India must not underestimate the intent of the RSS

Many have told me that RSS has changed a lot and it should not be viewed from the old prism

- ASHUTOSH

Is India heading for a historical accident? It's a troubling thought. It upsets me no end and I pray that it should not happen, but I dread saying that unfortunately the country is moving in that direction at a rapid pace. If people thought that after the 2024 general elections the BJP would carry out a course correction and would desist from a divisive and communal agenda, then they all were living in a fool's paradise. The Narendra Modi government that tried to popularise 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Prayas' has swiftly moved towards 'Batenge toh Katenge', after the elections. Not that I ever believed that 'Sabka Sath' was a secular and all-encompassing rhetoric, but at least it was not so brazen and there was some moral wrapping. The communal agenda was packaged well in an attractive attire. With 'Batenge toh Katenge', that pretense is gone and now it is out in the open, and RSS too has endorsed it. But this is not surprising, as this is their true self. This is a reflection of what Golwalkar said long ago.

Many of my left-liberal friends, and also those who are close to RSS, have told me that RSS has changed a lot and it should not be viewed from the old prism; we should not quote from old books of RSS to analyze or assess the RSS of the present. I have always advocated that the success of the RSS lies in its being underestimated by its critics and its friends. It has always used deception techniques to camouflage its real intent and successfully hoodwink its adversaries. Its talk about Hindu Unity is basically the result of its hatred towards Islam. In private, many of its leaders and supporters don't mind saying this and cite historical reasons for what they say and what they believe. It is for this reason that I found it difficult to believe, when a few years back RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in Delhi that "there can be no Hindutva without Muslims," that the RSS was changing.