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| Hardly any taker for RSS in Jammu | | Ambivalent on all issues | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 16: Jammu province was once considered a stronghold of Rashatriya Swayam Sangh (RSS). The reason was that its stands on nationalism, territorial integrity of the country, Jammu & Kashmir, Article 370, Hinduism, Uniform Civil Code, Ram Temple and communalism were unambiguous and clear. It used to be commended by the people of Jammu region because it was also considered a cultural organization committed to uniting the majority community in the country and empowering Jammu region and an organization consisting of men and women known for their integrity, probity in public life, simplicity, plain-speaking, commitment to nationalist ideology, honesty, dedication and spirit of sacrifice.
The people of Jammu region today, like their fellow countrymen, do not commend the RSS like they used to before the BJP came to power at the centre in 1998. For, the RSS, instead of sticking to its ideology, started indulging in activities, including power games, which suggested that it had lost its moorings and deviated from its path to become "secular". It has all along adopted an ambivalent stand on Hinduism. It allowed the BJP to dilute its stands on Article 370, Ram Temple, Jammu & Kashmir and Uniform Civil Code and it also failed to make the BJP adopt a foreign policy that suited the country's paramount national interests and promoted its geo-political and economic interests. And it allowed the BJP to dilute its ideology for stitching an alliance with the parties which were vehemently opposed to what the RSS and the BJP stood for. The RSS hardly tried to rein in "secularists" in the BJP and the result was that the bulk of its constituency held itself aloof from it and the BJP and the result was a massive defeat for the BJP in 2004 in the general elections and installation of the Congress-led UPA's "secular" government at the centre. People across the country, including Jammu, rejected the BJP, saying it had no commitment to its ideology, that the RSS as an organization had failed the majority community and that Sangh Parivar was the only formation in the country which consistently diluted its ideology for the sake of power.
The defeat of the BJP in 2004 did awake the RSS and the result was that the BJP reverted to its old agenda to win back the alienated majority community. The RSS gave mandate to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to lead the party from the front in the 2014 general elections. During the intense election campaign, Modi raked up most of the issues which, the RSS claimed, were dear to its heart. In fact, the RSS activities themselves worked very hard behind the scene during the crucial election campaign. The result was a massive victory for the BJP. It won 282 seats on its own and in alliance with its allies 336 seats in the Lok Sabha.
It was expected that the BJP under the guidance and influence of the RSS stick to what the BJP leadership said and committed during the election campaign, but it was not to be. The BJP government at the Centre instead of enforcing the policies it had promised during the election campaign started following in the footsteps of the Congress to demonstrate that it was also "secular" like the other secular parties. Secularism in the Indian political sense means Hindu-bashing. The RSS gave its fullest support to the BJP and to the extent that it itself organized an Iftaar party last month within the premises of the Parliament with Inderesh Kumar in the forefront. And it happened for the first time. Besides, apart from pursuing the Manmohan Singh line on Pakistan and bringing shame to India, the BJP with the blessings of the RSS forged an alliance with a party that was for the restoration of Article 370 to its original position, for limited accession of the state with India, for the recognition of Kashmiri separatists and communalists as an important factor in the political situation in the state, for damaging Jammu and Ladakh, for accommodating the Pakistani viewpoint on Jammu & Kashmir. With the concurrence of the RSS, the BJP also took a complete U-turn on the promises it had made to the refugees from West Pakistan, Kashmiri Hindus, women of the state, refugees from PoJK and so on. So much so, the RSS and the BJP agreed to sow seeds of disintegration of Jammu region by virtually endorsing the votaries of greater Kashmir by referring to the otherwise non-existent Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal Valley in the agenda of alliance and also disgraced the humane Dogriyat and Ladakhiat in their desperate bid to make people of the state, nay the entire country, believe that Kashmiriayt was something very novel, unique and special. The agenda of alliance says that the government will tackle the Kashmir issue within the ambit of so-called Kashmiriat.
The fact is that the RSS and the BJP agreed to adopt an agenda of alliance that alarmed the people of Jammu region and other patriotic sections of society in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The result is that they have all turned against the RSS and the BJP, saying it would be "foolish" and "unpatriotic" to go near them. No one now takes the RSS and BJP leadership seriously. Instead, most of the people, including their own supporters, have practically abandoned the RSS and the BJP and the process is continuing unabated.
On Tuesday, three top ranking RSS leaders reached Jammu to hold detailed deliberations on the prevailing situation in the State with Swayam Sewaks from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions and BJP leadership. The three-member RSS team was led by Bhiaya Ji Joshi Sarkarivah, second-in-chief in RSS hierarchy after the Sarsangchalak, Mohan Rao Bhagwat. The other two senior leaders of Sangh who accompanied him included Datatri Ji Hoshbholay and Krishan Gopal Seh Karivah of the Sangh. Insiders disclose that these top RSS leaders held discussions with the leadership of various wings of the RSS as well as the BJP and discussed ways and means for expanding the support-base of the RSS in the state.
The hope that the RSS would be in a position to expand its base with the help of the BJP-in-power would remain a hope. For, the people of Jammu region have lost faith not only in the BJP but also in the RSS. They say that the RSS and the BJP are equally responsible for messing up things in Jammu & Kashmir and destroying the cause of the minorities in the state. If the RSS really wishes to expand its base in the state, it has to force the BJP to adopt an agenda it considered sacrosanct before 1998. But it is difficult to say that the RSS would do so. It is a different kind of RSS whose many leaders are today involved in serious controversies and who love 5-star culture. It would not be out of place to mention here that many in the country have come to believe that if the RSS continued to behave in the manner it has been behaving since May 2014, Mohan Bhagwat could the RSS' last Sarsangchalak". Such is the position. The RSS is itself responsible for the state of affairs it is in. |
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