3. Book Review
Bunch of Thoughts by R.S.S. Chief
Golwalkar Guruji
Jagarana Prakashana,
Second Edition, 1980
3.1 Introduction
The R.S.S. was
started in November 1925 at
In the second
edition, we find that fifteen new chapters and forty-five pages of questions
and answers have been added. If the reader has any comments or suggestions whom
should he write? We find no answer to this question.
3.2 General
Impression
(A) In the
preface we are told that the book has been translated into Hindi, Bengali, Marathi,
Gujrathi, Tamil,Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. but NOT Punjabi - why? Has the R.S.S. fallen prey to
(B) On pages XIV
and XV we find a brief life sketch of Guruji, but it does not tell us when he
was born, where he was educated, when he obtained his M.Sc. degree, why he
resigned his job in Benares Hindu University (after all it was not a Government
Service), when he came in contact with Dr. Hedgewar and most important of all
why he was chosen by Dr. Hedgewar to succeed him. It is at this stage that an
inquisitive reader starts to become a sceptic.
Guruji in his
letter of 2nd September 1931 writes to Mr. Vamanrao Deshpande, "... I have
a temporary job as a demonstrator in the Biology Department. This post will
continue till February 1932, may be a year longer..."
In fact the job
lasted till the end of January 1933 and thereafter Guruji returned to his
hometown
(C) On page xii
the compiler says, "We do not claim any systematic presentation, much less
a thorough and exhaustive exposition of the topics under each head..."
We can appreciate
the latter, but if the compiler admits that he has not systematically presented
the material, the reader is hardly going to feel enthusiastic.
At the end of the
book there is no index. It is a 'must' for a book like this. A chronology also
would be useful.
(E.) On pages 613
to 627 Dr. Hedgewar's life sketch is given. How is that a "thought"
of Guruji?
(F) There seem to
be no "thoughts" during the crucial period 1940-50.
One is not sure
whether it was Guruji who sometimes held one- sided views or whether it is the
compiler who is presenting them that way.
For example, on
page 139 we find :-
"... Prominent Sikhs are demanding and
agitating for a separate sectarian Sikh state - though under the garb of a
linguistic state, the Punjabi Suba..."
But when Guruji
came to Pune (
(H) Details of
various speeches from which the "thoughts" are presented must be
given.
(I) As the
"thoughts" are based on events, the accuracy, authenticity and
historicity of them is important, especially as we Hindus are incredible, unbelievable
people. We always care about the well being of others (including our sworn
enemies) at our cost even if it means our destruction. There is no other
community in the world like us.
If well known
fairy tales are mentioned to emphasise a point, of course, no details are
necessary.
(J) Lack of
details of historical events is striking. This makes it almost impossible to
believe the "thoughts". The events may be fresh in the minds of the
people when Guruji delivered his lectures. But our memories fade away with
time. Moreover, how is one born in say 1960, to remember the events of 1940,
let alone understand them? Such men and
women would today be holding positions of Executive Engineers or
equivalent. The book fails to impress
them - What to say of less capable persons? It is therefore essential to answer
the questions - who? where? and when? Let us see some examples to illustrate
this most important drawback.
p.91 Once (when?) there was an education
conference.
p124 Sometime
back (when?) a subtle propaganda was carried on about NEFA insinuating that it
was a godforsaken place. The same story has been repeated in the case of the
pp 130-31 There
are some who have the habit of dubbing us as narrow and parochial in our
outlook because of our insistence on the word 'Hindu.' Pandit Nehru too
levelled the same charge when I met him once (when? where?). He said, "Why
are you always harping upon 'Hindu'? Hindu? We should pull down all such
out-dated barriers". I calmly replied, "I totally agree with you that
we should allow fresh breeze to come in from all quarters. And I must say it is
our so-called narrow national outlook which will ultimately help raising up our
nation. "Pandit Nehru remarked "Well, I concede that such conviction
is needed to put in determined efforts for any cause". I thanked him for
conceding at least that much. (This is totally unbelievable. Did it ever
happen?)
p.142 The
Christian institutions, which even to this day, fly the Union Jack on August 15
and carry on fanatic Christian propaganda have no fear of losing their
Government grants. (Few examples must be given).
On the other
hand, if a Hindu educational institution starts Hindu prayers and Gita
recitation. Government comes down with a heavy-hand with threats to stop its
grants. (This is unbelievable but true. One such example was published in
Marmik a Marathi weekly of
p146 There is a
Victory Pillar near
p167 An eminent
American Professor (who?) once asked me (when?) the question "Muslims and
Christians are of this land alone. Why don't you consider them as of your
own?"
pp 168-9 - Over a
hundred years ago, some Germans settled there (i.e. in
p174 - Once
(when?) Pandit Nehru had remarked at
….. In spite of
this rational and positive approach, there are some who imagine that the
concept of Hindu Nation is a challenge to the very existence of the Muslim and
the Christian co-citizens and they will be thrown out and exterminated. (Dear, oh
dear. Nehru was just such a man)
p191 Guruji
mentions a disgraceful incidence here. But once again he is vague about the
details. He says - to cite an instance, in those days (year?) a Hindu girl was
abducted by a Muslim in NWFP and the problem was posed before the Central
Assembly (by whom?) where our prominent leaders (who?) were present. A Muslim
Congress leader (who?) lightly brushed aside the incident saying "After
all boys are boys and girls are girls.” At that insulting remark not one of the
Hindu leaders present there raised a voice of protest. None dared to ask why,
if it was just a case of boys and girls it always happened that the Muslim boys
kidnapped only Hindu girls and not Muslim girls? On the other hand, they
enjoyed the remark as a piece of humour! (Guruji forgets one thing - those
leaders were NOT Hindu leaders. They were Congress leaders. They despised the
word Hindu).
p.192 In fact
history was 'invented' to suit their slogan of Hindu-Muslim unity. To give an
example of one such invention, a well known scholar of our country (who?) has
written (where?) that there is hardly an instance on record to show that Hindus
were forcibly made to embrace Islam!
p200 - Once
(when?) a prominent leader (who?) suggested to us, "Of course we have no
objective to what you propound regarding the Hindu Nation and all that. But why
not put the same diplomatically as 'Bharatiya' instead of 'Hindu’ as the latter appears offensive these
days". And he also quoted the famous Sanskrit axiom of na bruyad
satyamapriyam. (one should not utter unpleasant truth). What a fine way of
circumventing truth
(But is this not
what Guruji did himself? Did he not
bless the founding of Bharatiya Jan Sangh in order to defeat Hindu
Maha-Sabha?).
pp206-7 Once
(when?) we invited a prominent Congress leader (who?) who later became an
important Central Cabinet Minister - to preside over one of our functions at
(How many RSS
workers believe in this story?)
P231 Assurance
given by the Education Minister of U.P. (who?) for the removal from the
textbooks of references to our national heroes and the Banning of celebration
of Hindu festivals in schools, (when and to whom was the assurance given?)
p232 The Chief
Minister of
Chapter
XVI Internal Threats.
p.240 Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru gave the Muslim League a clean chit of patriotism saying that
it was not the old Muslim League but a new patriotic party devoted to their
community and religion! (when did Nehru
say this?)
p 242 . One of
our Central Ministers (who?) declared "Every Muslim life is sacred to
us".
p 248 .Our late
President Dr. Rajendra Prasad, had once gone to
p249 - There is
the case of a village (no name?) where, in the last census, (when?) the
Christian missionaries got the whole population entered as Christians.
p 251 ... Some
years ago (when?) the Madhya Pradesh Government appointed a committee to report
on the activities of these Christian missionaries.
p 254 -In a
pamphlet circulated at an international gathering of Christian Fathers in
Some time back
(when?) news had leaked out in papers that an agreement had been reached
between the Christian missions in our country and the Muslim League that the
two should join together and between themselves partition the country.
pp 254-5 A few
years ago, (when?) there was an All-India Conference of Christians (where?)
wherein they were called upon to pledge themselves to establish Christian
Empire in Bharat. And one of our central Ministers (who?) was present there to
bless the proceedings.
pp 283-4 - Once
(when?) a prominent leader of Andhra (who?) had publicly declared that if a
separate
pp 287-8 - One of
the leaders of
p. 289 .Already
in the case of Berubari we have seen the constitution being amended to empower
the parliament - which in fact means the ruling party - to give away parts of
our motherland to foreign states. (Where on earth is Beruari? When was the
constitution being amended? Who was advocating such an amendment? What was the foreign state?)
p 310 --And as
for violence in speech there appears to be no limit to it. Pandit Jawaharalal
Nehru once (when?) publicly appealed to political leaders in the country to be
restrained in their criticisms. And it
was he who condemned those who differed from his political views as gaddar i.e.
traitors! (where? when?)
p311 --Sri C.
Rajagopalachari has stated (where? when?) that: he would prefer partition of the country to what
he calls 'imposition of Hindi'.
Chapter XXI The One Answer to Many Challenges
p 334 -- Recently
(when?) a few Muslim gentlemen (no names?) some of them belonging to the ruling party also, have
objected to the singing of the present fraction of Vande Mataram in the Urdu
schools of Bombay Corporation.
p348 --Once
(when?) during the war, English planes were seen flying over
(How can we
accept this incredible story without some reference?)
Chapter
XXIV Fight to Win (I)
p388 --Recently
(when?) our worthy Home Minister (who?) said many [things against political
parties in the Rajya Sabha and subsequently a secret circular was circulated by
the Congress that all those who criticise the Government and Pandit Nehru
should be treated as traitors. Pandit Nehru has, no doubt, in his reply to
Acharya Ranga's letter of objection, said that the expression was improper. But
mark, he has only said 'improper' and not 'untrue.'
p463 --Some years
ago (when?) news had appeared in papers that a prominent social worker (who?)
along with a group of untouchables and non-Hindus wanted to make a forcible
entry into the
p. 464 There was
a case of sacrifice of a Harijan youth in one of the villages in
p471 -- Our
Government recognises the existence of the Christians but not of the Hindus.
The Government has classified all the non-Christians as tribals as distinct
from Hindus. (Very important, but no references!)
p519 --When ban
was imposed on the Sangh and I was put behind the bars. (what year?)
p526 --The
gentleman who had manoeuvred to divert to Pakistan a shipload of arms bound for
our country, when he was our ambassador there, was later appointed as the
Governor of one of our states' (How
vague and unimpressive can one be! What
was the name of the traitor? Where and when
was he our ambassador? Of what state was he made the Governor?)
p527 --Once in
1937, in a province having the Congress ministry, police firing was ordered to
suppress a political agitation. A gentleman (who?) wrote to the Congress
President (who?) asking how a Government run by Congress committed to
non-violence could resort to firing. The Congress President replied, "Our
policy of non-violence is applicable only towards the British and not towards
our people". And that gentleman published the correspondence in papers.
(The story is true but without reference and details no one will believe it)
3.3 Comments and criticism. (Thoughts on "Thoughts")
After reading
"Bunch of Thoughts" we feel it necessary to comment on what has been
and has not been said in the book so that the reader would get a true picture
of the subject matter.
3.3.1 Historical Mistakes
p80 --Veer
Savarkarji wrote a beautiful book 'Hindutva' and Hindu Mahasabha based itself
on that pure philosophy of Hindu Nationalism. But in its
[Our comment -
What Guruji is suggesting here is distasteful and false, Veer Savarkar's book
Hindutva came out in 1923 when Guruji was a boy of seventeen. Judging by the
contents of the above paragraph it seems that Guruji is referring to a session
of Hindu Mahasabha after 1923. Mr. Indu Prakash published a book in 1966
entitled “Hindu Mahasabha, its contribution to
It is true that
"Hinduism is Nationalism" was not engrained in the minds of Hindu
Mahasabha followers in the early years. But the same also applies to the
R.S.S., which was founded in 1925. How can an organisation restricted to Hindus
only be called National? As the R.S.S. admits only Hindus is it not a communal
organisation? Those questions were being raised by staunch Hindus in 1931. This
situation was changed by Barbarao Savarkar (elder brother of Veer
Savarkar). His formidable research work
'Rashtra Mimansa’ came out in 1934. In it he proved that in
Moreover, what
Hindu Mahasabha leaders have been saying all along is this: if congress
represents all the sections of Indian society it should not recognise the
Muslim League as representing the Muslims. But if it does, Congress
automatically ceases to represent the Hindus also and must recognise Hindu
Mahasabha as representing the Hindus. It is distressing to see that Guruji is
misquoting this clear cut position of Hindu - Mahasabha
p114 --The
founder of Islam too was a great and powerful man. He could inspire those uncivilised
people, torn asunder by feuds and factions, with the sense of human values
and roused in them the urge and the organised power to build empires. (This is
utter nonsense. Arabs were civilised
people. It was Islam that induced barbarism, bigotry and intolerance in Arabs)
p 144 -- Even in
the last-ditch battle between the Hindus and the British at
p355 -- When
Chengiz Khan was planning to invade our country he came to know that a large
number of people here had embraced Buddhism.
So he made a show of becoming a Buddhist and then invaded. Many of the Buddhists here, seeing that he
was their co-religionist, went forward to welcome him. The result was, Chengiz
Khan could raise mountain-high heaps of human heads - all under the non-violent
cover of Buddhism
(This is
preposterous. It never happened. Gulam
dynasty kings were then on the throne of
3.3.2 Reactionary Hinduism
This unfortunate
title has been given to some "thoughts" on pages 79/80. Guruji is
trying to say that instead of reacting to external forces from time to time,
there should be continuous daily preachings, meetings and group prayers as
practiced by the R.S.S. This is only partly true.
We Hindus did not
(and still do not) react vigorously to atrocities committed on us by our
enemies as any other community would. If we did, we would not be facing
insults, abuses and humiliations even today. In May 1988 human excreta was
thrown at Dagadu Halvai’s
After the defeat
of
Guruji says
"even if Prophet Mohammed had not been born and Islam had not come into existence,
we would have taken up this work just as we are doing it today". This may have happened but then the R.S.S.
would have been an organisation similar to the Scouts movement or a Red Cross
Society or a Sadhu Samaj. Its work being undertaken by the Educational
Institutions, as in most countries.
We must remember
that R.S.S. came into being in the wake of barbarous Muslim riots. By the mid
1920s Muslim riots occurred almost weekly. In August 1921 there were Mopla
riots in Malbar. In June 1923 there were riots in Sarhanpur. In August 1924
there were riots in
3.3.3 Soft spot for Gandhi
Gandhi proved to
be a curse on Hindus. And yet Guruji had deep reverence for him and this has
led him to hide Gandhi's name and at times even lie.
P191 - Once a notable Hindu personality of those
days in a largely attended public meeting declared "There is no saran
without Hindu- Muslim unity and the simplest way in which this unity can be
achieved is for all Hindus to become Muslims;" (This notable Hindu
personality was none other than Gandhi)
pp
240-241---During the twenties, in a bid to win the friendship of Muslims, our
leaders had called upon the Hindus to take up the Kilowatt movement, (a
movement against the British who had dethroned the King in
p363 -- Gandhiji
too preached in the same strain. Once
when the Muslims went on a rampage and attacked the Hindus in Ahmedabad, the
Hindus began fleeing from their hearths
and homes. Gandhiji castigated them saying "why are you behaving like
cowards? You take my name and repeat the
word ahimsa parrot like and run for your life under that shelter. My non-violence is not of the cowards, it is
of the brave. Instead of running away in such a cowardly fashion it would be
far better for you to fight, to kill and get killed".
[Our comment -
THIS IS A DOWNRIGHT LIE: Never in his life did Gandhi advocate that Hindus must
fight Muslim aggression. Very conveniently Guruji does not say when this
incidence took place.
It seems that
there were Muslim riots in
Speaking at a
public meeting at
3.3.4 R.S.S. and Gandhi
Gandhi's thoughts
are well known for contradictions and vagueness. It is dangerous to draw any
conclusion from a single quotation. One must examine the events of forty years
(1908-48) before assigning any meaning to Gandhi’s preachings.
On pages 97/98
Guruji tells us:
“ Why go so
far? The present leaders of Congress
were at one time men of great sacrifice and patriotism. The people also were
inspired to follow the path of virtue because of their glowing examples. But
what is their fate today? Corruption, nepotism and lust for power has become
counter- part in their ranks. That is why Gandhiji had advised Congress on the
advent of Swaraj either to disband itself or strictly keep itself aloof from
power. But his wholesome advice was too bitter a pill to swallow for his
followers who had tasted the spoils of power.”
On pages 309/310
Guruji repeats this theme and adds – “ the principles of truth, non-violence, character, patriotism
have all vanished into thin air.”
[Our comments -
Nothing can be farther from the truth. The crucial elections of 1945/6 were
fought on the question of partition. Congress Party won the elections by
pretending to be staunch Hindus and declaring that they will never consent to
partition. And yet in May 1947 Nehru and Patel shamelessly accepted partition.
When they agreed to Mountbatten's proposal it happened to be Monday - Gandhi's
day of silence. How convenient! Of course when it came to making concessions to
Jinnah, Gandhi would talk to him on Monday – (e.g. September 1944). But when
fate of millions was being decided, Gandhi could not break his silence! And next day it was too late. Gandhi said - What can/do? Patel and Nehru have already agreed to partition. If he had any scruples he would have said -
You won the elections by promising that there will be no partition. You cannot
betray the people and enjoy power. If
you want to agree to partition you must resign and face fresh elections. Gandhi did no such thing. And yet Guruji
wants us to believe that Gandhi told Congress men to stay away from power as
power corrupts!
Guruji has given
us a glimpse of the Gandhian meaning of "non-violence" on page 527.
The less said about that humbug the better. The same applies to congress men's
"character". The bigotry, intolerance and hypocrisy, which Gandhi
brought with him, were unknown in Indian politics till the end of Tilak's days.
We have explained it to some extent in our Newsletter No. 16 (Intolerant Gandhi). What 'character' is implied when Congressites
like Pattabhi Sitaram-Ayya had the audacity to say that Indian Freedom struggle
started only in 1920? (i.e. when Tilak died and Gandhi came to prominence)
As for patriotism
of Congressites, Guruji misses the crucial point. The only test for
patriotism is the protection of the interests of the Hindus. If a person
had given up his rich practice as a barrister for the freedom struggle but kept
quiet or turned a blind eye to abduction and violation of Hindu women we must
dismiss his sacrifice at once. This attitude is vital if we have to survive as
Hindus. Before we praise or evaluate the work of any leader, we must ask the
fundamental question - what did he or she do for the Hindus? International
stature, modern ideas, economic advancement and other phrases are useless for
us.
We must emphasise
that corruption and nepotism are bad. But despite these vices
3.3.5 R.S.S. and Politics
Time after time
R.S.S. leaders have proclaimed that R.S.S. is not interested in politics. The same theme is repeated on page 672.
Howsoever we detest the politicians it is a fact of modern life that everyone
has to take an interest in politics. Even the charities cannot remain aloof.
They depend on the Government for tax concessions, for taking action against
unscrupulous collectors who give them a bad name.
R.S.S. may not
take part in elections but it must act as a pressure group to protect the
interests of Hindus. It must not shy away from this if it wants to have any
impact on public life. Let us take some examples -
Partition of
On page 285
Guruji tells us how Sylhet district of Assam went to
Lust for power or
political office by any means is one thing, and not to accept power even in a
life or death situation is quite another thing. R.S.S. policy had been the
latter.
3.3.6 R.S.S. and Babarao Savarkar
Some aspects
normally known only to Maharashtrians have to be stated here. Babarao Savarkar,
elder brother of Veer Savarkar was sent to transportation for life, for his
revolutionary activities in June 1909. There was no direct evidence but he was
sentenced on Government interpretation of two poems. On 21 December 1909
Babarao suffered
terribly and contracted many diseases. After the public agitation in
In January 1922,
after public outcry, he was transferred to Sabarmati jail. By September it
became clear that he would not survive for more than a few days and he was
released.
Despite having
suffered so much, Babarao rested for only one year. In 1923-24 he started an
organisation of young Hindus, entitled Tarun Hindu Sabha. When the R.S.S. was
started by Dr. Hedgewar in 1925 in
In 1931 Babarao
went to
Babarao had hand
in some major policy decisions. He
pleaded for the separate identities of Hindu Mahasabha and the R.S.S. He also emphasised
that R.S.S. should remain under the direction of one leader only. He was
present at many Officers Training Camps. On a number of occasions he dispelled
public misgivings about R.S.S. Dr. Hedgewar passed away on 21st June. 1940.
What would happen to R.S.S.? Babarao sent his scheme to Advocate Kelkar of
Nagpur. He too wanted Guruji to succeed Dr. Hedgewar, but wanted an advisory
body of some prominent men like Kakarao Hedgewar, Shree Ghatate, Shree Padhye
and Baburao Kelkar. Guruji succeeded Dr Hedgewar but there was no advisory
board (And now R.S.S. started to drift away from the intentions of its
founders. Only six months earlier i.e. in January 1940, there were elections
for office bearers of Hindu Mahasabha. Guruji, despite the support of Babarao,
got forty votes while Indra Prakash got eighty votes. Guruji now became anti
Hindu Mahasabha, anti Savarkar).
On 1 June 1942
Babarao's famous book ‘Hindu Nation: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’, only to be
proscribed three months later. In it, this is what he says about R.S.S. -
"It has
attracted many men. It has taught military discipline to thousands of
youngsters. It has kept the flame of Hinduism burning. But it should not now
feel satisfied with mere numbers of disciplined men. One by one R.S.S. must try
its strength by undertaking various tasks. It must create experts in various fields.
R.S.S. workers have vowed to protect Hindu religion and culture. They must
therefore protect Hindus from aggression of foreigners (Muslims). If this
happens R.S.S. will flourish and progress. Otherwise it will stop to grow and
with that the aspirations of the Hindu Society will be dashed..."
[Note - Babarao's
fears were justified. Mr Jagannath Prasad Varma, a Hindu Mahasabha leader of
By July 1944
Babarao's health grew very serious. Next month he was sent to
Guruji was
greatly touched. On 16th March 1945 Babarao passed away.
Professor D.N.
Gokhale of
1979 was the
centenary year of Babarao's birth. Professor D N Gokhale published a second
edition of Babarao's biography (in Marathi) including the two missing pages.
But R.S.S. behaved as if Babarao never existed. Just a year later Mr Malkani
published his book "The R.S.S. Story". There is no mention of Babarao. Our letter to
him on this subject remains un-replied.
Babarao's name
has been excluded from the morning prayer pratasmaran of R.S.S. It
includes the names of great men who inspire us. Surprising enough it even
includes the name of Gandhi but not of Babarao.
3.3.7 No
respect for and no credit given to Veer Savarkar.
Just like
Babarao, Veer Savarkar too is not included in the pratasmaran of R.S.S.
They cannot find anything inspiring in his life long struggle for protecting
and defending the rights of Hindus
1983 was the
centenary year of Veer Savarkar's birth. In August, 1984 some six thousand
Swayamsevaks (workers) had gathered in
|
pp. 128-130 - |
Explanation of
Arya, Bharatiya, Hindu. See
"Hindutva" by Veer Savarkar, published 1923. |
|
pp.
194-196 ) and pp.
394-395) |
Appeasement
whets appetite. Savarkar had
said this all along his life. |
pp. 225-226
)-Hindus have no divided loyalty. Savarkar said this all the time.
|
pp 225 -.226 |
Conversion
subverts loyalty Savarkar said
this publicly in 1951 and he warned about the activities of Christian
Missionaries as early as 1937. |
|
pp. 233 -256 |
Internal
threats : The Muslims The
Christians Savarkar had
expounded these thoughts all along his life. |
|
p. 231 |
Falsification
of history.
Savarkar warned about this tendency in 1937. |
|
pp. 236 - 237 |
Muslim game in Savarkar warned
about this in 1941. |
|
pp. 372-376 |
-Martyrs Savarkar said
this in his book "Tejasvi Tare" (1929) also in a public speech in |
|
pp. 473-474 |
- Importance of
census for Hindus. Savarkar
explained this at the time of census of 1931. |
And because of
this contempt for Savarkar, R.S.S. has still got foolish notions about the
perpetual threats - Muslims and Christians.
Let us see how.
3.3.8 Danger from the Muslims
It is astonishing
that despite the bitter experience of the psyche of Muslims (say from
1920-1970) Guruji should be so complacent. In the preface to the second edition
we find - page vii ...” Guruji in his reply to one of his queries of Sri
Jeelany (an Arab journalist) had suggested, "Can we not share each others
festivals? (The answer is No according to Koran). Our most popular social
festival is Holi. Suppose in this Holi festival a Muslim sprinkled with a
little coloured water. Do you think that the injunctions of the Koran are violated? (Once again the answer is Yes. Did Guruji
ever read any translation of Koran?) Why not regard it as a social affair? “
The compiler
carries on “The post Emergency Holi and Raksha Bandhan, at quite a few places
have indeed witnessed such touching scenes. It must be noted that some of these
programmes were attended by dignitaries from Muslim community mainly because of
the initiative taken by the R.S.S. and the close links established between the
leaders of R.S.S. and the Muslims.”
— —
[Our comment -
What we are not told is how short lived was this atmosphere. R.S.S. workers,
like the blind followers of Gandhi Nehru and Company are still running after
the mirage of Hindu Muslim unity! Remember nothing, learn nothing. We quote a
famous example towards the end of World War II. Dr. N.B. Khare, a staunch
Hindu, was a member of the Viceroy's council during May 1943 - June 1946. He
was in charge of the Department of Indians overseas. Due to war ships were
requisitioned for carrying soldiers, arms, ammunition and supplies. Moreover,
there was danger from submarines and torpedoes. So Indian Muslims could not
make their Haj pilgrimage to
And yet, just
three years later the same Muslims were after Khare's blood. Only soldiers with
fixed bayonets saved him from being lynched. [Ref. My Political Memoirs by Dr.
N.B. Khare, 1971, pp.214 and 310]
It is worth
noting that the same British administration banned the famous Hindu pilgrimage
to Pandharpur in
Let us return to
the post emergency situation. Mrs. Gandhi declared a state of emergency on 21
June. 1975 so that she could stay in power. It was lifted in February. 1977.
During this eighteen-month period a friendship developed between R.S.S. workers
and some Muslims who were imprisoned in the same jails. Elections to Indian
Parliament were held in early 1977 at which Janata Party won handsomely and
Mrs. Gandhi and her Congress Party lost heavily. R.S.S. was largely responsible for Janata
Party's success. And yet Muslim riots continued unabated. That is the
truth. Over the next two years there were Muslim riots in Benaras, Sambal,
Aligad. Jamshetpur, Krishnanagar,
Here are some
details:
In October 1977
there was a procession of a Hindu idol, which was taken out with police
permission. While passing through a Muslim locality, Muslims objected to it and
refused to allow it to pass. When with the help of the Police, the procession
restarted, Muslims threw stones on it from their roadside housetops and the
idol was smashed to pieces. Many Hindus and even some Policemen were injured.
In March- 1978
Muslims started a riot at Sambal, a Taluka place in Moradabad District (Utter
Pradesh). One Government officer had refused an application of a local Muslim.
That was sufficient cause to declare hartal and Muslims tried to force the
Hindu shopkeepers to close their shops - when they refused to do so, Muslims
started looting and burning their shops.
It was a weekly bazaar day at Sambal and many villagers from nearby
places had come to Sambal for shopping.
When the riot started, these villagers took refuge in a nearby sugar
factory. When Muslim rioters reached
that place they surrounded the factory and killed some hundred persons and
threw their bodies in a nearby lake. Three days later the bodies were taken out
and burnt.
In October 1978 a
wrestling match took place between a Hindu and a Muslim and the Muslim was
defeated. The Muslim mob became enraged
and murdered the Hindu wrestler. The riot continued for several days and was instigated
by those residing in
In May 1979
serious riots took place at these two places.
[Ref. - Hindu
Nationalism - a view point by S.R. Date, 1984, pp.31/32]
Thus the romance
between R.S.S. workers and the Muslims did not last for even one year. In fact,
in 1977 there were 188 Muslim riots, 36 people were
killed and 1122
injured. In 1978 there were 219 Muslim riots, 108 people
were killed and
1807 injured.
3.3.9 Danger from Christians
R.S.S. is just as
smug about Christians as it is about Muslims. On page viii there is reference
to an interview of the Archbishop of Ernakulam appearing under the caption
"Silent Revolution in Indian Churches" (Indian Express, 5th December 1978) in which he
has highlighted the new trends of falling in line with the Hindu mainstream,
such as singing bhajans, performing arati, adopting Hindu names, using Sanskrit
expressions and so on, among the religious customs and modes of Christians in
Bharat. He has justified with pride these new changes by saying, "The
church has to become more and more local, drawing its cultural nourishment from
the local soil. It is in the fitness of things to draw on the rich resources of
Hindus.
[Our comment -
How blind to reality can one be? A very informative article on the same subject
appeared in 3rd December 1983 issue of Manoos, a Marathi weekly of Pune (
Mr. Ajit Kanitkar
of Trivendram writes - Cardinal Joseph Parakattil heads
the movement for
Indianisation. In a book entitled The Church in
Cultural
Integration (1971) the Cardinal says -
". if
Christianity has to make headway in the nationalistic
In other words,
despite the prolonged work of the missionaries, not many Hindus have embraced
Christianity. To make conversion easy
Christians should appear to be identical with Hindus. The missionaries have made a long list -
You may pray on the floor
Greetings can be made with palms touching
each other (namaskar)
It is permissible to remove footwear
before entering a church
Like Hindus you may use essence, lamp and
offerings (dhoop, deep,
naivaidya)
Prayers can be in Sanskrit - You may say
Aum Yeshu Christaya Namah / Aum
Meriputraya Namah
Christian institutions should use Hindu
names like
Jyotiniliyam Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Nirmala
Bhavan.
(A church in Kanyakumari is called Puneet
Mata Upakar Church )
Motto of a Christian school in Trivendram
is
Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya
Hindu names are OK
Missionaries should wear saffron colour
clothes, nuns should
wear
saffron colour saries. They also should
wear khadi clothes
on certain occasions.
Kathakali dances depict episodes from
Ramayan and Mahabharat.
But now a Kathakali dance shows the last
days of Jesus.
Like Bhagvad-Gita a ‘Giri Gita’ has been
written in Sanskrit. It is sermon
on the mount of the New Testament.
All this
appearance is only for increasing the rate of conversion to Christianity.
Cardinal
Parakattil says further in his book -
"There are
those... they will naturally feel that this is a stunt, a trick by which we
wish to trap them into conversion. This objection is no doubt a serious
one...Church will not have her true identity in
How gullible
should we be!]
--------------------------
3.3.10 Misconceptions about Sardar Patel
Hindus have a
soft corner for Sardar Patel. But this
is, on the whole, unwarranted. Guruji simply repeats the misconceptions. On
pages 238-239 he tells us - "An incident happened in the wake of the massacres
and mass expulsion of Hindus from
Needless to say,
all our workers were released soon after. We were fortunate that we had in
Sardar Patel a person with an iron will to face the reality in those days."
[Our comment - This
is a gross misrepresentation of facts. In the crucial elections of 1945/6
Sardar Patel solemnly promised that he will never surrender to the Muslim
League demand for partition - "Sword will be met with sword". That
was his famous slogan. Gullible Hindus believed such propaganda and voted the
Congress Party into power. And what was power used for? For crushing the Muslim
League? Oh no: For crushing the Hindu Mahasabha who fought
tooth and nail to prevent partition. Patel became Home Minister in the Viceroys
Council on 2nd September 1946.
On 2nd October
1946 (Gandhi's birthday) police raided Veer Savarkar's house and arrested his
secretary, Mr G H Damle and bodyguard, Mr Appa Kasar. At the same time
"Agrani" the paper of Nathuram Godse and Nana Apte, was asked to
provide a cash security bond for 6000 Rupees, by Morarji Desai, the then Home
Minister of Bombay. On Desai's orders Savarkar's
house was kept under strict police surveillance ever since congress came to
power. But there was no restriction on the activities of the Muslim League
who had their headquarters in Bombay. Jinnah declared 16th August 1946 as a
day of Direct Action. This resulted in the Great Calcutta killing - some 5,000 Hindus were killed and 15,000
injured - and yet no action was taken against the Muslim League. There were
serious Muslim riots in
necessary to
visit the riot affected area (218 Hindus were killed, 653 injured). There was
mass killing of Hindus in Naokhali and
Nehru said,
"I will bomb the Hindus of Bihar" but said nothing about the
atrocities on Hindus in Naokhali and
In May 1947
Morarji Desai demanded a cash security bond of 20,000 Rupees from the English
paper Maratha (of late Lokamanya Tilak). And at the same time he confiscated
previous 5,000 rupees case security of that paper.
On 3rd June Patel
and Nehru officially accepted partition. They must have obviously accepted it
in secret some time between 22nd March and 3rd June. It became more imperative to crush
anti-partition newspapers. In July Morarji Desai confiscated the 6,000 Rupees
cash security of Agrani and closed down that paper. Nathuram Godse promptly
started a new paper "Hindu Rashtra" the very next day (16th July
1947). Other Marathi newspapers like KAL, KESARI and TRIKAL were similarly
harassed.
Further events in
brief.
15th August 1947
- Partition - Dominions of India and
Patel was
minister for Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting. Using his powers he
imposed virtual censorship on newspapers.
All India Radio was under his direct control. He ensured that the news of Muslim atrocities
on Hindus was systematically suppressed day in and day out. He was impotent to
stop atrocities on Hindus but he made sure that Hindus of India did not know
about them and did not take revenge on Muslims in India, he was responsible for
relations with various princely states and using strong arm tactics (i.e. the
Indian Army Units stationed in the states) he ensured that power was
transferred into the hands of Congress Party followers only. A striking example is
January 1948
Gandhi's infamous
fast unto death to force the Government of India to give 55 crore rupees to
This took place
in the special court from 22nd June 1948 to 10th February 1949. There was an attempt to implicate Savarkar
but it failed and he was exonerated. Let
us assume that Patel was helpless and had to include Savarkar in the list of
those accused. But how can anyone
justify what followed?
As soon as he was
declared innocent Savarkar was served with a notice under an order of the Delhi
Magistrate prohibiting him from leaving the Red Fort area. And thus Patel
ensured that there was no public jubilation. A few hours later, by another
order under the Punjab Public Security Measures Act, Savarker was externed and
was prohibited from entering the Delhi area for a period of three months and
was escorted by police straight to his house in Bombay.
1948/49
R.S.S. was
declared illegal by Patel on 4th February 1948. In November 1948 a Satyagraha
(civil disobedience) was started and eventually the R.S.S. ban was lifted on
11th July. 1949, i.e. a full five months after Savarkar was declared innocent.
In May 1949, Government of East Punjab banned public celebrations of Savarkar’s
birthday.
1950
March - East Bengal (now
April 2nd - Nehru
Meets Liaquat Ali (Prime Minister of
4th - Savarkar is arrested in
It is against
this background that we have to examine Guruji's remarks about Sardar Patel. Patel was not an alien from some distant
lands. He was born and brought up in
And now let us
turn to the interview, which Saradar Patel gave to Taya Zinkin, reporter of the
Guardian, in those days (April, 1950).
Though Patel had suffered a heart attack only six months earlier, he
came to
"... You
know Gandhi was murdered by one of them. But we are not going to stand any
nonsense. We have no option but to protect our Muslims, no matter what
Taya Zinkin adds
(in 1962) - The refugees of 1948 have not gone back. Indeed another million
and a half have come.
[Ref. - Reporting
We wish to remind
the reader that through Liaquat Ali - Bhulabhai Desai pact of February 1945 the
Muslim League had made considerable progress towards the creation of
On page 239
Guruji says - The Time Bomb
Sardar Patel was
aware that Western U.P. had continued to be a powerful Muslim pocket as before.
He did not want that it should be linked to
allowed to
resettle in
3.3.11 Misconception about Revolutionaries
In Chapter XII
Guruji explains how the Indian freedom struggle became based on negative
nationalism and how this led to disastrous results. Once again this is
one-sided view and not based on correct information. Let us first deal with
the revolutionaries. Savarkar was the Crown Prince of Indian revolutionaries
and not just an isolated revolutionary as depicted on page 185. It is
interesting to know some of his philosophy from his experiences of the prison
in the
Even in the very
harsh prison conditions Savarkar started educating fellow prisoners. He says,
" Being
political prisoners they cared nothing for knowledge. Their motto was action.
What do we want with pure knowledge? They would say, action and sacrifice, that is
what we need...I further brought home to them the fact that if winning
freedom was difficult enough, retaining it after it had been won was more
difficult still... In a free nation no constructive work can be undertaken
by those who were ignorant of subjects like history, economics and science of
politics and government.
I cited them the
instance of
mal-administration,
indiscipline and nepotism in public servants. .... Mere destructive action,
leading to anarchy and the reign of terror and resulting in dictatorship
benefits no nation. On the other hand, it sets back the clock of progress. This
has been ever the lesson of history. And its best illustration is the French
Revolution of 1789. Blind fury is ever national suicide; and if it is not
controlled in time it exposes a country to danger from without as well as to
danger within its own domains. That is the lesson of that revolution for all
time to come.
The story of the
The moderates can
claim among them economists, administrators and statesmen of the highest rank
like Gokhale, R C Dutt, Ranade and Sir T Madhaurao. Have you anyone to rival
them?
Heroism, to do
or die, is not enough.
(Ref. My Transportation for Life, by Veer Savarkar,
1984, pp.164-66)
These are the
POSITIVE thoughts of Savarkar, 13 years before the R.S.S. was born, at a time
when Guruji was only 6 years old. And all this was published as a book in 1927
when Guruji had started studying for M.Sc. It is therefore quite absurd to
suggest that the patriotism of Indian Revolutionaries was based only on the
hatred of the British.
Savarkar came to
To overthrow the
British Raj, when Sun did not used to set on the
During World War
I there were attempts, similar to those of Subhash Chandra Bose twenty years
later. An Indian National Army was to be
formed out of Indian Prisoners of war held by
3.3.12 Misconception about Subhash Chandra Bose
On page 185
Guruji tells us - among them, those who had the positive grasp of our national
life looked for such a revolutionary inspiration within the country, within our
own history just as a Savarkar and a Subhash Chandra Bose were inspired by the
ideal of Shivaji. Subhash Chandra Bose, in one of his last interviews before he
disappeared from our country, had spoken highly about the greatness of Shivaji
and had even declared that we could achieve swaraj only by following the ideals
and methods of Shivaji.
[Our comment - We
cannot find any reference for such an interview. Bose was just as anti- Hindu
as Gandhi and Nehru. When he became President of the Congress Party in 1938,
Hindu-Mahasabha members were barred from Congress. In April:- 1939 Savarkar
started unarmed struggle for the rights of Hindus in
In May: 1939 Bose
was deposed as President of the Congress Party by Gandhi. Two months later he
was deposed as President of Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. After this he
started his own organisation. The Forward Block. Could Hindu Mahasabha members
join it? No! In August 1939, while speaking at Pune (
Bose's letters
and lectures are compiled in the book
In June 1940 Bose
came to
Bose said:
"I represent the Forward Block. I am a Hindu alright.
Jinnah retorted:
"But Forward Block does not represent the Hindus. Moreover you are even ashamed to say that you
are a Hindu -' If Savarkar was to make these concessions it would be quite
different".
After this sharp
rebuff Bose went to see Savarkar (22nd June 1940).
He told Bose -
Why should you give so much importance to an insignificant
man like
Jinnah? A capable man like you should
not rot in
(Howell monument
for the dubious Black-hole of
Even after this,
Bose did not act as he should have. He still went to
If Bose had
really taken inspiration from Shivaji things would have been different.]
3.3.13 Savarkar after
Savarkar openly
disbanded his revolutionary organisation Abhinav Bharat, in May 1952. He said -
For overthrowing a foreign power various actions - secret plots, bomb throwing,
armed revolts, open defiance of laws etc., all are justified. But once independence is achieved the same
methods must be disbanded. The greatest
enemy of independence is anarchy. We in Abhinav Bharat were aware of this since
its inception (i.e. before Guruji was born).
It must also be
remembered that on achieving independence a Ram Rajya cannot be created
overnight... To be impartial, it must be said that if power had been
transferred to a party other than Congress, Hindu Mahasabha, Socialist,
Communist or any other party, they too would have made mistakes, because of
inexperience, temptation of power and other reasons. Just as buckets drawing
water from a lake carry the same water, people in various parties having come
from the same society, would have more or less the same virtues and vices...
No matter what form of government is
adopted, there are bound to be differences of opinion. But now we must sink our differences in the
ballot box.
It is a great pity that though Guruji was
present at this lecture, such positive, constructive thinking is absent from
Bunch of Thoughts.
3.3.14 The Communist Traitors
The Bolshevik
Revolution of 1917 had its repercussions all over the world. We believe it was
Churchill who once said "If in your twenties you are not a communist, it
must be said that you have no heart, but if in your forties you are still a
communist it must be said that you have no brains". It was therefore not
surprising that young Indian intellectuals got attracted to communism. But what was disgusting was their mental
bankruptcy (a phenomenon of Gandhi era). This was exposed time and time again.
Bose himself gave
several reasons why communism will not be adopted in
1) Communism has no sympathy for
nationalism.
2)
in provoking world revolution.
3)
4) Ideas, which will have a contrary
effect. Close association between church
and state. So Russian communism grown
anti-religion and atheistic.
organised church. No association between Church and State in
(i.e. Hindu priests had no political power
in
5) Materialistic interpretation of
history is not acceptable in
6) Weak in some aspects - follows
traditional economics.
Ref. - The Indian Struggle 1920-1942 by S
C Bose
Savarkar had also
exposed the fallacy of thinking of Indian Communists.
1st August 1937
Soviet
Russians say
"Workers of the world unite". Alright. Supposing we take a shipload
of a thousand workers and send them to
Fascism and
Bolshevism These are intractable to us as the philosophical concepts of Dwait
and Adwait. European "isms" will lead us to disaster... At the moment
everyone is concerned about survival of his or her own nations...How does
What is
surprising about the Indian Communists is their failure to follow their -gurus,
the Russians in dealing with Muslims. If they had followed the Russians in this
aspect, things would have been quite different. "Religion is an opium pill"
that is their famous slogan. But they want to apply that to Hindu religion
only. Russians crushed the religious fanaticism of Muslims, Indian
communists encouraged it. Every Muslim riot, they explain, is an explosion
of the suppressed masses. Savarkar asked them time and time again - how come
the rich Muslims escape any damage? Why are their women never abducted or
molested? Why do these rioters only destroy temples and not mosques? Why do
they attack Hindu proletariat if the riots are only caused by economic
reasons? Even those who are called
Pro-Peking refuse to see how the Chinese communist dealt with their Muslims.
3.3.15 Perverted mentality of the Congress
Members
On pp.186-198
Guruji explains how the nationalism of Congress based solely on the hatred of
the British, led to capitulation to Muslims and eventually to tragic partition.
There are some important aspects which are missing:
1. After the
demise of Lokmanya Tilak in August 1920 Gandhi came to the forefront and
literally reduced the Congress Party to a bunch of sheep. Dr. Hedgewar used such words during a public
lecture in Pune on 30th April-1938.
2. Gandhi's
fanatical support for the Khalifat movement had nothing to do with Indian
freedom struggle. One should refer to Dr. Ambedkar's book
3. It was Gandhi
himself who drafted the invitation to Amir of Afghanistan to invade
4. Towards the
end of 1923 Kemal Pasha abolished the Khalifat.
5. It was despite
such tragic failure of Gandhi's policies that Pattabhi Sitaram Ayya, the
congress historian had the audacity to say that the Indian Freedom struggle
started only in 1920. Gandhi never
reprimanded him.
6. Sometime in
1940 Gandhi wrote in Harijan "I will gladly live under the Rule of Jinnah,
as that will be a 100% Indian Raj". (He said the same about Nizam).
Savarkar retorted
- well I am a 100% Indian, so why shouldn't Jinnah live comfortably under
me? (Ref. - Public speech at Salem, 23rd
March; 1940).
7. Savarkar
said on a number of occasions - When I say we want to be free
I don't want
to substitute Aurangzeb and Tipu for George and Edward. We want to be free from the domination
of both. (e.g. Public speech at
23rd March 1940,
8. It was never
pointed out to the Indian Muslims that before the British and the Marathas,
they were not the rulers of