Front Page
“India’s diversity should be celebrated and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh does not seek to foist its ideology over anyone while its inner functioning is democratic and not dictatorial.” That’s how The Times of India paraphrased RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s opening speech at a three-day seminar on the ‘Future of Bharat’ Monday.
Surprisingly, the RSS chief’s conclave was not splashed across the mainstream media. You would have thought that Mohan Bhagwat, whose RSS is the fountainhead of not only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and 40-odd other affiliates, would have his speech dissected in every tiny detail.
Hindustan Times gave it two paragraphs on Page One in its print edition, while a story on the inside pages read, ”RSS does not wield the govt’s remote control.” Even The Times of India had a small double column on its half-front page.
The Indian Express, a newspaper that is far more critical of the Sangh than any other newspaper in English, had a triple deck headline on the conclave, which said, quoting the RSS sarsanghchalak, “Those who oppose us also ours… we are for yukt Bharat, not mukt.”
Bhagwat’s comment for Joining India was a word play on the PM and BJP president Amit Shah’s slogan — ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ — for a Congress-free India. Does this signal a paternalistic spat between the two, the RSS and the BJP?
JNU students took to the streets to protest the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s allegedly violent interruption of JNUSU’s vote-counting even as the RSS attempts to reinvent its image as a tolerant, progressive organisation. “March for unity against RSS and their fascist hate politics,” tweeted student activist Shehla Rashid Monday.
March against violence on campus. March for campus democracy. March for unity against RSS and their fascist hate politics. Thanks to everyone for their support in these tough times.#JNUFightsBack pic.twitter.com/otCnHD7L02
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) September 17, 2018
Organiser, the RSS’s mouthpiece, quotes Bhagwat, “How to take everybody along? The traditional value system that has the strength to connect and unite everyone in Hindusthan is Hinduness (Hindutva). There is no other word that can describe this unifying factor across Bharat.”
The RSS is a non-governmental organisation, yes, so it’s high-profile urge at New Delhi’s mammoth conference hall, the Vigyan Bhavan, to clarify its image is nothing short of remarkable. Posters outside Vigyan Bhavan Monday quoted Mahatma Gandhi in appreciation of the RSS. “The RSS has high discipline and no untouchability in its ranks,” the posters said about Gandhi.
What they did not say was that the Mahatma’s meeting with RSS leaders and workers took place in Harijan Colony in Delhi in September 1947, just a month after partition, but that he followed up his remarks by exhorting the RSS to use their strength and their discipline for Hindu-Muslim unity.
As Gandhi’s biographer Ramachandra Guha, a man the RSS loves to hate, said in his just-released book, Gandhi, the years that changed the world, 1914-1948, and in an interview with ThePrint, “You cannot follow both RSS chief Golwalkar and Gandhi at the same time.”
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stayed away from the RSS conclave in Delhi — he was in Varanasi celebrating his 68th birthday. In fact, none of the BJP ministers went either, in an effort to show that while the RSS is the mother organisation, the BJP as its political arm in power must rightfully stay away.
Ram Madhav, the RSS general secretary loaned to the BJP and one of the most powerful men in the government — he is the pointperson not only on Jammu & Kashmir, the North-East, but also Telangana and large parts of India’s foreign policy — made an appearance, as did Subramanian Swamy, Rajya Sabha member, Gandhi family-baiter and nemesis of finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Swamy, of course, is one of the few politicians in the capital whose India-rubber backbone is notable. In 2010, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power, he had described the “creeping fascism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh…” in an article in Frontline magazine. He also made an appearance during Bhagwat’s address.
It is rare for the RSS to hold a meeting like this — as many headlines suggest — but the RSS’s praise for the Congress is unheard of.
“A huge movement began in the form of the Congress. There were many great souls who sacrificed a lot and continue to inspire us today. That ideology placed the nation on the road to freedom,” The Indian Express reported Bhagwat as saying.
This is the same organisation that was banned by Congress-led governments thrice since independence — the first time in the wake of the assassination of Gandhi. Only the other day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi compared the RSS to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Perhaps the RSS sees that the Congress party is beginning to assert itself — it staked claim Monday to form government in Goa and Rahul Gandhi, while still not a challenger to Narendra Modi, is striking all the right notes with his visit to Kailash Mansarovar and the various temples of India. Perhaps the RSS notices that the prices of petrol and other commodities as well as other economic difficulties faced by the people are bad signs for a country that is going to the polls.
Several actors and businessmen also attended the event. But for all the love, the Congress failed to make an appearance, alleging they were never invited in the first place.
Prime Time
Rewari case
India Today discussed how only a single arrest has been made after the horrific rape of a student in Haryana’s Rewari. ‘BJP supporter’ Vaibhav Agarwal tried to downplay the issue while former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh pointed out that better law enforcement should be in place.
Agarwal said, “There has been a delay but that will not stop us from giving justice to the victim.”
“Enforce the rule of law, punish the guilty and suspend the entire police station,” added Singh.
Unsteady ‘Mahagathbandhan’
CNN News 18 debated whether the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) seems to be ‘unstable’ before 2019 elections. Earlier Sunday, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said she is willing to go alone in 2019 Lok Sabha elections if not given ‘respectable’ number of seats in Mahagathbandhan.
While BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal took a potshot at Congress, BSP leader Anubhav Chak pointed out that BSP is not ready to put its dignity at stake.
Mittal said, “Congress is not even a player in Uttar Pradesh yet they are talking about ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in UP, it is ironic.”
Chak said, “No compromises will take place by putting our respect at stake, that’s what Mayawati said.”
News it’s just kinda cool to know
Our eyes have in-built night vision mode which helps us to see in darkness. The finding, published in the journal Neuron, shows that the reprogramming happens in retinal cells that are sensitive to motion. Even in the best lighting, identifying the presence and direction of a moving object is key to survival for most animals.
Business Class
The Narendra Modi government has decided to merge Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda, reports The Economic Times. This came as a surprise to the bankers who attended the meeting in the Finance Ministry. The name of the new bank hasn’t been decided yet. The government assured the employees of the banks that their jobs would be protected. The process of merger will be completed in about six months.
Soon your Coca-Cola drink may come with marijuana in it. Surprised? Don’t be. The Atlanta-based beverages maker announced it is closely observing the growth of non-psychoactive CBD (ingredient in marijuana which treats pain but doesn’t get one high) in functional beverages, reports Bloomberg.
Point of View
The UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) doesn’t not require any introduction. Because it is being misused too often now? Lawyer Nandita Rao thinks so. In her column in The Indian Express, she argues that this draconian law was enacted as Section 123 and 124 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were considered not enough to deal with organized crime. She writes, “The abuse of the UAPA, if unchecked by the judiciary, poses a greater threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India, than the people being arrested under this Act because nothing incites hatred like injustice.”
What did India get from 2+2 Dialogue with the United States? Former national security adviser M.K. Narayanan in his column in The Hindu writes, “It would seem that the US has been the main beneficiary. With this Dialogue, the US also seems to have succeeded in co-opting India into the US strategic framework aimed at the containment of China. The moot question for India is whether in the 21st century it wishes to play such a role…”
With inputs from Ratnadeep Chaudhary.