At the meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on 15-17 March 2024, two sets of objectives were identified for the organization in its centenary year: first, increasing the number of Shakhas and bringing about qualitative improvement in their activities; and second, working for “panch parivartan” (five changes) in society, the first of them being stress on “samrasta” (harmony).
Let us have a look at some other related statements:
“Sangh chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat’s emphasis on social harmony gains significance in light of the casteist forces scrambling into action after the launch of the construction of Ram Temple. To combat the machinations aimed at dividing society, Bhagwat said that there was no caste which great and eminent men and patriots were not born into. It is one’s deeds that make one great and such individuals should be seen solely from this perspective. For all-round development, it is essential to bear this in mind.”[1]
“Since its founding, the Sangh has been working for social harmony. It has been asserting from the very beginning that all Hindus are one. From day one, there has been no discrimination on the basis of caste in the Shakhas and camps of the RSS and in fact no one even asks you about your caste. This has been the consistent practice in the Sangh.”[2]
The Constitution of the RSS says: “It was considered necessary to have an organization to eradicate the fissiparous tendencies arising from diversities of sect, faith, caste and creed and from political, economic, linguistic and provincial differences, amongst Hindus.”[3]
However, the Sangh’s prayer, the vows its members take and its activities are not compatible with the assertion that it is serious about achieving this objective.
When the RSS was born, Maharashtra was already an epicentre of movements seeking social transformation. The writings and the thinking of the Phule couple (Jotirao and Savitribai Phule) and the work of Shahuji Maharaj had begun influencing the social common sense. Dr Ambedkar had entered active public life. The varna and caste system perpetuated by Vedic Brahmanism faced a strong challenge. The independence movement was also on the rise and voices against untouchability, discrimination and caste-based exploitation were becoming increasingly audible. It seemed that if India became independent, there would be no place for governance and social order based on Manusmriti. At this juncture, Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded an organization of upper-caste Hindus at a locality called Mohite Ke Bade in Nagpur. Established with the ostensible objective of combating Muslims, all the founding members of the organization were Brahmins. The organization was not called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the time – it had no prayer, no vows, no constitution and no vision. It was like a wrestler’s club.
However, a lot of deliberation had gone into its founding. And later, donning the garb of nationalism, it began working on its well-crafted mission of establishing Brahmanism.
In the 99 years of its existence, the Sangh has never ever made a direct comment on the caste system, let alone launching any movement for annihilation of caste. For the RSS, caste was not an issue at all. Even at a time when Dr Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and the socialists were speaking out against the caste system and untouchability, the Sangh soft-pedalled the issue of varna and caste system and refrained from commenting on it.
In fact, the RSS was singing an entirely different tune.
“As we are working for the entire Hindu community, ignoring any of its sections won’t do. Our behaviour with all our Hindu brethren, no matter from which class, should be loving and uniform. It is a great sin to reproach a Hindu brother, taking him to be lowly. At least the Sangh’s volunteers (swayamsevaks) should not be so narrow-minded. We should treat every Hindu who loves India as our brother. If our behaviour is ideal, there is no reason why all Hindu brethren won’t be drawn towards us.”[4]
Let us begin with the Sangh’s activities under the leadership of its founder Hedgewar. Initially, all the Swayamsevaks came from only one caste, but soon the Sangh turned its attention to non-Brahmin localities and opened its shakhas there. Rakesh Sinha, in his book Builders of Modern India: Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, writes: “Wardha alone had 84 RSS shakhas in 1940, of which 70 were held in non-Brahmin areas.”[5]
The RSS eyed the untouchable and the Shudra castes from its early days and began recruiting them to its Shakhas, even though there weren’t many takers. But whenever any caste-related issue cropped up, Hedgewar always gave in to the supporters of the caste system.
Rakesh Sinha explains: “Dr Hedgewar believed that Hindus lacked a cohesive social consciousness. He therefore, did not lay down any condition for entry into the RSS … Indeed, there were innumerable instances where Brahmins and so-called untouchable swayamsevaks living and eating together caused social friction among the families of the more orthodox …”[6]
Sinha also writes: “Balasaheb Deoras has written in his memoirs that Dr Hedgewar never used to impose the concept of equity under the aegis of discipline. He always believed that this ought to happen of one’s own volition in order to be sustainable. Deoras further reveals that during the Sangh’s first-ever training camp, when some swayamsevaks displayed hesitation in sitting alongside others of the Mahar caste, they were allowed to sit in another row.[7]
H.V. Pingle has edited a book Smriti Kann Parampujya Dr Hedgewar. The book describes different incidents in the life of Hedgewar, who swore by Hindu unity. Pingle writes, “He was refusing to dine with Dalit Swayamsevaks.”[8]
From Hedgewar to Bhagwat, the RSS has always fostered the varna and caste system.
You will find reference to many such incidents in the literature of the Sangh, but not a single mention of any incident or event where Sangh’s founder Hedgewar spoke or acted against caste-based discrimination or the inhuman practice of untouchability. Hedgewar was well aware that Brahmins, who were in a minority, would not be able to implement the Sangh’s anti-Muslim agenda and so, swayamsevaks from untouchable and backward castes were inducted into the shakhas. But there was a glass ceiling for them – they didn’t rise beyond the level of swayamsevak (volunteer). When the RSS adopted the pracharak (preacher) system, no untouchable swayamsevak was considered worthy of appointment as a pracharak.
Thus we find that the untouchable and backward swayamsevaks were confined to the role of foot soldiers of the vanguard of the Sangh’s army. They were systematically kept away from the process of organization building and decision making. Nowhere in life, thought and writing of Hedgewar do we find any opposition to the varna or caste system. If you try hard enough, you may find a soft critique of untouchability. But there is nothing to show that the Sangh or Hedgewar took on the caste system.
It should also be remembered that Maharashtra, where the RSS was expanding its footprint after its founding on 27 September 1925, also witnessed Dr Ambedkar’s Chavdar Lake Satyagraha (20 March 1927) and the movement for entry into Nashik’s Kalaram Temple (24 September 1932) around the same time. At the Yeola conference (1935), Ambedkar announced that he would not die a Hindu and his much talked-about book Annihilation of Caste was published in 1936. Eradication of untouchability had emerged as a major component of the national movement. But the RSS and its founder maintained a safe distance from all-social reform movements. They kept quiet on these issues and focused entirely on strengthening their brahmanical organization.
Nowhere in his speeches and writings has Dr Ambedkar mentioned that he was close to Dr Hedgewar. Neither has any of Ambedkar’s biographers referred to this relationship. There is nothing on record to show that the two had a conversation or enjoyed cordial relations. But the RSS, to serve its ends, manufactured much later tales of how Ambedkar and Hedgewar were friends and used its publicity machinery to try and turn this falsehood into a truth. Ambedkar-Hedgewar friendship is a piece of fiction meant for gaining political mileage.
Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, known as Guruji, who was the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, was its real ideologue. In his well-known book Bunch of Thoughts, he unambiguously supports the varna and caste system. He doesn’t accept that the system has harmed Indian society in any way. On the other hand, he believes, “Varna and caste have contributed greatly to our social unity.”[9]
Golwalkar also says, “We know as a matter of history that our northwestern and northeastern areas, where the influence of Buddhism had disrupted the caste system, became easy prey to the onslaughts of Muslims. But the areas of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, which were considered to be very orthodox and rigid in caste restrictions, remained predominantly Hindu even after remaining as the citadels of Muslim power and fanaticism for a number of centuries.”[10]
He also contends, “The feeling of inequality, of high and low, which has crept into the Varna system, is of recent origin. The perversion was given a further fillip by the scheming British in line with their ‘divide and rule’ policy. This system envisaged some divisions in society. But in its original form, the distinctions in that social order did not imply any discrimination such as important and unimportant, high and low, among its constituents. No less important … was the Shudra who served society through his art and craft. Helping each other with their similar vocations, they together constituted the social order.”[11]
It is well known that Guru Golwalkar was an ardent supporter of the Manusmriti code and the varna and caste system while Dr Ambedkar was firmly against them. Golwalkar has this to say: “The shrutis are creations of god and so is the chaturvarna system enunciated in them. As it is divine, distortions in it don’t worry us, for even if humans tinker with it, the social order ordained by god is bound to reestablish itself again, and again.”[12]
And also:
“Today, even Western thinkers are coming to realize that their life is based on competition and till there is competition, no matter how much material progress is made, happiness will continue to elude them. They are now coming round to the view that competition should give way to a system based on cooperation. That will lead to happiness. Varnashram system and the social order of our religion is indeed a cooperative system. The nature of what was called ‘caste’ earlier and what is often referred to as ‘guild’ today is the same.”[13]
Reacting to the Hindu Code Bill moved in Parliament by Ambedkar, Golwalkar had this to say: “The people should come to a realization and should not be deluded into believing that the danger of the Hindu Code Bill is over. The danger persists and will sneak into their lives from the backdoor and sap their life-vigour. It is like a devilish snake lurking in the dark, waiting to strike at you with its poisonous fangs.”[14]
Guru Golwalkar was not only a fierce backer of the varna and caste system, but he was also critical of those opposed to them and of the leaders of anti-caste movement. He rabidly hated Ambedkar. His bitter criticism of the Hindu Code Bill, espoused by Babasaheb, and his close proximity to Swami Karpatri, a bitter critic and a zealous opponent of the Hindu Code Bill, is known too well to be recounted.
In his book, Ramesh Patange recounts an incident: “In 1960-62, Shri Guruji visited the Delhi residence of Swami Karpatri ji where Swami Karpatri ji urged him to ‘motivate his swayamsevaks to act in accordance with the Varna system’. Guruji’s response was, “You have thousands of disciples. You are their guru. They will follow your orders. You could tell your disciples to set an example by behaving in keeping with their respective varnas. I will do whatever I can in this matter.”[15]
What Golwalkar thought of Dr Ambedkar visiting Bhima-Koregaon to launch the annual fair there is this: “There is a ‘victory pillar’ near Pune, raised by the English in 1818 to commemorate their victory over the Peshwa. An eminent leader of the Harijan once addressed his caste-brethren at that pillar. He declared that the pillar was a symbol of their victory over the Brahmins as it was they who had fought under the British and defeated the Peshwas, the Brahmins. How heart-rending it is to hear an eminent leader thus describing the hated sign of slavery as an emblem of victory, and the despicable action of fighting as slaves of a foreigner against their own kith and kin as an achievement of glory. How utterly his eyes must have been blinded by hatred, not able even to discern the simple fact of who were the victors and who were the defeated! What perversity!”[16]
The RSS may have included Ambedkar in its Ekatmakta Strot[17], among personalities who are to be remembered every morning, it may have placed Ambedkar’s photos in its offices and may be displaying them in all its events, but in Babasaheb’s lifetime, the RSS never voiced its agreement with any policy or belief of Ambedkar or with any programme or movement that he launched. So much so that mocking the seminal role played by Ambedkar in the drafting of the Indian Constitution, it termed the Constitution as a document borrowed from the Western nations and asked that when India already has Manu’s exemplary code, where was the need for an imported constitution which had nothing Indian about it.[18]
Guru Golwalkar was sure that reservations constituted a savage attack on the social unity of the Hindus and strongly believed that it would ruin the centuries-old relations based on harmony within the Hindu fold. He did not hold the caste system responsible for the misery of the lower castes. He held the view that constitutional provision for reservations would only breed malice for one another among the Hindus.[19]
It was during Golwalkar’s tenure as the chief of the RSS that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was founded. At conventions of the VHP, religious conversions were a point of concern and it was felt that unless the Untouchables joined forces with it, its dream of building a wider Hindu solidarity wouldn’t be fulfilled. At the Dharmacharya Sammelan (convention of religious leaders) organized by the VHP in Udupi, Karnataka, in December 1969, untouchability was declared a social stigma, and a historic resolution calling for its elimination was passed. Ten years later, in 1979, at the Prayagraj (Allahabad) convention of the VHP, Jagadguru Shankaracharya declared, “Hindvah sodarah sarve, na Hindu Patitah”[20] meaning “All Hindus are brothers, there are no fallen Hindus.”
The Sangh Parivar, for which Sangh cult would be a better term to use, has been anti-Ambedkar from the very first day of its existence. It dislikes Ambedkar because he posed some sharp questions on Hinduism. In his writings and speeches, Ambedkar launched a no-holds-barred attack on Hindu scriptures and the varna and caste system based on inequality. That was why during the period when it was led by K.B. Hedgewar, B.S. Munje and Guru Golwalkar, the RSS distanced itself from Ambedkar. For public consumption and as a matter of strategy, it periodically kept on releasing statements against untouchability and condemning casteism. But it never uttered a single word against the varna and caste system, which is the fountainhead of casteism and untouchability.
The tenure of Balasaheb Deoras, the third Sarsanghchalak, witnessed a major shift in the strategy of the RSS. When Deoras took over as the chief on 6 June 1973, a systematic campaign for co-opting the Dalits, Adivasis and backward castes into the RSS fold began. The following year, in 1974, addressing Pune’s famous Vasant Vyakhyanmala (Spring Lecture Series), Balasaheb Deoras said, “If untouchability is not a sin, then nothing in this world is a sin. A root-and-branch elimination of this practice is imperative.”[21] The change that began thus has been sustained to date.
Significantly, this was the time when Dalitbahujan consciousness was taking shape. The Dalit Panther in Maharashtra, All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the 1980s in north India, engendered a powerful wave of sociopolitical consciousness which forced the RSS to sit up and take notice. The ideology of Phule, Ambedkar and Periyar appeared as a major challenge to Hindutva. That precipitated a discussion on the emergence of Dalit consciousness and its increasing influence in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha – the supreme decision-making body of the Sangh. Even a cursory glance at the resolutions passed in different sessions of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha from 1980 to 2024 would show that social harmony emerged as a key concern of the RSS and figured in 90 per cent of the resolutions.
Movements based on the ideologies of Phule, Ambedkar and Periyar forcefully put forth the ideas of equity and equality. In response, the Sangh repackaged the ideas of fraternity and equality as samrasta, which became its emblem. It began using the word “Vanchit” (deprived) for the Dalits and first “Girijan” and then “Vanvasi” (forest dwellers) for the Adivasis. To the RSS, “Dalit” was a deadly term, which signified resistance and could aid the mobilization of the Untouchables against Brahmanism. In contrast, “Vanchit” was a harmless word, which connoted helplessness. This word was deployed for some decades but when it could not gain currency, the RSS’s political arm, the BJP and then the RSS itself and its ancillary organizations reluctantly accepted the word Dalit and began using it.
Saffron thinker Ramesh Patange, who comes from the Dalit community, in his biography of Ambedkar, tries to give the latter a Hindutva veneer. But even he clearly admits that he could not find the word “samrasta” (harmony) in Ambedkar’s oeuvre. Ambedkar only uses words like equity and equality. But in his second book, Tathagat and Shriguruji, Patange writes, “Some people insinuate that the word ‘samrasta’ has been coined as an alternative to ‘samta’. The word ‘samrasta’ is 2,500 years old. Lord Gautam Buddha defined samrasta thus: ‘Yatha aham tatha aite, yatha aham, tatha aite’ (You are like me and I am like you). Thus samrasta is not a discovery of the Sangh but is an ancient coinage.”[22]
The RSS had tasked some of its leaders to keep an eye on Babasaheb’s movement, study it and build relations with the leaders of Ambedkarite organizations. It is an old method of the RSS to get its ideologues to infiltrate the ranks of its opponents to keep an eye on their strategies. So, it was decided to penetrate Babasaheb’s movement. When Babasaheb converted to Buddhism, RSS worker Dattopant Thengdi took up work in Nagpur’s Shyam Hotel to gather information about the development. Thengdi later admitted to doing this.
In an interview with Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Nagpur’s well-known Buddhist scholar and Ambedkarite historian Dr K. Jamnadas said, “Dattopant Thengdi, who was a senior RSS leader, was present at the Shyam Hotel in Nagpur disguised as a waiter serving snacks at a (tea) party attended by specially invited guests during the religious conversion event.”[23]
Dattopant Thengdi writes in his book, “I was a Pracharak of the Sangh but to maintain good relations with the leaders and the workers of the Scheduled Castes Federation, I also used to work with them.”[24] As the meetings of the Scheduled Castes Federation went on from morning into the night, his attendance at the morning Shakha became irregular, because of which Guru Golwalkar pulled him up.
Dattopant Thengdi infiltrated Dalitbahujan organizations, studied their policies, their way of functioning and their activities and came up with an alternative model for the Sangh. Following this, a resolution was moved in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in 1980, voicing concern over the anti-reservation riots in Gujarat. The following year, emphasis was laid on the need for social harmony and a year later, the constitution of Samajik Samrasta Manch was approved. That was how Samajik Samrasta Manch came into being on 14 April 1983. It was helmed by Dattopant Thengdi. Meanwhile, without much ado, Ambedkar was added to the leaders who were to be remembered every morning. Writing of literature exploring the commonalities between the RSS and Babasaheb was commissioned and Ambedkar became an important topic of its internal discussions.
Recalling those early days, Ramesh Patange, who served as the national convenor of Samajik Samrasta Manch, writes in his biography of Babasaheb, titled Manogar, “Despite being a swayamsevak of the Sangh and a leading activist of a Hindutvavadi organization, I began speaking and writing a bit about the life and thinking of Babasaheb. I think, initially, my associates did not like it. I had to be very cautious while presenting the thinking of Dr Ambedkar before the workers of Sangh. Many did not like my emotional exposition of Dr Ambedkar’s beliefs. Some told me to my face that I have become too much of a devotee of Ambedkar. Some others said that if, instead of becoming a devotee of Ambedkar, I had become a devotee of Savarkar and presented my views on him, it would have been much better.”[25]
With the establishment of the Samajik Samrasta Manch, Dattopant Thengdi began inventing stories about Ambedkar’s association with the Sangh and also with himself. In his book Dr Ambedkar Aur Samajik Kranti Ki Yatra, he concocted anecdotes about Ambedkar visiting a camp of the Sangh and calling for adoption of saffron flag as India’s national flag, declaring Sanskrit as the country’s national language and India as a Hindu Rashtra. The book also talks about how Ambedkar supported Savarkar, how he struck a secret deal with Hindu Mahasabha leader B.S. Munje and how he aided in getting lifted the ban on the RSS, imposed after Gandhi’s assassination. Thengdi even claimed that he was Babasaheb’s election agent when the latter contested elections from Bhandara in 1952.[26] Facts, however, don’t support these claims, but these have been repeatedly mentioned in literature commissioned and published by the Sangh.
Similar claims have been made in the biography of Hedgewar written by Rakesh Sinha. He claims that Dr Ambedkar visited Sangh’s camp in Pune in 1930 and was surprised to find that the Mahar swayamsevaks were treated as equals and with respect. Ambedkar, it is claimed, commented, “I have not seen such success in ending untouchability anywhere else.”
Rakesh Sinha further claims, “Dr Hedgewar respected Dr Ambedkar and this was the reason for including his name in the RSS pantheon of those to be mentioned early morning.”[27]
Thus, we find that the Sangh began using Dr Ambedkar’s name from the 1980s onwards. He was added to the Pratahsmaran (morning remembrance) of the Sangh under the stewardship of Deoras. Social harmony became the Sangh’s core mantra. Articles and books suggesting that Dr Ambedkar and Hedgewar were friends, and that Ambedkar was a great admirer of the Sangh, an advocate of Hindutva and was anti-Muslim were commissioned and widely circulated. The “Saffronize Ambedkar” project was launched when Deoras was leading the Sangh and its key architect was Dattopant Thengdi, who was friends with some leaders of the Scheduled Caste Federation and the Republican Party of India. He infiltrated both these organizations and prepared the roadmap for a counter-revolution.
Author and scholar A.G. Noorani, in an article published in Frontline magazine, asserts with supporting evidence that Dr Ambedkar, let alone believing in the ideology of the Sangh, considered it a reactionary organization. He writes that in the first General Elections in 1952, the Scheduled Castes Federation led by Ambedkar had made it clear that it would have no truck with reactionary organizations like the Hindu Mahasabha and Jan Sangh.[28]
Then came the long-drawn Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute. During this period, the Sangh made inroads into the Dalit and Adivasi communities using culture and spiritualism as its vehicles. Different castes were linked with the tale of the Ramayana. Some felt elated when they were declared as the descendants of Valmiki, the writer of the epic, others were happy that they were related to Kewat and still others were made to believe that Shabri was one of their own. Some discovered that they were related to Hanuman, others were told about their association with Jatayu and Nishadraj. The different characters of Rama’s tale were linked to Dalits, Backwards and Adivasis. This project was a success. The Ram Mandir Shilapujan Raths were deliberately taken to Dalit habitations. Elderly Dalits were made to perform puja over the stones that were to be used in the construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya to create an emotional bond of the Dalits with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. A Dalit (Paswan) swayamsevak, Kameshwar Chaupal, was made to place the first brick at the foundation-laying ceremony of the Ram Temple on 9 November 1989. Thus, the deprived Dalit community was pulled into the Ram Mandir project.
Meanwhile, Dr Hedgewar’s birth centenary celebrations were dedicated to social harmony. One of the objectives of the celebration was uniting the fast-emerging forces of Hindu awakening and using them to steer the social overhaul constructively towards ending untouchability and bringing about the development of the neglected and backward sections like forest dwellers, urban slum dwellers and vulnerable rural residents.[29]
A jan-jagran (public awareness) campaign against untouchability and casteism was launched in 1989 to promote “samrasta”. This was followed by a campaign called “Upekshit bandhuon ke paas chalo” (Let us go to our neglected brethren) and a padayatra (march) against untouchability. A message from the RSS, “Untouchability is a heinous sin” was painted on walls across the nation. A large number of Samajik Samrasta Sammelans were held. All possible attempts were made to create harmony between the followers of Dr Ambedkar and Dr Hedgewar. Speaking at functions held to mark the birth centenary of Dr Hedgewar, many seers and heads of mutts lent their support to Sangh’s campaign against untouchability, casteism and sectarianism. That was the year when the “Ambedkar-Hedgewar Yuti [Alliance]” was formed.
Its impact was assessed by the RSS thus: “Dr Hedgewar Janmashatabdi Samaroh Samiti organized an elaborate tour of the Shankaracharya of Kamakoti Peetham in the Jammu area. Shankaracharya’s visit to Dalit settlements strengthened the feeling of Hindutva among the Dalits. It also made them realize that the Sangh is committed to ending untouchability and securing justice and equality to the weaker sections of the Hindu community.”[30]
With the announcement of reservations for the backward communities as recommended by the Mandal Commission, the Sangh-BJP’s Kamandal movement was intensified. Lal Krishna Advani embarked on his Ram Rathyatra, pushing the country into the cauldron of religious bigotry. The role of the RSS activists in stoking the anti-Mandal movement and in instigating students to self-immolate is no secret. The propaganda machinery of the RSS peddled the untruth that the government had increased the reservation quota for the Dalits and the Adivasis. In fact, a situation was created whereby the OBCs, who were the beneficiaries of the decision, joined those opposing the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
Then began the era of liberalization, privatization and globalization, which was instrumental in reducing opportunities for the Dalits and the Adivasis in the public sector. The Sangh maintained a stoic silence on this issue. It opposed the idea of giving reservation to Dalits and the Adivasis in the private sector and when its swayamsevak, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, became prime minister, it made his government establish a separate ministry for disinvestment, which began selling off the Public Sector Units (PSU), in which the Dalits and the Adivasis were granted reservations in recruitment, with great alacrity. In the same period, calls for reviewing the Constitution and changing it were made and considered.
In the 1990s, investigative journalist Arun Shourie took upon himself the mission of destroying Dr Ambedkar’s image. He published a book titled Worshipping the False God, in which facts were twisted to prove that Babasaheb was an agent of the British and a traitor to the nation. Shourie plumbed new depths, even denying Ambedkar’s role in the making of the Constitution. He was rewarded for his services by appointing him as the minister for disinvestment in the Vajpayee Government.
Interestingly, even as the VHP, in its conventions, was declaring untouchability a grave sin, in 1992, it convened a Dharma Sansad, which resolved, “The Indian Constitution is non-Hindu and should be replaced with a Hindu constitution.” Following this event, the BJP-RSS and ancillaries of the Sangh began clamouring for changing the Constitution with renewed vigour. (Ultimately, at the end of the decade, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was forced to set up a commission for reviewing the Constitution under the leadership of Justice Venkatachaliah. The move evoked such a bitter and sharp reaction that the commission and its report were never referred to in the future. But that did not mean that the Sangh had given up its demand for a review of the Constitution. Its stand on the issue remains unchanged.)
The RSS continued with its “samrasta” refrain. It launched its Seva Prakalp (service projects) in Dalit habitations, under which thousands of libraries stocked with Sangh literature were set up. Unemployed Dalit youth were roped in for its “service projects” by paying them a subsistence allowance and were used to gain a foothold in the Dalit villages and habitations as well as among the Dalit residents of urban slum clusters on the pretext of providing educational and educational facilities as well as career guidance. Meanwhile, the 73rd and the 74th Constitutional amendments paved the way for the entry of deprived and weaker sections into the Panchayati Raj Institutions and that helped the BJP draw a large number of Dalits and Adivasis into its fold. The flags of the RSS and the BJP began fluttering in habitations where they were never seen earlier and they became recruiting grounds for organizations associated with the Sangh. While the top leadership of the Sangh and the BJP kept up its attacks on the Constitution, including reservations for Dalits and Adivasis, they infiltrated deeper and deeper into these communities. Sewa Bharati and Samajik Samrasta Manch intensified their activities during this period.
Guru Golwalkar’s birth centenary in 2006 was celebrated as Samrasta Varsh. Again, religious events like Samrasta Yagna, bhajans, pujans, kirtans, satsangs and kathavachan were held in Dalit localities and Dalit intellectuals were deployed for producing saffron literature. By now, pictures of Ambedkar had become permanent fixtures in the offices of the RSS, its events, such as the Path Sanchalan (volunteer marches). Every year, the Pratinidhi Sabha deliberated on one issue or the other related to social harmony. Dalits and Adivasis started being named as lower-rung pracharaks although the representation of Dalits in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha – the highest decision-making body – remained negligible. Dalits had zero representation in the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Samiti. But the project of mobilizing Dalits through religion continued. Grand functions were held on Valmiki Jayanti, Ambedkar Jayanti and Ravidas Jayantis and the RSS had the history of the Dalit community written in a way that was designed to make the Dalits sworn enemies of the Muslims.
BJP leader and former RSS Swayamsevak Vijay Sonkar Shastri wrote three voluminous books – Hindu Khatik Jati Ka Itihas, Hindu Charmakar Jati Ka Itihas and Hindu Valmiki Jati Ka Itihas, published by Prabhat Prakashan, New Delhi – and were released by the present Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. The key construct of the three books is that the Kshatriya, who were defeated in battles and refused to change their religion, were assigned unclean jobs by the Mughals including carrying night soil on head, skinning dead animals, sanitation and selling meat. It is because of these crusaders that the Hindu community still exists. These people were made Untouchables, were forced to keep their women veiled and consume beef, but still they did not switch their faith. According to Shastri, the horrific practice of untouchability, therefore, is a creation of the Muslims; the Muslims – and not Savarna Hindus – are responsible for caste-based discrimination.
The Sangh also launched “Ek Kuan, Ek Shamshaan” (One well, one cremation ground) campaign. The places associated with Babasaheb were declared “sacred” and visits to these places organized. From time to time, the Sangh began issuing statements saying that like the others, Dalits should be allowed to ride horses, perform jalabhishek (offer water to idols) in temples, join yagnas and enter temples. This is not all. In cases of minor Dalit-Muslim conflicts over petty issues, the RSS, posing as an advocate for the Dalit cause, gave such incidents a Hindu-Muslim twist. The RSS men have also been raising the issue of protecting Dalit girls from the so-called Love Jihad by Muslim men.
The present Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, changing the tune of the RSS on reservations, has successfully managed to mislead the Dalits by making statements like reservations should continue till inequalities last. Normally, the campaigns launched by the RSS are fast and furious but the Samrasta campaign has been on a slow burner and it hasn’t met with much success. The services extended under the Samrasta campaign are mainly handled by Dalit swayamsevaks and their actions hardly, if ever, change the minds and the hearts of the swayamsevaks belonging to other communities.
The Sangh, like a snake, has shed its skin but retains its poison. And it keeps on using it against the Dalits, as and when needed. The BJP governments are developing places associated with Babasaheb and are doing many other things to show that they are benefactors of the Dalits and supporters of reservation but at the same time, they are taking steps to erode the reservation regime, such as lateral entry into government services and promoting the private sector. The latest among the measures has been the debate on declaring the “creamy layer” among the Dalit and Adivasi communities ineligible for reservations, against the backdrop of Supreme Court’s judgment dated 1 August 2024 that said that the State has the right to subcategorize reservation quota for SCs and STs.
It may be mentioned here that despite all its pretensions of being pro-Dalit, the people are yet to forget the attack by swayamsevaks on the Dalit-Adivasi protest against dilution of Scheduled Castes-Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on 2 April 2018. On the one hand, they celebrate the Constitution Day and pay obeisance to the Constitution of India. On the other hand, they consistently talk about changing it. This strategy of the RSS has always been a source of confusion for the Dalit-Adivasi-OBC community. Only a small section of these communities understands the real intent of the RSS while the number of those falling into its trap is growing by the day. That is because the Sangh dons the garb of religion, spiritualism, culture and nationalism and manages to achieve its objectives before its real game is exposed. The situation today is that a majority of those who set Dalitbahujan discourse are toeing the RSS line. Dalitbahujan politics has been reduced to becoming entangled in the trap laid by the Sangh-BJP or just reacting to the agenda set by them. The Dalitbahujan seem to have forgotten Babasaheb’s warning that Hindu Raj must be prevented at any cost.
[1] Dainik Jagran 15 September 2020
[2] VSK, 26 July 2022
[3] From the preamble of the constitution of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
[4] Devendra Swaroop, Sangh Beej Se Vriksha, Prabhat Prakashan, 2017, p 59
[5] Rakesh Sinha, Builders of Modern India: Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi, 2016, p 206
[6] Ibid, p 232
[7] Ibid
[8] H.V. Pingle, Smriti Kann Parampujya Dr Hedgewar, RSS Prakashan Vibhag, pp 49-50
[9] Golwalkar, Vichar Navneet, Gyan Ganga Prakashan, Jaipur, pp 110-11
[10] Ibid, p 111
[11] Ramesh Patange, Tathagat Aur Shri Guruji, Shri Bharati Prakashan, Nagpur, 2008, p 26
[12] Shri Guruji Samagra, Volume 9, p 168
[13] Ibid, p 167
[14] Ibid, Volume 6, p 64
[15] Ramesh Patange, op.cit., p 27
[16] Vichar Navneet, op.cit., p 128
[17] ‘Subhash Pranvanand Krantiviro Vinayak Thakkaro Bhimravsch Phule Narayano Guru’, Ekatmakta Strot, Sloka 30, RSS Prakashan Vibhag
[18] Organiser, 30 November 1949, p 3
[19] Vichar Navneet, op.cit., pp 355-356
[20] Kishore Makwana, ed., Samajik Samrasta, Prabhat Prakashan, p 52
[21] K. Suryanarayan Rao, Samajik Samrasta, Sangh Ka Vyapak Dhristikon, Gyan Ganga Prakashan, Jaipur, 2002, p 24
[22] Ramesh Patange, op.cit. p 22
[23] Vidhya Bhushan Rawat, Ambedkarvad: Vichardhara Aur Sangharsh, Agora Prakashan, Varanasi, 2024, p 97
[24] Dattopant Thengdi, Dr Ambedkar Aur Samajik Kranti Ki Yatra, Lokhit Prakashan, p 265
[25] Ramesh Patange, Sangharsh Mahamanav Ka, Archana Prakashan, Bhopal, 2015
[26] Dattopant Thengdi, Karyakarta: Adhisthan, Vyaktitva, Vyavhar, Bharatiya Vichar Sadhna Pune Prakashan, 2016, pp 271-272
[27] Rakesh Sinha, op. cit,, p 206
[28] Dr S.C. Kashyap, Hindutva Par Ambedkar, National Book Trust, p 3
[29] Navyug Ka Shanknad, Suruchi Prakashan, New Delhi, pp 9-10
[30] Ibid, p 55
(Translated from the original Hindi by Amrish Herdenia)
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