- Jun 1, 2004
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Contents taken from another resource...
What makes the RSS tick ? The RSS, its' leadership and ideologues play on the
deep-rooted insecurity which plagues the Hindu mind.A 1,000 years of foreign
domination despite the splendours of a 5,000 years old civilisation and a long
tradition of military prowess helps in bombarding the Hindu psyche with the
vision of a future marred by just such foreign interventions, the break-up of
India and the watering down of Hinduism.Therefore the recourse to a Hindu
nationalism marked by exclusivist, parochialism and obscurantism.
The RSS is also one of the last bastions of the caste system.Even a cursory
examination of the organisation's membership and leadership profile will show a
domination by the Swaran Jatis or upper castes.The insecurities of a section of
the upper castes further aggravated by the fact of India becoming a meritocracy
manifests itself in the activities of the RSS.
The RSS' attitude towards the Sikhs has veered between the outright hostility
shown by its Punjab unit and the grudging acceptance of its central leadership
or the projection of the community as the standard-bearers of Hinduism,opponents
of Muslim communalism or the militant wing of Hinduism.Initially the RSS in the
wake of Partition, eager to contain Sikhism and avoid another vivisection of the
country adopted an attitude of confrontation,opposed Punjabi as a language and
generally showed its anti-Sikh side.Later, after the creation of the Punjabi
Suba their attitude mellowed but postures once adopted are difficult to shed.
The RSS continued to oppose Punjabi particularly in the matter of setting up of
the Guru Nanak University and the medium of instruction in schools.Coalition
govts set up by the Akalis and Jan Sangh (the political wing of the RSS and the
precursor of the BJP) helped in defusing tension to some extent, however.
By the 1970s and the advent of new leadership in the RSS and the emergence of
enlightened leadership in the JS/BJP the attitude of the organisation towards
the Sikhs began to change. A grudging acceptance of Punjabi on the urging of
Advani and others was the harbinger of change.They now began to see the Sikhs as
the martial wing of Hinduism and tried to mould them as the vanguard of action
against Muslims, their erstwhile oppressors.Their recognition of the Sikhs as a
ready-made vote bank for the BJP in the wake of the falling-out of the community
with the Congress helped.However mutual suspicions exist till this day between
the Sikhs and the RSS.
Whatever the sea-change in the attitude of the RSS towards the Sikhs, one thing
has always remained constant. The RSS refuses to recognise the spiritual aspects
of Sikhism and continues to laud the martial achievements of the community only.
My own assessment is that the RSS feels that in comparison with Muslims and
Christians the Sikhs are acceptable provided they 'behave'.
Mandeep Singh Bajwa
What makes the RSS tick ? The RSS, its' leadership and ideologues play on the
deep-rooted insecurity which plagues the Hindu mind.A 1,000 years of foreign
domination despite the splendours of a 5,000 years old civilisation and a long
tradition of military prowess helps in bombarding the Hindu psyche with the
vision of a future marred by just such foreign interventions, the break-up of
India and the watering down of Hinduism.Therefore the recourse to a Hindu
nationalism marked by exclusivist, parochialism and obscurantism.
The RSS is also one of the last bastions of the caste system.Even a cursory
examination of the organisation's membership and leadership profile will show a
domination by the Swaran Jatis or upper castes.The insecurities of a section of
the upper castes further aggravated by the fact of India becoming a meritocracy
manifests itself in the activities of the RSS.
The RSS' attitude towards the Sikhs has veered between the outright hostility
shown by its Punjab unit and the grudging acceptance of its central leadership
or the projection of the community as the standard-bearers of Hinduism,opponents
of Muslim communalism or the militant wing of Hinduism.Initially the RSS in the
wake of Partition, eager to contain Sikhism and avoid another vivisection of the
country adopted an attitude of confrontation,opposed Punjabi as a language and
generally showed its anti-Sikh side.Later, after the creation of the Punjabi
Suba their attitude mellowed but postures once adopted are difficult to shed.
The RSS continued to oppose Punjabi particularly in the matter of setting up of
the Guru Nanak University and the medium of instruction in schools.Coalition
govts set up by the Akalis and Jan Sangh (the political wing of the RSS and the
precursor of the BJP) helped in defusing tension to some extent, however.
By the 1970s and the advent of new leadership in the RSS and the emergence of
enlightened leadership in the JS/BJP the attitude of the organisation towards
the Sikhs began to change. A grudging acceptance of Punjabi on the urging of
Advani and others was the harbinger of change.They now began to see the Sikhs as
the martial wing of Hinduism and tried to mould them as the vanguard of action
against Muslims, their erstwhile oppressors.Their recognition of the Sikhs as a
ready-made vote bank for the BJP in the wake of the falling-out of the community
with the Congress helped.However mutual suspicions exist till this day between
the Sikhs and the RSS.
Whatever the sea-change in the attitude of the RSS towards the Sikhs, one thing
has always remained constant. The RSS refuses to recognise the spiritual aspects
of Sikhism and continues to laud the martial achievements of the community only.
My own assessment is that the RSS feels that in comparison with Muslims and
Christians the Sikhs are acceptable provided they 'behave'.
Mandeep Singh Bajwa
