If RSS is as dangerous as ISIS, Congress is to blame
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has indirectly condemned his entire party and leaders since the Independence by equating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS).
If the RSS is indeed as violent and beastly as the ISIS, then the entire pantheon of Congress prime ministers - from Jawaharlal Nehru to Manmohan Singh - stand guilty of inaction. Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi can't escape the blame for inaction against the RSS.
If the RSS has indeed become an ISIS-like Frankenstein today, the blame lies with the Congress leadership who let it grow into a monster. It's a "crime" in which all parties stand indicted.
Within a short time since the emergence of the ISIS, a coalition of 60 countries is fighting the terrorist organisation militarily. What has the Congress done during its 60 years of rule to fight the RSS, which, according to Azad, is as monstrous as the ISIS?
Yes, the Congress banned the RSS thrice. The first ban came soon after Independence on the charges of involvement in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The Nehru government imposed the ban. But the ban was later lifted on an understanding between Patel and the then RSS chief.
The Indira Gandhi government banned the RSS during the Emergency in 1975. Not only the RSS, several political parties and organisations were outlawed under the Emergency provisions. With the withdrawal of the Emergency after 19 months, the ban got lifted.
The RSS was banned for the third time after the Babri Masjid demolition when PV Narasimha Rao of the Congress was the prime minister. That ban didn't stand the scrutiny of the courts.
Who would Azad blame for the RSS coming out unscathed? Who would he blame for the lack of political will on the part of Congress governments, and for meekly surrendering and not pursuing the case against the RSS?
It's on record that Patel worked through DP Mishra, a minister in the United Provinces government and a prominent Congress leader, to get the RSS agree to his conditions. Will Azad condemn Patel for taking the then RSS chief on his face value? On the contrary, the Congress has been fighting a turf war with the BJP for appropriation of Patel and his legacy.
Indira Gandhi is also known to have used DP Mishra to keep in touch with the RSS leadership covertly.
Narasimha Rao played footsies with the RSS, which led to the demolition of the Babri mosque. Rao slept while the mosque was being demolished. Why? Because Rao put "faith" in the word given by the RSS and its affiliates. Will Azad condemn Rao also?
The BJP's umbilical link to the RSS was never a secret. But it came out in the open like never before when the erstwhile Jan Sangh broke the Janata Party up on the dual membership issue, which led to the fall of the Morarji Desai government. Parties of utmost democratic and secular credentials had merged their identities with the Jan Sangh in that government.
No mainstream non-Congress and non-Left parties can claim not to have been associated with the Jan Sangh or the BJP at one time or another in full knowledge that the RSS and the BJP are inseparable. The Congress too can't escape the charge for being complicit.
What will Azad say about all those parties including the TDP, AIADMK, DMK, TMC, BSP, JD(U) and even the National Conference and the PDP of Jammu and Kashmir who had aligned with the BJP?
Azad's RSS-ISIS rant is duplicitous. It's political posturing. Earlier, the historian, Professor Irfan Habib, too had compared the RSS with the ISIS. "There is not much difference between the Islamic State and RSS as far as intellect goes," he had said.
Senior journalist Shekhar Gupta reacted to Prof Habib's statement in a tweet thus:
There's much to question on RSS ideology. But comparing with ISIS is ridiculous. In fact, this is just how liberal case is trivialised, lost
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) November 1, 2015
Historian and writer Ramchandra Guha, in a recent article, in The Hindustan Times argued that comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi - because of his links with the RSS - with Hitler was untenable and false. One wonders what Guha has to say about his fellow historian Habib drawing a parallel between the RSS and the ISIS.
Leaders such as Azad and intellectuals such as Habib are trivialising the seriousness of the debate about the RSS by talking about the ISIS in the same breath. Their statements encourage cynicism and apathy. They compromise the liberal cause.
The ISIS' unparalleled bestiality, the gory images of beheadings including that of children, suicide bombings and mass killings across continents and its horrific tale of sex slavery don't call for cynical ramblings.
Likewise, it calls for serious thinking and meticulous planning to take on the RSS and not leave the matter to incoherent babblings. True, the RSS stands for majoritarian, sectarian, communal, xenophobic and fascist politics. But it's not like the ISIS.
The entire political class, the Congress more than anybody else, must share the blame if the RSS is indeed as dangerous as the IS. Because the Congress governments have let the RSS grow and prosper.