Where are those who are proud of India?
By Shamsul Islam,
I am sure that every Indian patriot remembers this heart wrenching song penned by Sahir Ludhinvi, sung by Mohammed Rafi under the music direction of SD Burman for Piyaasaa, a memorable 1957 film by Guru Dutt. This song expressed the sorrows of common Indians who felt cheated despite a decade of country’s freedom. And what’s happening almost seven decades of India’s freedom? India finds itself being governed by a clique controlled by RSS which has no faith in democracy, rule of law and openly declares its antagonism to constitutional polity of India.
Its most important theoretician; known as Guruji MS Golwalkar set its governing philosophy, while addressing the 1350 top level cadres of the RSS (at its headquarters at Nagpur) as early as 1940, in the following words:
“The RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land.”
This slogan of one flag, one leader and one ideology was directly borrowed from the programmes of the Nazi and Fascist parties of Europe. Mind it 1940 was the year when armed forces of Hitler and Mussolini were marching on Europe.
RSS denigrated everything which represented the united freedom struggle of the Indian people against the foreign rulers and hated all those symbols of composite Indian nation which were agreed upon by the people of India. Just on the eve of Independence English organ of the RSS, Organizer (August 14, 1947) carried a feature titled ‘mystery behind the bhagwa dhawaj’ (saffron flag) which while demanding hoisting of saffron flag at the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi, openly denigrated the choice of the Tri-colour as the National Flag in the following words:
“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.”
It was November 26, 1949 that under the able guidance of Dr BR Ambedkar Indian Constituent Assembly passed a democratic-secular Constitution. But it was unacceptable to anti-national RSS. RSS English organ, Organizer in an editorial on November 30, four days after its being passed by the Constituent Assembly, rejected the democratic-secular Constitution and demanded adoption of anti-egalitarian and inhuman Manusmriti as the Indian constitution in the following words:
“But in our constitution there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing”.
Guru Golwalkar showing his hatred for the Constitution of Independent India went to the extent of declaring:
“Our Constitution too is just a cumbersome and heterogeneous piecing together of various articles from various Constitutions of the Western countries. It has absolutely nothing which can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our keynote in life is? No!”
In fact, RSS was not alone in demanding the adoption of Manusmriti(which decrees sub-human status for Sudras and women) as constitution of India. Its mentor, VD Savarkar who propounded the ideology of Hindutva and led Hindu Mahasabha had declared:
“Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worship-able after Vedas for our Hindu Nation and which from ancient times has become the basis of our culture-customs, thought and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Even today the rules which are followed by crores of Hindus in their lives and practice are based on Manusmriti. Today Manusmriti is Hindu Law”.
RSS following into the footsteps of anti-India Muslim League and echoing latter’s words in defence of two-nation theory that Hindus & Muslims were two different nations (and by this logic Christians, Sikhs. Jains etc. also would be separate nations) refused to accept the all-inclusive India. Just on the eve of Independence its organ (Organizer, August 14, 1947) rejected the whole concept of a composite nation (under the editorial title ‘Whither’). According to RSS:
“Let us no longer allow ourselves to be influenced by false notions of nationhood. Much of the mental confusion and the present and future troubles can be removed by the ready recognition of the simple fact that in Hindusthan only the Hindus form the nation and the national structure must be built on that safe and sound foundation […] the nation itself must be built up of Hindus, on Hindu traditions, culture, ideas and aspirations.”
Mind it that Maoists, Islamists, Khalistanis and other militant groups like ULFA who uphold similar ideology and denigrate symbols of democratic-secular India have been dealt sternly with full physical might of India. Thousands of them have been killed in encounters, hanged through judicial processes and incarcerated for life terms. Thousands of these are ‘missing’. But RSS and its cadres who openly denigrate the national symbols of honour and openly declare that democratic-secular India will be converted into a Hindu state have been allowed to rule India so that they can undo our democratic-secular polity. Our judiciary and Head of the State, President of India, oblivious of the inherent dangers due to their unfortunate ignorance of the secretive functioning of the RSS have not responded to the grave challenge.
It may be argued by some optimists that it was in the past when RSS believed in such anti-national beliefs. Now they are committed to a democratic-secular India and its cadres running governments at the centre and state levels have taken oath to uphold Indian constitutional polity. It would be a terrible mistake to have this illusion for many reasons.
Firstly, RSS has never declared that it disapproves and disowns such anti-national beliefs contained in its internal discourse.
Secondly, RSS cadres running governments openly declare themselves to be committed first to the Hindutva ideology which demands India exclusively to be a Hindu state. In fact, first time in the history of India’s Independence a Prime Minister namely Modi declared to be a ‘Hindu nationalist’.
Thirdly, the writings of Golwalkar like We or Our Nationhood Defined and Bunch of Thoughts which are must read for RSS cadres as Bible openly preach for Hindu state, establishment of dictatorship, discarding of federalism, equates Hinduism with Casteism and declares Muslims, Christians and Communists as internal threat no 1, 2, 3 respectively.
Fourthly, the RSS ‘oath’ which is mandatory for becoming a member or ‘prayer’ which is recited in RSS shakhas only talk of serving Hindu nation.
The fact is that Indian state is under the total hegemony of practitioners of Hindutva; ideology of Hindu separatism which Dr. Ambedkar described as a ‘calamity’ for India. And such are the terrible times that I keep on humming the following line of Sahir Ludhinvi: Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahan Hain? (Where are those who are proud of India?)
COME ON PATRIOTIC INDIANS, ARISE, TO UNMASK THE ANTI-NATIONAL RSS WHICH IS BENT UPON TO UNDO A DEMOCRATIC-SECULAR INDIA!
(Author is a retired Professor of University of Delhi and can be reached [email protected])
For some of S. Islam’s writings in English, Hindi, Urdu & Gujarati see the following link:
http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam
Facebook: Shams Shamsul
Twitter: @shamsforjustice