâs a communalist?
Pioneer
SirâSecularism is a much-maligned word in the Indian context. Almost all political parties including the Muslim League and the Communists â with the exception of the BJP â are members of the elite club of secularists. The word has been politicised to such an extent that any Hindu community or organisation professing the Hindu dharma invites opprobrium of âcommunalistsâ. 
Secularism has become the distinctive banner under which all deracinated pseudo-intellectuals flock together for their nefarious ends, after shedding their communal and criminal outfits temporarily. When the secular abracadabra is invoked, even the worst communal and political sinners are absolved of their sins. Now Ms Jaya Bachchan, recently disqualified from the Rajya Sabha, has approached the Supreme Court seeking the definition of the term âoffices of profitâ. Likewise, it is time the BJP-ruled states and the VHP moved the apex court for its considered opinion on the meaning of the terms âsecularismâ and âcommunalismâ so as to enable the Hindu organisations to wipe out the stigma of communalism thrust upon them and to expose the real communalists.
N Krishnan

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