Mail Today, 16 July 2010
COMMENT
Get to the bottom of RSS link with terror attacks
Investigations into the Mecca Masjid, Ajmer Sharif and Malegaon terror attacks appear to be exposing the true face of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Though the RSS has posed as the custodian of Indian nationalism, it has, in fact, sought to undermine the core values of the republic.
The inspiration behind the RSS was not Indian nationalism and not even Hindu religion, but Italian fascism. BS Moonje, the mentor of RSS founder KB Hedgewar, and the brain behind the RSS, conceptualised the organisation on the lines of Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts. A great admirer of the Italian dictator, Moonje even visited him in 1931.
It is the same fascist inspired deviant nationalism that drove a group of ex- RSS members like Nathuram Godse to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. The role of the RSS in the Mahatma’s assassination has been clearly established by the Jivan Lal Kapur Commission. The involvement of RSS members in the recent terror attacks— including the alleged role of senior leader Indresh Kumar— is a manifestation of the same deviant, if not pervert, nationalism.
The big danger of Hindutva terror is in its attempt to disguise itself as nationalist even while attacking the very foundations of the republic: secularism and democracy. In this context there is need to investigate a security conclave organised by Mr Kumar in which officials, perhaps retired, from the military, security agencies and the administrative services participated.
The law enforcement agencies should not be taken in by the nationalistic pose adopted by Hindutva extremists. But more importantly, they need to be combated politically rather than through some administrative ban or sanctions. There is need for quick and decisive action on the part of like- minded political parties, civil society and the administration to check this cancer.
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