Hinduism Vs Hindutva: Radicals supporting rape accused and terror convicts in India

No one could have believed it till a few decades ago that Indian society would change so drastically.

That, people would openly come out on streets and support killers or those involved in murder-rape of minor girl.

But this has happened and right-wing extremism has become mainstream in India.

The right-wing extremist groups openly advocate violence and yet manage to get away due to softness of the police, authorities.

The latest example of how Indian society has changed, was witnessed recently when a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) extremist who had been convicted by a court for bomb blast (Terrorism), was given a grand welcome.

The man--Bhavesh Patel was held guilty in a case of terrorism. Yet the crowd came to felicitate him. He was released on bail from the prison. There were politicians, members of right-wing groups around.

They carried him on his shoulders. There was slogan shouting, in his support. Rose petals were flung as he moved towards his home in Bharuch (Gujarat). Patel is one of the two persons who were held guilty in the case of terror attack on Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan.

This is just one of the incidents. Those arrested for rape, torture and murder of a girl child in Kathua in Jammu & Kashmir, were also given public support. Rallies were taken out and people wanted them released. That's India in the year 2018.  [Photo courtesy Indian Express]

RSS forced to sack its leader for owning up killing 2,000 Muslims in post-Godhra massacre in Gujarat!

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Kundan Chandrawat publicly boasted about killing 2,000 Muslims during the Gujarat massacre.

While offering Rs 1 crore [10 million] to anyone who beheaded Kerala Chief Minister's head, Chandrawat reminded the audience that 2,000 Muslims were killed in post-Godhra attacks.

"Bhool gaye kya Godhra ko...56 maare the 2000 qabristan mein chale gaye....ghusa diye unko andar...", he said in the speech, which was recorded and is available online too.

[Translation: Did you forget Godhra. 56 were killed, we sent 2,000 to grave yard, got them buried deep]

This is the first-even open acknowledgment in public by an RSS leader.

In the past, there have been oblique references and Babu Bajrangi's statement that was recorded in a sting operations. Many others termed it as reaction.

What is this mindset? If RSS claims to be a patriotic organisation, how can it have in its ranks people who express pride in killing thousands of their own countrymen? No one questioned RSS top leadership about it. No prime time coverage of this part of the speech.

But this was a public speech. And, Chandrawat is an RSS leader who was holding the post of Mahangar Prachar Pramukh in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Though he later expressed apology for the inflammatory speech, action was taken.

Not just RSS sacked him from the post, the local police also registered a case. It is rare because in a BJP ruled state, even low-level office-bearers of ABVP or Bajrang Dal don't get cases registered against them prominently.

So what was the reason? The fact that he publicly claimed and boasted about killings. Talking as an RSS leader, not just talking about beheading a democratically elected chief minister but also threatening to kill 3,00,000.

VIDEO: Kundan Chandrawat's speech about killing of 2000 Muslims

In the same speech, he said that 300 people were killed by Communist [SFI] cadre in Kerala and this would be avenged by killing 3 lakh [3,00,000]. Unlike an ordinary shakha worker, who can be disowned by saying that he was not a member, Chandrawat couldn't be disowned.

He was holding a post. Perhaps, this was the reason that action was taken against Chandrawat. The Sangh leader works in the Malaria department in Ujjain. His statement is not something that can be ignored.

While the part of his speech where he said, "Vijayan ka sar kaat ke la de koi mujhe...' [Someone cut Vijayan's head and get it for me", made headlines, the other aspect--acknowledging the role in post-Godhra killings hasn't got the same coverage.

Has there been any denial by any senior functionary? Was any RSS official including Sarsanghchalak asked by mediamen about reaction on this claim? There is lot of silence around. But Chandrawat has said, and it is on record, now.

Communalism Vs Harmony: Peace can foil fundamentalists' strategy on Ayodhya dispute

Guest post

The ownership rights of the land on which Babri Masjid once stood, rests with the Sunni Waqf Board but the case is in the court and the verdict is expected on September 24.

The leaders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] seem delighted as they have sensed another opportunity for a conflict with Hindus and Muslims. Whatever RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said at a press conference organised by Women's Press Club in Delhi recently, can only be termed disgraceful in any civilised society.

Bhagwat said that Indian Muslims should give proof of their patriotism. He claims that the minority can't be trusted and the community should come forward and send a message that it doesn't have loyalty outside the borders of the country.

In one stroke, Bhagwat abused the entire Indian Muslim populace who are citizens of this nation. Bhagwat needs to be asked about his locus standi before expressing such views. After all, when the founding fathers of RSS, Hedgewar and Golwalkar, were busy in sycophancy of the British maters, the rest of Indians including the Muslims were standing together and giving sacrifices for independence.

In 1920, when the entire nation was standing with Gandhi and the imperialists were losing never against the tsunami of pro-independence emotion, British government accepted the apology of VD Savarkar who was in jail then and released him on the condition that he would form an organisation that will divide Hindus and Muslims.

Any student of history will tell that soon after his release Sawarkar wrote his book 'Hindutva'. On the basis of the book and the narrow Hindutva ideology espoused by him, RSS was formed by a 'doctor' in 1925. Later Hedgewar scripted his scheme for causing discord between Hindus and Muslims, which gave relief to British as communalism spread its tentacles.

For 27 years, nationalist movement remained at its peak but not a single RSS leader was jailed though tens of thousands of Indians were incarcerated in this period. While it kept a distance from freedom movement, RSS leaders' names came up during the course of investigation in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Still, when the chief of RSS asks Muslims to give certificate of his patriotism, ordinary Indians get angry. It is necessary to keep fundamentalist forces in check. Unfortunately, the leaders of Muslim community, knowingly or unknowingly, fell in the trap during the period of 1986-1992 and their actions strengthened RSS-VHP...

...On September 24, the verdict in the Ram Janmabhumi Temple-Babri mosque case is expected and the onus is on secular parties to ensure that communal forces are not allowed to further their agenda. While addressing journalists in Delhi, Sangh chief said that the RSS would not do anything that would go against law.

However, in the very next sentence he said, 'after the judgment the Sant Samaj would decide the next course of action'. Everyone is aware that VHP had formed the Dharma Sansad in the earlier 90s and it comprised Sadhus close to Sangh Parivar.

In this game, VHP was the nodal agency and mobilised fundamental forces. Bhagwat's statement suggests that on this occasion VHP will be kept behind and the Babas would be given charge. On the last occasion, VHP had collected huge funds and the lure of money can attract some groups of Sadhus to fall in RSS line.

Secular leadership remains passive while Muslims have no fresh leadership. The police alone may not be able to hold fundamentalist forces in check. In this scenerio, Mayawati should also ensure that BSP workers get to the streets. If lakhs of party activists go out to ensure calm, the timid fundamentalists would not be visible anywhere.

Mayawati has a historic opportunity to win the trust of all the secular minded Indians. If she is able to check attempts to fan communal hatred and ensure that Uttar Pradesh remains riot-free, she will gain respect of the society.

The RSS leaders have aspirations to be recoginised as leaders of all Hindus. But they can only be leaders of Hindutva-wadis, as just 3% Indians are members of either the RSS or BJP. The rest are peace loving citizens who stand against communal and divisive forces and consider Muslims as their brothers.

[Sheshi Narayan Singh is a senior journalist and commentator. This article was published in Roznama Sahara, Delhi.]

''Pro-Muslim' RSS irked radicals: Aseemanand's link to Kanpur blast

The use of the term 'Pro-Muslim' for RSS may surprise a lot among us. Not just the section which feel that the Sangh is a nationalist organisation but also those who consider it an outright fascist group.

But perhaps that was the feeling among a fraction of right-wing radicals members when the former RSS chief made overtures towards the community--a shift from the Sangh's earlier position.

So was the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) really changing and aiming at improving its relations with Indian Muslims? We will discuss it later but first the latest reports about investigators suspecting Aseemananda's links with the Kanpur blast.

Indian Express report says that role of Aseemananda who is wanted in Ajmer Dargah and Malegaon blasts, is under scanner for the incident in Kanpur where two persons died, which was similar to Nanded where explosion occurred while assembling bombs.

A fringe group had established across North India, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and in parts of AP, Karnataka, that was willing to take on 'Islamic' terror. This Hindutva-inspired fringe group had targeted Muslim-dominated towns, mosques, graveyard, dargah, Muslim gatherings and several other places.

Apparently, these elements were unhappy. They felt that the RSS had diluted its core ideology, became softer and even pro-Muslim.

They must have felt that the RSS' political front, the BJP, was also going the Congress way by appeasing the Muslims.

2. It is true that at least publicly RSS hasn't taken a strong anti-Muslim stand for long. In fact, till the 70s and early 80s, Hindu Mahasabha used to be much more aggressive.

The RSS had been mulling over ways to get Muslims in its fold. It approached minorities, went to Muslim households in certain cities to explain its ideology. It gave handouts to Muslims. Even supported formation of an RSS wing for Muslims, which began functioning a few years back.

3. RSS Sarsanghchalak KS Sudarshan repeatedly urged for the need to get Muslims closer to the Parivar. Sudarshan did the unthinkable, taking up the cause of Waqf properties in India, and expressing concern over poor salaries of Imams and Muezzins. No doubt it was a positive statement.

As more and more Muslims were getting into BJP across the country, the party members were also getting more acquained with Muslims at the grassroots. However, all this was not going down well with the hardened members.

The Nanded blast and similar incidents in Marathwada had roused the suspicion that there was a loose group that was at work. But Maharashtra ATS didn't act initially. It was later when Hemant Karkare took charge of the squad, that he investigated the cases and began unravelling the entire chain.

4. The list of terror attacks including Ajmer Dargah, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, blast in Jama Masjid Delhi, Malegaon, Modasa (Gujarat), Nanded, Parbhani, Jalna, Panvel, Vashi, targeting Bhopal Ijtima, Samjhauta Express, Goa and Kanpur among many others.

The groups ranging from Abhinav Bharat to Sanatan Sanstha were all consisted of fanatics who felt RSS had diluted its ideology.  Dayanand Pandey [of Kanpur], Sunil Joshi [killed in Dewas], Samir Kulkarni {Maharashtra], Pragya Thakur [Gujarat] and Rakesh Dhawade [Maharashtra] are just a few of the names.

Aseemanand had earlier oranised a 'Virat Hindu Sammelan' in Jhabua. He played a vital role in anti-Christian violence in the Dangs district in Gujarat. While the police and intelligence agencies kept an eye on SIMI and other Muslim fundamentalist organisation, they initially remained indifferent to similar trends among Hindus.

5. One hopes that henceforth all fundamentalist groups would be dealt with a heavy hand. Hate-preachers of different religions should be booked under the law for promoting enmity among sections and all cases of terrorist attacks should be handed over to the NIA, so that there is credible investigation and a crackdown on all such groups.

Lately there has been a decline in terror activities, as SIMI, Indian Mujahideen, Abhinav Bharat and Sanatan Sanstha are all under cops' scanner. The bottomline is that if investigative agencies act strongly against fundamentalists of either community and take on radicals without any bias, it would send a positive message.

Read an earlier post on this blog 'Muslims and RSS leaders meet in UP'

Boy holds gun at RSS function: What he is aiming at?

The photograph shows a child, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS], holding a rifle.

What he is aiming at, I have absolutely no idea. Is this the age for a boy to be handed the weapon?

All fundamentalist organisations irrespective of the region and religion, indoctrinate early.

I just hope that the boy who is associated with Sangh quite early in his life, doesn't believe that all Muslims are his enemies!

Is it wishful thinking?

RSS chief exhorts Hindus to produce more children in order to check demographic changes in India

RSS-walas can be allowed to marry for more kids!

The irresponsible statements of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS] chief Sudarshan exhorting the Hindus to produce more children has hardly drawn any attention or criticism.

Had any minor leader of any other community made a similar statement, mediamen and political parties would have been baying for his blood.

But, it seems the hate-preachers of a particular hue are exempted from any criticism. All their diatribe goes without any censure. 


States like Madhya Pradesh have already ordered revoking the ban on those with more than two children from contesting elections to panchayats. Sudarshan was speaking at the function to release a book on changing religious demography of India.

The RSS chief said that 3-4 children per parents would be fine, as this will ensure that the religious demography of India isn't changed or affected. Sangh leaders who issue such calls should remember that this issue is not linked with religion.

In Muslims, the educated have fewer kids. Similarly, in Hindus, Dalits tend to have more children and have much higher birth rate. Besides, Sangh should also think of sparing its own volunteers, who don't marry. If one goes by this theory then, celibacy among RSS cadres affects the Hindu Rashtra most.

Shouldn't Sangh activists marry and have kids? After all, they would be able to imbibe Hindu culture and Hindutva among their own children, better than the other normal Hindus. And there are lakhs of Swayamsevaks, wasting their vigour and vitality.