Author: Tarun Vijay
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: September 4, 2002
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2002/Sep/04/printedition/040902/detIDE01.shtml
In times like these, I become speechless
when my 13-year-old son asks me innocently, "Papa, do you belong to the
party of land- grabbers?" It is difficult to explain our position. It is
like someone shouting at a person, and the passersby start beating him
without caring to ascertain the facts.
So, where do we go from here when
names of our ideological icons are splashed on front pages in bad light
without any concern for the facts? The names of Advani and his daughter
Pratibha - a shining example of how a leader's family should conduct itself
- were linked in a so-called scam without any truth behind it. One of our
most respected scholars, 76-year-old Devendra Swaroop, was called Rasputin
in a 32- point size headline!
First, we were killers and communal.
Now scamsters and land- grabbers. Worse may follow. How does a movement,
biggest so far in our history, and its followers, face the barrage of charges
and public-hangings? Our generation did not face post-Gandhi murder attacks
and the struggle against the Emergency is hardly remembered. This time
the very foundation of belief in ourselves is under attack. We are bad
guys and money-makers through dubious means.
How did it happen and why? We have
all sorts of stories about it. Secularists, anti- Hindutva gang-up, proselytisers
and Islamists, those who want to break this government, et al. We have
logical defensive shields too. They never ask for accounts from Teesta
Setalvad who spent huge money to sponsor ad campaigns against the BJP.
Aniruddha Bahal gets Rs 3 crore for his 'literary masterpiece' and nobody
knows about it. A high court admits petition against Sonia Gandhi for illegally
exporting Indian artefacts and no one comments on it. Sahmat accounts and
its big spendings are never a matter of scrutiny. The CPI(M) in Bengal
and Kerala has given all the jobs - from a constable's to a school teacher's
- only to its cadre, and 'others' are made untouchables, even hacked to
death. But it does not invite even a murmur.
Journalists get government houses
and plots at specially reduced rates, special rail passes and even free
parking labels. But all that is justified - like MPs justifying salary
hikes. Yes, it happens, but we should not go on name calling or accusing
the media of any sinister design. We must offer ourselves for the agni
pariksha without any malice towards 'pointing fingers' and look inwards
to see what went wrong with us.
I fully agree with Veer Sanghvi
that Hindutva does not need the government's help to grow. We have grown
amidst severe handicaps and government's opposition. Banned thrice, jailed
many times, the administration has come down heavily on our organisations,
even taking control of our property. A strange kind of apartheid is practised
against us. We were never put on any government list of invitees for the
Republic Day celebrations or official banquets. Any film against us is
appreciated. A liberation from the mental ghetto of self-righteous 'official
secularism' is achieved by making a film denigrating the RSS. I wonder
why no film is made on official secularism which has come to mean a mish-mash
of Stalinism and Indira Gandhi camp follower - a diffused category that
is everything other than Hindu. Hate, rejection and persecution have been
a permanent feature against us. Intelligence reports are sought whether
a person has any connection with the RSS and, if found to be so, his job
application is rejected there and then. An RSS person can become a prime
minister but not a clerk.
In spite of all these odds, we grew
in leaps and bounds. Young workers, radiant with the commitment to the
ideology, keep joining the ranks, devoting their life to work for the cause
in the remotest and most dangerous areas. Why?
Because the people of the land respect
those who sacrifice. Raja Mansingh was never worshipped; this was reserved
for Rana Pratap and Bhama Shah, who were no match to his riches. People
donated us their ancestral houses to open karyalayas, offered meals to
our pracharaks and sent their children to our schools. Only those who had
something to give could walk with us because we had nothing to offer except
fraternal love and commitment to the cause.
The situation changed rapidly with
our own people coming to power. We were placed on some invitation lists,
we got on to various committees; friends said, you have been wronged for
so long, tell us what can we do for you? We chose the ways of the CPI(M)
and the Congress and slipped. Here is a story break.
There was a time when the reigning
principle was never to touch government money, because it corrupts. Then
why did we change? The ground realities are very different from the morality
we appreciate. The government's control is atrociously all pervasive. Even
to start a service project you need to go through government channels.
When we get governments who look at the colour of the applicant rather
than the merit of the case, you are bound to fall in a situation where
some are considered favourites and others are rejected at the first sight.
Many of the organisations getting
plots are those who are pioneers in their respective fields. They are supported
by thousands who give their life, money, homes for the cause. They grew
to the top positions despite the previous rulers' opposition. But where
do they go if a piece of land is needed for their transparent, social activities?
It happens like this. They approach
the minister with the proposal and say it was never considered because
they accused us of having links with you (organisation). If our proposal
is right and fits in your schemes, why shouldn't it be accepted?
We were rejected before because
we shared the 'colour', although hundreds of acres was given to Mother
Teresa's institutions without a question and we are discriminated against
now when one of us is in power. If the minister clears the proposal it
gets portrayed in the media as a scam!
These plots in Delhi and elsewhere
were taken for good purposes, to serve a greater social cause. But it became
a 'scam' because a particular segment of society received it. The decision-makers
and the beneficiaries had the same 'colour'. If some other party had sanctioned
the same plots, would that be an example in fairness?
When I was a pracharak in Nagar
Haveli (UT), we started a hostel and some balwadis for tribals. The then
Lt Governor, Gopal Singh, appreciated our work. He not only gave us 100
acres of land and put me on the 20-point programme implementation committee
of Indira Gandhi, but also nominated me on the home minister's advisory
committee. Everybody knew I was from the RSS, yet none complained. If today,
Advani puts me on the same committee, it would be seen as a favour.
The RSS and its affiliates are the
largest NGOs running development projects in the country which include
leprosy services, hospitals, adult education centres, hostels for the most
deprived and isolated, libraries, dispensaries, orphanages, slum service
centres, women training centres - more than 20,000 such centres.
Why should an educated person devote
his life, without any remuneration, for a 'land-grabbing organisation'?
As long as you provide Haj subsidy,
the Kailash Mansarovar subsidy will be demanded; when you have special
provisions for minority institutions, majority institutions would feel
the pain of discrimination.
As long as decisions are taken on
the basis of community, religion and party links, and ideological apartheid
is practised, favouritism will remain the bane of society.
(The writer is Editor of RSS publication
Panchjanya)
