‘Stick in Hand’: How RSS Chief’s Comments Encourage Mob Violence SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI 19 Apr 2022, https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/stick-in-hand-how-rss-chiefs-comments-encourage-mob-violence
Mohan Bhagwat must clarify: does he condone or condemn the brandishing of swords and guns at Hindu processions?
One of the stated objectives of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s powerful Hindu nationalist organisation, is charitra nirmaan (character-building). Undoubtedly, the RSS does pursue this objective with great dedication. RSS swayamsevaks are generally men of discipline and simple living...
On Ram Navami (10 April) and Hanuman Jayanti (16 April) this year, Hindu mobs were seen brandishing swords, knives and guns in religious processions in various parts of the country. They raised provocative slogans in front of mosques..
In recent weeks, riots have taken place in Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Almost everywhere, the pattern is similar – Hindu extremists provoke Muslims, attack their homes and shops, and if they react, they are hit harder.
For the past several months, many saffron-clad Hindu monks, who are an insult to the sacred tradition of monkhood, have made speeches calling for the mass killing of Muslims, that too at events misnamed as “Dharam Sansads”.
Maligning the entire Muslim community as “jihadis”, these fake sadhus and swamis have been urging Hindus to take up arms to attack them.
organisations have been openly calling for the economic boycott of Muslims, and even violently enforcing their threats.
Lastly, “bulldozer” has become the new favourite word of many Hindutva politicians. In BJP-ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, governments are using bulldozers to raze Muslim properties, with the least regard for the rule of law.
If the RSS truly wants to stop such activities, it has the power to do so. But it is deliberately not exercising that power for the obvious reason that communal polarisation, which results in expansion and consolidation of the Hindu vote bank, helps the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its political wing.
Bhagwat, addressing a gathering of saints in Haridwar on 13 April, “We will talk about non-violence, but we will walk with a stick. And that stick will be a heavy one.”
Does the RSS expect Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and others in South Asia to meekly agree to join ‘Akhand Bharat’ just because it wields a “heavy stick” and knows how to speak the language of “power”?
Some kind of coming together of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and other South Asian nations in a confederal set-up – not in the form of ‘Akhand Bharat’, is desirable. It is both necessary and possible, provided such a set-up is anchored in the ideals of equality, peace, mutual respect, mutual affinity, mutual cooperation and shared prosperity for all, without any discrimination.