RSS: A worm's eye view

Devanura Mahadeva's book takes a critical look at the RSS and helps readers comprehend the founding principles of the organisation through a series of quotes from its key members

RSS: The Long and  Short of It 

Author: Devanura Mahadeva (Translated by S R Ramakrishna) 

Publisher: Eka (Westland) 

Pages: 91 

Price: Rs 199
 

This “book” would possibly not have made it to this newspaper’s review columns but for the hostility generated on its publication from the Hindu right wing in Karnataka. Had it not been for the vehemence of criticism from the socio-political and quasi-intellectual ecosystem promoted by the RSS-BJP combine, interest in the “book” — more of a booklet in fact — and in Devanura Mahadeva would not have been so great in large parts of India. The more groups wedded to the idea of Hindutva condemned and raged against this slim volume and its author, the more others wanted to understand what it contained to have angered the Sangh Parivar.

Because Mr Mahadeva adopted a unique strategy to maximise distribution — he allowed multiple publishers to publish the book in different regions of Karnataka without seeking royalty — it created a buzz almost immediately after attacks on him began. Soon, RSS: Aala Mattu Agala began being translated into other Indian languages. It is certainly no surprise that a leading, credible publisher has published this book in English.

The title of this translation raises the question of whether there could be a long and short story of the RSS. Having been in existence for more than 98 years, presiding over more than 40 affiliates — including the political party that effectively governs the country almost single-handedly — and with numerous Gospel texts that are devotedly followed, could this slim digest do justice to a critical assessment of the organisation? Further, numerous books have been written on the RSS and its affiliated organisations, particularly in recent decades after the Sangh Parivar moved centre-stage in Indian politics.

In the months before the English edition was published, much of the information about the author required updating, especially among those outside Karnataka and who are not vested in Kannada literary traditions. The exercise enabled one to become aware that Mr Mahadeva was not just a Dalit writer but conspicuous for his unswerving commitment to two characteristics: Unsparing criticism of the Brahminical outlook or Chaturvarna Sastra; and his use of the colloquial prose as against stylised writing used by several writers to demonstrate arrogance of knowledge and craft.

Mr Mahadeva’s status as a household name in Karnataka is testimony to not just the communicative power of Indian languages but also to his steadfastness in drawing on the everyday experiences and daily vocabulary to which his primary readers, the socially and economically underprivileged, can easily relate. 

The RSS is painted as evil because the organisation is based on “inequality and discrimination”. The author’s primary argument is that the RSS’s worldview is erected on the triumvirate of “backward-looking beliefs about the past — the Chaturvarna Hindu society, Manudharmasastra and Aryan” supremacist theory along with the intention to demolish the Indian Constitution. This conceptualisation, the three foundational principles and one of the foremost objects of attack, is apt at a moment in history when the gravest challenge to the Constitution has been mounted by concerted questioning of the Basic Structure Doctrine by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and the Union Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju.

Contending that its ideas appear seductive because the organisation excels in hypnotism besides being masters of disguise, Mr Mahadeva likens the RSS to the Koogu Maari or the shouting demons, a conceptualisation drawn from a well-known spooky Kannada legend. The author offers readers a simple solution when faced with the ghost who calls the name of the person at whose house it knocks: Just like people write on the doors of their homes — Naale baa (come tomorrow), he asks people to shut the entry of the RSS into their minds. “The moment we respond to the call, and add our voice to that of the Koogi Maari’s, that very moment our fall begins.” In practical terms it means even partial agreement with any RSS campaign shuts all doors of escape from a path where people are drawn into its divisive vortex. Mr Mahadeva asserts that the “wisdom born from the experience of the countryside” must be internalised because it unequivocally prompts that “divisiveness is the devil, oneness is god”.

The author is not hamstrung by mentioning the RSS in the title. He makes it evident that this usage is representative of a larger phalanx of organisations (and the BJP). Mr Mahadeva begins his book by stringing together a selection of quotations from V D Savarkar and M S Golwalkar, respectively, the iconised founding spirit and the revered long-serving Sarsanghchalak of the organisation. The quotes cover a wide range of subjects, from Hindu traditions and caste order to Hitler, Nazism, Constitution and federalism. These quotations lead readers to comprehend the founding principles of the organisation. Mr Mahadeva conceived the book in response to the virulent manifestation of Hindutva politics, imported to Karnataka on the shoulders of the Ram temple agitation. The booklet in English and other Indian languages acquired relevance because of Hindutva’s nationwide spread. In such a situation, Mr Mahadeva asserts that “forward-looking groups, organisations and parties should rise above being just little streams; they should flow collectively as one river.” This is certainly a call for opposition parties to make common cause. Mr Mahadeva is unabashed about his politics — just like the adversary he undertakes to unmask.

The reviewer is an NCR-based author and journalist. His latest book is The Demolition and the Verdict: Ayodhya and the Project to Reconfigure India.  He has also written The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right. @NilanjanUdwin