Guest guest Posted March 26, 2002 Report Share Posted March 26, 2002 >BJP News >bjp-l (AT) ofbjp (DOT) org >vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com >[bJP News]: Goodwill hunting >Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:21:38 -0800 > Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: Click Here Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:21:38 -0800 vaidika1008 BJP News bjp-news [bJP News]: Goodwill huntingTitle: Goodwill hunting Author: Rakesh Sinha Publication: The Hindustan Times March 26. 2002 The RSS is once again in the soup for its alleged anti-minority stance. Its recent resolution at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha on the question of Hindu-Muslim relationship was widely quoted (out of context) by the media. The resolution read: "Although a few Muslim leaders hold the current atmosphere of jehad as absolutely wrong and in no way support jehadi terrorism, it should be noted that these people have not been able to influence the present day extremist leaders and stubborn mullahs and maulvis". It went on to caution the Muslim community not to "allow themselves to be pawns in the hands of such extremist Muslim leaders and Hindu-bashing political elements". It also said, "Let the minorities understand that their real safety lies in the goodwill of the majority community." The RSS has neither added a new vocabulary in the discourse of majority-minority relations nor does it pose a veiled or open threat to minorities. What it wants to convey is that the success of secularism does not depend merely on constitutional provisions but the generosity and goodwill of various communities and sects towards each other in a liberal democratic society. However, secularists, true to their tradition of selective quoting, cited only the latter part of the resolution to conclude that it was "a brazen challenge to the country's pluralist polity and constitutional authority". Besides, the image of the RSS concocted over the years by the secularists (aided somewhat by its own limitations in dealing with the issues on an intellectual level), underpinned the secularist interpretation of the 'goodwill call' by the Sangh. The issue of minority-majority relationship has always been a central question in a secular society. It is this very question which led to Partition. Unless it is deliberated upon and debated with open minds and without an eye on votes, it will always be an irritant to the secularist resilience of our Constitution. The goodwill approach was propounded not only by Sardar Patel, but also by members of the minority community in the assembly. Vice- president of the Constituent Assembly, H.C. Mookerjee, West Bengal, while speaking on the rights and privileges of minorities, said, "I am firmly convinced by my own experience that it is the path of wisdom for the minorities to trust the majority community that if they want to live in peace and honour in this country, they must win its goodwill." A Muslim member, Aiziz Rasul, from UP, opposed the demand for reservation for Muslims since "it gives no chance to the minorities to win the goodwill of the majority". Another Muslim member from Bihar, Tajammul Husain, said that true secularism in the country could be achieved only by removing "the term 'minority' from your dictionary". He further said, "The British have gone and minorities have gone with them. I say emphatically there is no difference between you and me. Because we worship the same god by different names, in different ways, that is no reason why we should be considered a minority." Was G.B. Pant toeing a communal line when he addressed minorities in the Constituent Assembly and said that "your (Muslim) safety lies in making yourselves an integral part of the organic whole which forms the real genuine State"? We are taught secularism and liberalism which deny the existence of a secular ethos in India before the rise of the modern nation-State. Does our understanding of secularism begin with the formation of the modern nation-State or does it date back to our ancient communitarian life which promoted diversities in philosophy, sects, traditions and culture? It is this liberal and secular ethos which is central to Hinduism. The RSS did not support the 'dying race theory' propounded by U.N. Mookerjee in 1909, which warned that Hindus would be extinct in some future if minorities were 'not checked'. It had been the paradigm of the Hindutva movement led by the Arya Samaj and the Hindu Mahasabha for more than three decades. RSS founder Hedgewar stressed the need for creating homogeneity and egalitarianism in Hindu society by infusing a nationalistic perspective. His concept of nationalism reflected the troika, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Aurobindo and B.C. Pal. All of them delineated nationalism as a religion and considered the best mode to do away with artificial differences and divides. Any one who even tries to comprehend the core values in the RSS ideology becomes a natural target for the media. Which is why V.S. Naipual is not a celebrity among 'mainstream' leaders who revel in minority vote bank politics. The question that needs to be asked is not whether the RSS is dangerous, but what gives the values and ideology of the RSS a wider social and support base. Every movement has its side- effects. We find Naxalite movement breeding out of the Marxist movement. The Hindutva movement, too, is not bereft of its aberrations. But as one cannot judge Marxism on the basis of the PWG or Islam on the basis of Osama bin Laden, it would be wrong to examine the RSS on the basis of crimes committed by Hindu chauvinists. The implausibility of an honest debate on the core values of the RSS emanates from its organic linkage with the BJP. And in a competitive party system the biggest sufferer is ideology. (The writer teaches political science at Delhi University) ---- http://www.ofbjp.org ---- A worldwide community of BJP's friends, supporters and activists: Friends of the BJP - Worldwide: http://www.ofbjp.org/fob ---- --------- Click on the link below to be removed from the BJP News mailing list. http://www.ofbjp.org/listserv/.cgi?vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com --------- The BJP News Home Subscribe Me Lite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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