His
Highness Pranab Mukherjee, You Have Denigrated Mother India By Describing
Hedgewar As Great Son of The Motherland
Respected
Sir,
You
have been a leader of the Indian national Congress, theoretically committed to
democratic-secular India, for more than four decades, and also occupied the
office of the President of India, the highest constitutional office of the
country.
Sir,
yesterday (June 7, 2018) while addressing a select gathering of RSS cadres at
its headquarters, Resham Bagh, Nagpur, which included its top brass, Mohan
Bhagwat, you remembered the founder of RSS, KB Hedgewar and wrote the following
words in the visitor's book in his
praise, "Today I came here to pay my respect and homage to a great son of
Mother India".
His
Highness, there could not be a more blatant lie than this as 'great son of mother
India' founded RSS in 1925 to oppose the united freedom struggle for an
inclusive India. He did not join the freedom struggle because it was being
fought for an all-inclusive India and not a Hindu State. He declared
minorities, specially Muslims the enemy of India and not the British rulers. He
was a diehard Casteist. He was inimical towards the Tricolour which had become
a National Flag for resistance to the British 1930 onward. His Hindutva icon VD
Savarkar led Hindu Mahasabha ran coalition governments with the Muslim League
in 1942 in Bengal, Sind and NWFP when Congress was banned, the country had
become a jail and hundreds of patriotic Indians were being ruthlessly massacred
for daring to carry the Tricolour or unfurl it at house tops. Hedgewar believed
in Hindu nationalism as opposed to Indian nationalism.
Sir,
your character certificate to Hedgewar as 'great son of mother India' is not
only insult of the great anti-colonial freedom struggle but also belittling of
the great sacrifices of Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan, Chander Shekhar Azad, Jatin Das, Potti Sreeramulu and
thousands other revolutionaries who died for the freedom of India. It was a sad
day for the Indian Republic that Hedgewar was idolized by a person who enjoyed
all the fruits of the Indian constitutional polity and was part of Congress
which led the freedom struggle.
Sir,
I am reproducing facts from the RSS archives which conclusively prove that you
committed an act of sacrilege towards India's glorious freedom struggle by
declaring Hedgewar as a 'great son of mother India'. You, kindly, check the
truthfulness of these RSS documents. If I am proved wrong, please, take any
action you feel fit.
HEDGEWAR HATED THE TRICOLOUR
His Highness, you would recollect that the
Tricolour, symbolised a united and composite Indian nationalism. However, it
remained an object of hatred for the RSS during the freedom struggle. When the
Congress passed a resolution demanding complete independence or Sampurna Swatantrya and called upon the
Indians to celebrate 26 January 1930 as Independence Day by (and every January
26 in future) saluting the Tricolour as National Flag, Hedgewar, very cunningly,
instructed the RSS cadres to bow before its own flag, i.e. Bhagwa Dhawaj or saffron flag. The circular carrying this
instruction asked all heads of the shakhas
to take a meeting of their respective swayamsevaks
at 6 p. m. on Sunday, 26 January 1930, at the respective sanghasthans (places where shakhas
are held) and offer,
"salutation
to the National Flag i.e. the Bhagwa
Dhawaj. In the form of speech everybody should be explained in detail the
correct meaning of independence and the reason why this ideal alone should be
kept before everyone ."[i]
It was this legacy of hatred for the
Tricolour that the RSS English organ, Organizer, demeaning the choice of the National Flag just on the eve of
Independence(14 August 1947) wrote:
"The
people who have come to power by the kick of fate may give in our hands the
Tricolour but it never be respected and owned by Hindus. The word three is in
itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very
bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country."
HEDGEWAR FORMED RSS AS HE WAS OPPOSED TO HINDU-MUSLIM UNITY
HEDGEWAR FORMED RSS AS HE WAS OPPOSED TO HINDU-MUSLIM UNITY
Sir, I hope you still believe that for the
good of India there should be unity between Hindus and Muslims but your 'great
son of Mother India' hated it. RSS
documents make it clear that Hedgewar was disillusioned with the Congress for
the specific reason that it stood for unity between Hindus and Muslims. In one
of the official biographies of Hedgewar published by RSS it is made clear why
Hedgewar parted with Congress led
freedom struggle:
"It
is clear that Gandhiji worked constantly with one eye on Hindu– Muslim
unity…But Doctorji sensed danger in that move. In fact, he did not even relish
the newfangled slogan of ‘Hindu– Muslim Unity’."[ii]
Hedgewar was never able to hide the fact that he distanced himself
from the Congress for the reason that it believed in Hindu–Muslim unity. While
returning from Central Province and Berar provincial Hindu Mahasabha session
(presided over by Savarkar) in Akola, Maharashtra in 1937
when he was asked why he left
Congress Hedgewar’s answer was, “because Congress believes in Hindu–Muslim
unity”.[iii]
C. P. Bhishikar, official biographer of
Hedgewar, while highlighting the factors which led him to part company with the
Congress wrote:
"As a result of the Non-Cooperation
Movement of Mahatma Gandhi the enthusiasm in the country was cooling down and
the evils in social life which that movement generated were menacingly raising
their head. As the tide of national struggle came to ebb mutual ill-will and
jealousies came on the surface. Personal quarrels raged all round. Conflicts
between various communities had started. Brahmin–non-Brahmin conflict was
nakedly on view. No organization was integrated or united. The yavana-snakes
[i.e. Muslims] reared on the milk of Non-Cooperation were provoking riots in
the nation with their poisonous hissing."[iv]
Thus according to RSS Muslims were snakes which are most of the
times, if sighted, are killed.
HEDGEWAR ACTED AS AGENT PROVOCATEUR INSTIGATING
COMMUNAL RIOTS
Sir, your favourite Hedgewar behaved as a
bully in this game of communal mobilization and believed in aggravating the
communal conflict. His one biography goes on to tell that when sometimes band
(music) troupes hesitated to play music before the mosque, Hedgewar, “himself
would take over the drums and rouse the dormant manliness of the Hindus”.[v]
It is important to
know that by 1926, the playing of music outside of mosques was the main reason
behind a spate of communal riots. How Hedgewar personally led Hindus in this
kind of aggressive communalisation is corroborated by Annaji Vaid, a steel mill
owner of Nagpur who was not only a close confident of Hedgewar but one of the
first RSS members:
"In those days [1926] Hindu–Muslim riots
had begun to occur at many places. But we decided that this [the ban on playing
music in front of mosques] unreasonable stubbornness on the part of Muslims was
an attack on the just demands of Hindus so while processions passing through
each mosque must play musical instruments. Once on a Friday musicians while
passing in front of the gate of a mosque stopped playing music. Then Doctorji
himself snatched the drum, hanged it on his neck and played it. Only then the
playing of music could start outside the mosque."[vi]
HEDGEWAR WAS A DIEHARD CASTEIST
His Highness, you
talked of so many things at the RSS headquarters but were mum on the scourge of
Casteism which is one of the fundamental beliefs of RSS. You kept quiet,
perhaps, for the reason that you did not want to embarrass your Casteist
patrons. You kept mum on this issue despite the fact that in last four years of
RSS/BJP rule attacks on Sudras have increased manifold. However, the
contemporary RSS literature shows that Hedgewar believed in Casteism and did
not mind practicing its off-shoot, degenerated and inhuman practice of
Untouchability, in order not to antagonize high Caste sympathizers. In Nasik
Hedgewar went to the house of a Brahmin known as Dr. Gaidhani along with
Krishna Rao Wadekar and Bhaskar Rao Ninave. When the time for meals came,
Ninave who happened to be from a low Caste asked Hedgewar whether he should sit
separately for meals, as was commonly practised. When Wadekar suggested that
there was no need for it, as Gaidhani had no way to know Ninave’s Caste,
Hedgewar openly disagreed with the suggestion that Ninave should eat sitting
beside other Brahmins. Hedgewar’s logic was that it would cause immense pain to
Gaidhani. He went on to add,
"and what
benefit will we get out of it? On the contrary, if he sits separately for the
meals that [action of his] will leave a far better impression on Gaidhaniji.
Our swayamsevak may feel a bit hurt
but in the view of our work this much pain should be tolerated. First we should
win him with our love then these differences will disappear."[vii]
It is a well-known
fact that Hedgewar discouraged any attempt for community lunches (sah-bhoj) inclusive of all Castes of
Hindus which were being organized by a section of reformist Hindus in order to
abolish the practice of Untouchability.[viii]
HEDGEWAR
SHAMELRSSLY BETRAYED THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Sir, your favourite son of Mother India remained silent spectator to the
British rule. Hedgewar went to jail twice individually on the call of Congress,
otherwise, the RSS scrupulously avoided any political activity which might be
construed as being against the British authorities. According to one RSS
publication:
"After establishing [the] Sangh, Doctor Saheb in his speeches used
to talk only of Hindu organization. Direct comment on the government used to be
almost nil."[ix]
Hedgewar offered an interesting alibi for
keeping silence against the British masters. When people asked him,
"why there were no speeches against the
British rule in the RSS, Doctorji replied that ‘Only by having the goal of
forcing the British out the British are not going to leave. The British have
entered India due to unorganized nature of the nation, that has to be removed,
building self-relying and disciplined society is the goal of Sangh’."[x]
Hedgewar took measures to check the
spontaneous joining of RSS cadres in the Salt Satyagraha led by Gandhi. He made it clear to the RSS cadres,
"Going to jail is today considered a
sign of true patriotism… There can be no salvation for the country until this
type of fleeting emotion gives place to positive and lasting feelings of
devotion and sustained efforts."[xi]
Sir, despite all such anti-national and
anti-humanity acts/beliefs of Hedgewar you have declared him as "great
son of Mother India". If he was so then who was Gandhi ji who opposed RSS
and was killed by the Hindutva assassins who like RSS called themselves as
Hindu nationalists. The fact is that either Gandhiji or your newly found
favourite Hedgewar can be "great son of Mother India". Please
withdraw your character certificate to this Hindutva zealot who stood against
everything which democratic-secular India dreamt and fought for.
Sir,
I
am sorry to write that you have denigrated Mother India and it depends on you
how to restore its dignity.
With
best wishes,
Shamsul
Islam
June
8, 2018
notoinjustice[at]gmail.com
[i] N. H. Palkar (ed.),
Dr.. Hedgewar Patr-Roop Vayakti Darshan
[Selection of Hedgewar’s letters, Hindi edition] (Indore: Archana Prakashan,
1989), 18.
[iii] H. V. Pingle (ed.),
Smritikan: Param Pujiye Dr.. Hedgewar Ke
Jeewan Kee Vibhin Gahtnaon Ka
Sankalan [in Hindi a collection of incidents in the life of Dr.. Hedgewar] (Nagpur: RSS Prakashan
Vibhag, 1962), 93.
[iv]
C. P. Bhishikar, Keshav Sangh Nirmata (Delhi: Suruchi, 1980), 7, cited in Tapan Basu
and others, Khaki Shorts Saffron Flags: A critique of the Hindu Right (Delhi:
Orient Longman, 1993), 14.
[v] H. V. Seshadri
(ed.), Dr.. Hedgewar, the Epoch-Maker: A
Biography (Bangalore: Sahitya Sindhu, 1981), 71.
[vi] H. V. Pingle (ed.),
Smritikan: Param Pujiye Dr.. Hedgewar Ke
Jeewan Kee Vibhin Gahtnaon Ka
Sankalan [in Hindi a collection of incidents in the life of Dr.. Hedgewar], 31–32.]
[vii]
H. V. Pingle (ed.), Smritikan-Param Pujiye Dr.. Hedgewar Ke Jeewan Kee Vibhin Gahtnaon Ka Sankalan [in Hindi a
collection of incidents in the life of Dr..
Hedgewar], 66-67.
[ix]
C. P. Bhishikar, Sangh-viraksh Ke Beej: Dr.. Keshav Rao Hedgewar [in Hindi] (Delhi:
Suruchi Prakashan, 1994), 24.
Gahtnaon Ka Sankalan [in Hindi: a collection of incidents in the
life of Dr..Hedgewar] (Nagpur: RSS Prakashan Vibhag, 1962), 43.
