Ramachandra Guha: Gandhi said RSS was ‘communal with a totalitarian outlook’ – and that’s still true

By Dilip -

The members of the RSS who control the Union government have subjugated the press, allegedly tamed the judiciary and used bribery and coercion to undermine or overthrow state governments run by other parties. The new laws aimed at curbing NGOs are animated by the desire to reduce to insignificance all voluntary organisations that do not owe allegiance to the Hindutva ideology... The RSS and the BJP seek to achieve dominance over the political process, over the institutions of the State, over civil society, even over what people eat, how they dress, and whom they can or cannot marry. This desire to control every aspect of life in the country, whether political, social, institutional or ideological, perfectly fits the textbook definition of “totalitarian”. Meanwhile, their continuing efforts to stigmatise and demonise Muslims clearly demonstrate their communal mindset…  

NB: A forthright assessment by an outstanding historian. I would add the observation that the last few years have also made it clear that has emerged as the delivery vehicle of choice for the country's most powerful corporates. DS

In his book, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase, Gandhi’s secretary, Pyarelal, writes that the partition of India in 1947 and the horrific violence that accompanied it “provided a fruitful soil for Hindu chauvinism. Its most serious manifestation was infiltration of the Hindu middle class and even the Government services by the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]. It had begun to command the secret sympathy even of a section of Hindu Congressmen.”

Delhi Police Archive on RSS activity in October-December 1947

Ramachandra Guha: Supreme Court must reflect on its calling as defined by the Constitution

Pyarelal then outlined for his readers what this organisation of Hindu chauvinists stood for, and what its aims were. Thus he wrote: “The RSS was a communalist, para-military, Fascist organisation... Their declared object was to set up Hindu Raj. They had adopted the slogan, ‘Muslims clear out of India.’ At the time they were not very active, at least overtly, but it was being darkly hinted that they were only waiting for all the Hindus and Sikhs in West Pakistan to be evacuated. They would then wreak full vengeance on the Indian Muslims for what Pakistan had done.”…

https://scroll.in/article/981781/ramachandra-guha-gandhi-said-rss-was-communal-with-a-totalitarian-outlook-and-thats-still-true

The Supreme Court, Gandhi and the RSS

The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)

The Abolition of truth

Bharat Bhushan - RSS chief Golwalkar threatened to kill Gandhi - 1947 CID report)

First Among Equals? // Laws, legal system totally geared in favour of rich and powerful: Justice Deepak Gupta

Express editorial on SC in-house inquiry: Not justice

The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar

A whiff of evil

Mukul Kesavan: Against forgetting

Pratap Bhanu Mehta: In post-mortem of secularism, we are hand wringing over religion, missing the real crisis // Ashutosh Bhardwaj - Don’t blame only English elite. Indian secularism failed in Hindi heartland first

Suhas Palshikar: Bhoomi pujan of the new republic // Pratap Bhanu Mehta: Political colonisation of Hinduism

Christophe Jaffrelot: On ‘love jihad’, BJP picks up baton from vigilante groups. Police, judicial apparatus have aided this move

Lucknow: families give consent but cops stop interfaith wedding // UP villagers allege the police forced the so-called 'love jehad' arrest

 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Giulio Regeni murder: Egypt rejects naming of its agents as suspects

Book Review: 'Secrecy World' by Jake Bernstein

Supreme Court lays emphasis on protecting personal liberty

Tavleen Singh on government ministers suddenly defending press freedom / Arfa Khanum Sherwani: I’m a Journalist, That’s Why I Don’t Stand With Arnab Goswami

Avay Shukla: Acts Of God And Follies Of Man

Is all this too much to ask?

Colin Gonsalves: Refusal of bail to Sudha Bharadwaj is based on inadmissible evidence

Pratap Bhanu Mehta: The loneliness of Varavara Rao, Anand Teltumbde, Sudha Bharadwaj tells a disquieting tale

Samjhauta Express blast case verdict: ‘Who will answer for death of my five children?’

Jailed and Harassed Former IGP Darapuri, 76, Shares His Ordeal

Prem Shankar Jha: The Shadow of Haren Pandya’s Case Lies Long Over Justice Arun Mishra

Nikhila Henry - Ex CJI Gogoi's RS Nomination Calls All His Judgments Into Question, Says Legal Expert

‘This episode is going to haunt SC in years to come’: Justice AP Shah on CJI sexual harassment case

Hindu Outfit Is Upset With Sunburn Music Festival Being Held In Pune

VHP Activists Oppose Marriage Of Hindu Couple Because Groom 'Once Played Guitar At Church'

K.Balagopal: Political violence & human rights: Naxalism in A.P.

Jairus Banaji: Fascism,Maoism and the Democratic Left

Dilip Simeon: The Other side of Maoism

Maoism and the philosophy of insurrection

TheFutility of Common Sense: An Essay on Ahimsa

Dhrubo Jyoti - 30 years of Pandit exodus: Night of terror that prefaced years of exile

Mukul Kesavan - Right not rabid: Respectable conservatism in the time of Trump

Joint Statement of Religious Leaders On “Supreme Court order on Section 377”

RSS backs Supreme Court order on gay sex // Vikram Seth slams Supreme Court order on Section 377

Fahad Hashmi: Homophobia & Islamophobia – The Jamaat e Islami Hind & the SC’s Decision on Section 377

 एक बात हमेशा ज़हन में सवाल खड़े करती है A question that stays with me... / Ravish Kumar's Speech at Berkeley (2019)


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