RSS work in NE India's Positive Impact

[Guest guest]

RSS activities in North-eastern states

Bringing people into mainstream

 

By Basudeb Pal

When a section of the society feels distressed, the Sangh

swayamsevaks come forward to assist the helpless persons to overcome

their plights. The RSS swayamsevaks have proved it in the North-

eastern States where they, apart from the daily shakhas, have

started a number of service projects to extend a helping hand to the

people in need.

 

The Sangh work in the North-East began in the late forties and the

region had been treated as a single province since 1994. With a view

to spreading the Sangh activities to the hitherto untouched areas,

the region was divided into two states—North Assam and South Assam

in 1995. South Assam consists of Barak valley (Hailakandi, Karimganj

and Cachar districts) and North Cachar hill districts, as well as

Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram. North Assam consists of

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya as well as Karbi Anglong and

Brahmaputra valley. South Assam's Sangh headquarters lies in

Silchar. Thirty-two Pracharaks, six Vistaraks and 20 Vidyarthi

Karyakartas are engaged in Sangh work with a view to strengthening

the society.

 

These full-time workers, with the help of thousands of grihasth

karyakartas, run dozens of schools in urban and rural areas as also

hundreds of single-teacher schools in the remote areas especially in

the tea gardens. Free medical treatment centres are being run by

more than a hundred Arogyarakshaks. Some village development

projects and self-help groups have also come up to assist. A few

registered societies like Keshav Smarak Samiti, Janajati Vikas

Samiti, Keshav Smarak Sanskritik Surabhi, Seva Bharati have been

serving the people of the region for fulfilling the ideal of service

to man, service to God. As a result, a sizeable section of the Hindu

society has united against the spread of crime, infiltration and

proselytisation.

 

It is a known fact now that a large number of insurgent groups are

active in this region and they are mainly backed by the Christian

missionaries.

 

Last year on July 28, more than 2,000 Hindus gathered at Lathirghat

under the banner of Bajrang Dal for a march to Bangladesh with the

avowed objective of rescuing some kidnapped Indian citizens. The

security forces, however, stopped the march. A few months back some

Muslim hooligans killed a 15-year-old Hindu girl after they gang-

raped her. More than 500 women assembled at Nilambazar, a semi town

in Karimganj district under the banner of Rashtra Sevika Samiti and

Smt Purnima Advani, Chairperson, National Commission for Women, to

protest against the gruesome act.

 

Nearly 160 service projects are directly run by the RSS and another

518 service projects are being run by other organisations through

the Swayamsevaks. With a view to making people of rural areas and

tea-gardens aware of the Hindu culture and dharma, 72 Ramkathakars

are working as full-time workers. Every year thousands of Vanvasis

assemble in a number of rallies organised by the Vanvasi Kalyan

Ashram.

 

When certain segments of the Hindu society feel threatened the

swayamsevaks are found first in discharging their duty. Last year

due to ethnic clashes between the Hindu Dimasas and Christian Hmars,

more than 2,000 Dimasas were rendered homeless. They are still

living in relief camps in Cachar district. Vishwa Hindu Parishad,

Keshav Smarak Samiti, Kalyan Ashram and Rashtra Sevika Samiti came

forward to rehabilitate them with the active help and cooperation of

the Hindu society in general and the swayamsevaks in particular. As

Dimasas are weavers, it has been decided to give one handloom and

weaving equipment to every two families. Other means of livelihood

are also being provided so that they can survive on their own.

Sarsanghchalak, K.S. Sudarshan started the projected by handing them

four handloom equipments on December 1, 2003 at Silchar. Shrikant

Joshi, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, also distributed another 18

handloom equipments to the Dimasas at Sivasthan village on February

17.

 

As a result of these activities, the dormant Hindu feelings are

being reawakened and the society appears ready to accept the

challenge posed by the missionaries. Small groups of Vanvasis are

now convinced that the whole Hindu society is behind them and they

are not alone in their endeavour to resist the proselytising moves

of the Christian missionaries.