Desperate Campaign to Discredit RSS and its Leaders - I

The latest book on him that probably shows his human side, very joyfully introduced by the international roaming star of left Yogendra Yadav, is another example. Minimizing the work and struggle of conservative Congress leaders, not enamored by woolen-headed ideas of Nehruvian socialism and marginalizing them has gone on for years. Thus, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpatrai, Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sardar Patel, K M Munshi, Rajarshi Tandon, et al were put behind bamboo curtains of historical narrative. Criticism and insult of Veer Savarkar are part of this targeting. Dismissal of the revolutionary movement as scattered ad-hoc cases of violence has come into open in the 75th year of independence. This has been going on for many years, but we see signs of desperation as the left lobby is using a microscope to find the smallest issues to blow them up into a campaign. So far, the founder of RSS, Dr K B Hedgewar whose contribution to the freedom struggle has never been questioned, has been spared. However, the current attack by Congress and the Left is a petty attempt to besmirch his immense contribution to nation building, hence it needs a rebuttal.

An article in Caravan talks of ‘Great betrayal’ of Dr Hedgewar based on one article in Illustrated Weekly dated 7th July 1979 in which the reporters had purportedly talked to Late Balasaheb Huddar, once a part of close circle of Dr Hedgewar and who held an important position in RSS till 1930. This chat is then brushed up with rhetorical flourishes, innuendoes, and wrong interpretation of facts referred to by the writer.

According to the biographer of Shri N H Palkar, when Dr Hedgewar was in jail for his Jungle Satyagraha Shri Huddar committed an armed dacoity. When Dr. Hedgewar came to know about it, he immediately removed him from his post because he was wedded to the non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi. However, as was his nature, he did not break his friendship with Huddar. Just to explain to lay readers, Jungle Satyagraha in Vidarbha was a complementary satyagraha to bolster Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March) that consisted of cutting tree in jungles, an act prohibited by the British. He went to jail along with hundreds of RSS workers who participated with him. It is noted by Palkar that by the time he reached the place of satyagraha, he was accompanied by thousands of people. (Rakesh Sinha, Dr Hedgewar, Page 209) This was the second imprisonment of Dr. Hedgewar. He was jailed in 1920 for participating in the non-cooperation movement. Thus, to claim that Dr. Hedgewar betrayed the freedom movement is churlish.

Dr. Hedgewar was the joint secretary of the Nagpur branch of the Indian National Congress at the time when the National session of the Indian National Congress was planned in Nagpur in 1920. Dr. L V Paranjape formed Bharat Swayamsevak Dal in 1920 in January 1920 to take care of the arrangements. Dr. Hedgewar was fully involved in this exercise. (Teen Sarsanghchaalaks, Karandikar, Page 72) In this, he had proposed a resolution to the resolution committee that India should seek complete freedom. His draft resolution read “Goal of Congress is to achieve complete freedom and establishing Indian republic; and to liberate the other nations of the world from exploitation and atrocities of capitalist imperialism.” (Page 79, Palkar)

The resolution was laughed out by the committee as Congress was seeking ‘self-rule’ under a British dominion status. Dr. Hedgewar took this decision in his stride. Congress sought complete freedom in the 1929 plenary session of the party. Thus, Dr. Hedgewar was ahead of his time and his party. By that time he had formed RSS, moving away from active politics. After his varied experience over the years, he had decided that unless the Bharatiya society was united as a strong disciplined society rooted in Bharatiya values, the independence that we were fighting for would mean only change in the rulers, not result in swaraj. Though subsequent developments proved him correct, that is not the focus of this article.

The said article tries to impute different motives for Dr Hedgewar’s decision to resign from his post as the Sarsanghchaalak of RSS before he undertook satyagraha in 1930. He was clear that the freedom movement was being fought under the flag of the Congress party, hence we all must participate under the same flag and not with different identities. The Caravan tries to put some clever twist to this resignation.

The writer then insinuates that Dr Hedgewar’s role in Anusheelan Samiti while in Kolkota as a student of medicine, is doubtful as not much is written about his role. One should read the autobiography of Shri Trailokyanath Chakravarty ‘Jail Mein Tees Baras’. He writes about his colleague and his work in Anusheelan Samiti fondly. (Palkar, Page 37) The biographer of Dr. Hedgewar tells us that he was codenamed ‘’Cocaine” by the CID in Kolkata. Unfortunately, unlike the big mouths of the Communist Party, the RSS founder hardly talked about himself and his hard life. He was generally full of optimism and laughter with his colleagues, whatever be his pains. He would tell his Communist friend Mr Ruikar, whom he used to invite for Kojagiri (Sharad) Purnima night get together with other friends to have sweet milk, “You are welcome, but keep your views outside my door.” (Page 72, Palkar)

He claims that “Hedgewar’s short and limited association with the Anushilan Samiti goes some way to explain that he had at the time not made up his mind regarding his future, for, after the RSS was founded, he simply moved in a completely different direction.”

Truth is, he was part of the group that organized arms supplies even after his return from Kolkota around 1916 to 1918. (Palkar, Page 58-64) He found that any setback in these actions would result in pessimism in the groups. He decided to join Congress to work in the non-violent stream of freedom movement. He was member of Congress from 1918 till nearly 1924 and also of Hindu Mahasabha (which was common at that time) He finally decided to move out of politics and seek a different direction for the freedom struggle.

One of the catalysts for this change was the violence that followed the Khilafat movement supported earnestly by Gandhi Ji. The violence that had begun in Kerala with Moplahs’ atrocities had spread to other states and went on till 1923-24.

The main contention of the writer is that Dr Hedgewar refused to entertain any discussion with Balasaheb Huddar about Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 1939 while in Nasik for recovery from an ailment that ultimately resulted in his death in 1940. His last months were very painful and he hardly slept. The writer claims that this was a betrayal of the freedom struggle. Even if I were to accept the argument of the writer at its full face value, does it mean that those who did not participate in the freedom struggle with Netaji were all betrayers of the cause? Does it mean that Gandhi ji and the Congress party under him did not participate in the freedom struggle and betrayed the cause? The fact is that Netaji resigned from the Congress party due to the pressure created on him by the faction supported by Gandhi ji. He had not yet decided his future course of action. He was still a member of Congress. Thus, at worst, it was a question of who supported which faction, nothing more. To quote the writer, “Turning down a plea to meet Bose at the peak of the rumblings for independence would be akin to betraying the struggle itself”. With due respects to all the freedom fighters, these rumblings had begun decades back. This period was not about rumblings for independence, it was a period of rumblings within Congress for control of Congress. Mass action of Congress came up in 1942 after Netaji was forced out, while Netaji took command of Azad Hind Fauj in 1943.

Incidentally, during the same period, the Communist Party of India performed some spectacular trapeze acts, like first supporting the British and then opposing the British as the Second World War changed course. (The Red blunders: The communists have consistently betrayed national interests - Telegraph India) Comrade Dange’s apology in 1924 and offer of support to the British in a brazenly subservient manner is something that our so-called historians must publish to educate our new age ‘revolutionaries’ and wannabe revolutionaries! (CPI founder SA Dange pleaded mercy from the British reveals 1924 letter - VSK Telangana)

To know more about it, stay tuned for the next article.