Will India become

a hindu nation?

Will India become a hindu nation?

-Uday Dandavate

It is very clear that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is in an elated mood. Never before in the history of free India, has the RSS chief so openly and adamantly dictated terms to the leadership of the Jan Sangh/ Bharatiya Janata Party, as he has in recent months. The RSS has been openly arm-twisting the BJP leadership into electing Narendra Modi as the Chairman of its campaign committee and in hastening the process of declaring him BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate. The RSS sees in Narendra modi an instrument to fulfill its longcherished goal, which is expressed clearly In its website: Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory, through organising the entire society and ensuring protection of Hindu Dharma. Having identified this goal, the Sangh created a method of work in consonance with that ideal. Decades of functioning has confirmed that this is the most effective way of organizing the society. (Extract from RSS website) Having followed RSS propaganda for years and having argued with my friends with RSS background since early child hood I have clearly understood the belief system RSS cultivates in the minds of its cadres.

By proclaiming itself a Hindu Rashtra (nation), India will be able to provide a more secure environment for the Hindu majority, and freedom from fear of minorities and terrorists.

Gandhi was responsible for appeasement of Muslims. He deserved to be removed from the center of national attention.

Minorities have a place in India only if they defer to the domination of the Hindu majority.

Influence of religion (Hindu religion) will bring morality into Politics. Secularism is a sham. Hindu Nationalism can alone provide a foundation of a prosperous India.

This is the hidden agenda behind RSS open involvement in the affairs of the BJP. The Bharatiya Janata Party is only a political instrument of an ideology that has worked behind the scenes for the past sixty plus years for ensuring domination of Hindu religion over the politics in India. The leadership of the Jan Sangh and BJP, especially of the RSS has traditionally remained with the Brahmins. The RSS has encouraged its cadres to follow the rules and rituals of the Hindu religion, thereby indirectly encouraging perpetuation of the unjust caste system and the dominance of the Brahmins in the social power structure. Representation of minorities and lower castes in the RSS or BJP organizations are only token gestures. In the aftermath of the political successes the Ram Janma Bhumi movement brought to the National Democratic Alliance, involvement of religious orthodoxy in the affairs of the BJP organization became deeper and blatant. The political rallies of BJP began to look like religious congregations. Saffron Clad Sadhus began to occupy front row seats, sharing dais with L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jetley, and other BJP leaders. It is clear that the Advani and Vajpayee era in the BJP is now over. Especially Atal Bihari Vajpayee era was a secular camouflage for RSS march to capture the Indian mind with the spirit of Hindu Nationalism. In RSSs view Narendra modi is a staunch believer of RSS ideology with no pretentions to secular beliefs. RSS is eager to force BJP into declaring Modi as partys candidate for Prime Ministership. They want to hasten the process of minimizing potential damage from L.K. Advani to Modis prospects and ensure taming ambitions of leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jetley. Once Narendra Modi is declared the PM candidate RSS will begin timely cleansing of BJP and getting

rid of leaders with questionable loyalty to the cause of Hindu Rastra. Regardless of whether the election commission allows it to openly chant the slogal Garv Se Kaho Ham Hindu Hai, the whisper campaign of the RSS will feed the Indian voter with an appeal, For a change, take pride in being a Hindu.

RSS cadres are bubbling with enthusiasm at the prospect of Narendra Modi leading the way to unfurling the Saffron Flag atop the Red Fort. Its front organizations such as the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, are gearing up for the campaign. Organizations such as the Shri Ram Sene are excited about the prospects of Hidu revivalism. Sadhu Samaj is revising their knowledge of Manu Smriti, so that the future leaders of India can be imparted with appropriate knowledge of moral governance of a Hindu Rashtra.

In the meanwhile Sudhindra Kulkarni, an important advisor in Atal Bihari Vajpyee's PMO who was also involved in L.K. Advani's unsuccessful 2009 PM bid, was left to lament, "An autocrat (Modi) is sought to be enthroned, and a perfect democrat (Advani) is being marginalized and humiliated. A self-centered leader who has shown that he cares two hoots for the party organization and long-time party colleagues in his own state has suddenly become all powerful in the BJP's national scheme of things, whereas a selfless leader who toiled for many decades to build the party brick by brick is being cast aside as a useless relic.. (A quote from Sudhindra Kulkarnis statement).

In the meanwhile, the electorate in India is quietly watching the evolving scenario. The internet is buzzing with the supporters of Narendra Modi championing the idea of taking the Gujrat model of development to the national level. The hate

campaign against Muslims is gaining ground. The congress party in the meanwhile is faced with a crisis of Identity. Dr. Manmohan Singh has already become a Lame Duck Prime Minister-not being able to provide any credible defense of his government or a forceful retort to BJPs campaign. The congress president Sonia Gandhi, is making a last ditch effort at salvaging the dwindling prospects of the congress party by forcing the Food Security Bill and trying to get congress cadres excited about making the promise of food security prevail in public imagination over the memory of a failed government with a trail of scandals to its record. In this scenario what choice do the people of India have?

Will utter failure of the congress government turn people to the RSS? Will people care to preserve the diversity of India? Is the promise of Gujrat model of develop development (over Orissa model or Bihar model) so compelling that we turn Indias slow evolution into a functioning democracy into a totalitarian and religious state? I believe it is time to only encourage people to assert the ultimate power in collective action that was witnessed during the Lok Pal movement and during the protests against the rape in Delhi. The only way for India to escape from the vicious cycle of making choices between discredited political agendas is to not vote for a Prime Minister but to vote for a peoples representative who will best serve their interest, and then let a congregation of men (and women) of integrity select a team to govern India driven by the conscience and the vigil of the people in the streets.