RSS centenary celebration begins

Free Thinker *

In 1925, at Nagpur, Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh popularly known as RSS on Vijayadashami day .i.e., the Dussehra which celebrates the assassination of Sri Ravana in Sri Lanka by Sri Ram for abduction of his wife Sita Mata, the princess of Nepal (& Bihar). This continental set-up must be comprehended for better understanding of the Sanghathan.

The RSS had tough times in its journey striving for its goal for ‘nation first’ and ‘cultural unity’. According to my understanding, the ‘nation’ they are talking about is certainly not a political construct (or Occidental construct).

It has its own Oriental expression which can be understood via a Bharatiya construct based on Common Ancestral Heritage. If I am not wrong RSS believes in cultural nationalism. They believe that the entire Indian sub-continent has a unique culture which binds the people of all colors, caste, creed, community etc.

According to M.G.Vaidya (a veteran RSS Pracharak ) once wrote in his ‘Forwarding’ to Shri Rakesh Sinha’s book “Understanding RSS” that certain fundamental points are to be remembered so that one can understand the true nature and function of the RSS. It should be understood that the RSS never aimed at establishing an organized group within the society. Its mission has been of organizing the entire society.

And everybody knows that any society is a complex existence i.e., it functions through various spheres of activities. Politics is one sphere. There are other spheres also like dharma, education, labour, agriculture, industry etc.

He further stated that there are different constituents of the society, like women, tribals, students, teachers, doctors , lawyers etc,. Organizing the entire society means organizing all these spheres as well as different constituents. The RSS has gradually spread itself in all these spheres. In politics there is BJP. In the sphere of dharma, there is VHP. In education there is Vidya Bharati.

In the sphere of Labour there is Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and in agriculture there is Bharatiya Kishan Sangh . For females there is Rashtra Sevika Samiti and for tribals there is Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. Among layers there is Adhivakta Parishad and for Doctors there is Arogya Bharati and National Medicos Organization (NMO).

In his book Shri Rakesh Sinha has been explaining the RSS perspective of nation, state, culture, dharma differing from the western perspectives. The concept of cultural nationalism articulated by the Sangh Parivar rejects the Nehruvian model that India is a ‘nation in the making’ and gives cultural meaning to Indian nationalism.

Orientalists like Vivekananda, Tilak, Aurobindo Ghose and others emphasized the cultural identity of India with the national tradition but it was downplayed under the influence of western educated elites and aggressive imperialist historians who insisted that Indian nationalism was purely political and territorial.

Obviously this cultural nationalism is a construct based on the glorious past and present tradition of the vast sub-continent spreading from Himalayas in the north to Indian Ocean in the South – Indus in the west and Irrawaddy in the East.

The Hindus – is not about religion but about the culture of the people of an ancient civilization which is still blooming in this sub continent. The AkhandBharat culture has the capacity to accept and absorb alien strains. There is nothing wrong with it. But, there is a ‘big but’ that outside culture should not dominate the original ancient civilizational culture.

For instance the outside culture or alien belief system must not become overwhelmingly important. To be very precise the British Culture was trying to dominate our way of living for nearly 250 years - but the resistance power of the ancient culture could protect itself and continue to survive.

For centuries together Holi (festival of colors) was played , Diwali (festival of light) was illuminated, Dussehra (victory of righteousness) was celebrated, Varsha Pratipada (Cheiraoba – New year) was feasted, Makr Sankranti (Northern Equinox) was acknowledged, Hindu Samrajya Diwas(Coronation of Shivaji )celebrated, Gurupurniuma(tributes to the Teachers ) performed , Rakshabandhan ( brother-sister bonding) ritualised.

These celebrations and events belong to the entire people of this sub-continent irrespective of caste, color, creed, and community or belief system. Even the atheists or agnostics are part of all these festivals; cultural nationalism stands for commonality. Certainly it is a culture of a particular heritage and inheritance.

When Sarsanghachalak Mohan ji yesterday on Vijayadashmi talked about Hindu unity – this relates to the unity of the people who belong to the common culture of the AkhandBharat. So, some deviations in Bangladesh are being strongly hinted at. Again AkhandBharat is a unifying idea – which is a cultural and historical paradigm – ingrained in the common past heritage of the sub-continent (AkhandBharat).

Some may say that I am trying to redefine the RSS. No, certainly not, what I maintain is what I understand about the organization. I may be partly right or completely wrong. Let the readers and Sangh leaders decide. Views expressed here are completely from the inquisitive perspective of the author.

From now onwards we will be showered by art & literature and festivities celebrating RSS’s long march completing a century next Vijayadashmi.

Nation First, this motto, is absolutely acceptable.