Beginning with the more than four hundred page Subramanium Committee[2] report, which was neither accepted nor released to the public by the Union government, the government of India (GOI) suddenly released its own 68-page document.  Soon after, the then Rajya Sabha MP from the CPI (M) Sitaram Yechury publicly exposed the fact that this was a verbatim extract or version from an RSS document. Thereafter, the then Human Resources Development Minister (HRD) Prakash Javedekar immediately withdrew the document stating that it had been released `by mistake’!  Another. almost two years later the Prof. Kasturirangan Committee’s report came out. However, during the Covid pandemic a National Education Policy (NEP 2020) was passed by the Cabinet without being presented in Parliament or being sent to a select committee.  With no transparent debate among academicians or reference to the states as was constitutionally required since education comes under the concurrent list of subjects, the NEP 2020 began to be implemented in a haphazard manner through executive decisions and through central institutions including the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the like.

There were strong critical objections to the policy, to the manner of its implementation and the unseemly haste to push it through come what may. Institutions were threatened with withdrawal of central funds if it was not implemented by the next academic session. Teachers at both school level and higher education were intimidated and bullied not to speak out against the policy and responses by unions were sought to be suppressed. In spite of continuing opposition, institutional administrations were literally forced to implement the policy even if it meant their having to resort to using emergency powers to do so.

Chaos was created at all levels of the education system with structural, pedagogical and curriculum changes being pushed through without preparation, planning or resources. A system already in crisis with 50% to 60% shortage of faculty and lacking physical infrastructure was being pushed over the brink. Teaching was to be done through hybrid modes of online and offline functioning irrespective of the lack of access to devices and connectivity. Anganwadi workers were to receive online `training’ for taking on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) responsibilities! Merger and closure of schools was happening across the country so that `school complexes’ could be made to `share’ what were in fact non-existent `resources’ resulting in  a further dropping out of children who were losing neighbouring schools or being crammed into `merged’ schools.

Although there is now much talk of lessening the burden of learning and breaking away from methods of `rote’ learning, there will now be all-India exams at Class 3, 5 and 8 as well as board exams at Class 10 and 12. The former will decide whose `education’ stops at `numeracy and literacy’, who goes on to `vocational training’ (these two categories would cover approximately 85 to 90 percent bahujan children[3]) while the latter will determine who completes higher secondary. But to get to higher education even the less than 10% `elite’ students will have to sit for a centralised entrance exam (currently compulsory only for central universities, it is proposed to be extended across the country). Coaching classes are booming, 97% of Delhi University admissions are from CBSE schools this time and the number of women students have dropped alarmingly.

Why is the education system being systematically destroyed and learning being kept out of reach for the vast majority of India’s children? Why is it not being reformed to facilitate universalisation of compulsory education for all? What does the government hope to gain from this worsening of the existing crisis in education?

The answer lies in the NEP 2020 inspired position paper on “Knowledge of India” (KI) (January 2022) including `Indian Knowledge Systems’ (IKS). Several `Guidelines’ have since been issued for the introduction of such courses in schools and higher educational institutions and also for training teachers to impart instruction.  Centrally selected and well-funded research projects are already underway to discover `scientific’ support for ancient ritual practices. The focus is on what are termed `Vedic’ achievements in ancient India in all spheres of knowledge from the sciences, mathematics, astronomy (including `astrology’), medical sciences, social organization and governance, art, aesthetics, architecture etc., and on the Sanskrit language in which these are accessible.  Ancient texts, such as the Puranas, Smrttis, the epics, Vedas and Upanishads are the core source materials. Gurukuls and temple schools are venerated as the proper institutions in which this knowledge was transmitted (apparently without caste exclusions) and preserved.

This fanciful picture is placed in the framework of what is identified as the proper historical `narrative’, one which is not tainted by the ideology of `invaders and colonisers’, so that Bharatiyata is to be rediscovered and IKS are to take their rightful place above and prior to the rise of modern science, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. The historical narrative must display “steadfastness in protecting the civilization”.  The role of Hindu kingdoms and dynasties has to be emphasized instead of elaborating the achievements of the invaders and colonisers. And so we are told, in flagrant violation of historical evidence, that “Buddhism started declining” as a “direct result of these invasions”!

The document claims that being colonised “for a thousand years” has apparently confused a “group of our intellectuals” who make ancient civilization “responsible” for social wrongs by “misinterpreting” ancient texts (like Manusmrtti) thereby leading to a loss of “traditional” patterns of employment. So we must see caste divisions and oppression as a form of societal harmony and stability! This blatant support for Brahmanical principles of social organization and its ideological propagation of caste hierarchies in daily life is seen as the foundational Bharatiya Dharma which is to be glorified and strengthened by the new historical narrative.

The IKS/KI is nothing else but the promotion of the ideology of the RSS shakha in the entire education system. It will be a compulsory add-on to the curriculum for which time has to be allocated although it will not be examined and graded along with other subjects. Every school and educational institution will have a `cell’ to organize the instruction of IKS/KI  and its other activities, including displays, debates, quizzes, etc., and physical training and yoga. Every school library will have a special section on IKS/KI with books and other reading material.

Of course the teachers imparting such instruction cannot be expected to be drawn from the existing colonially inspired education system. So they will have to be drawn from RSS/Sangh Parivar organisations[4], from the `community’ and from the `family’, that are compatible with IKS ideology. Frequent workshops will require to be held to `sensitise’ them to the needs of the NEP 2020.

Even the very idea of re-vamping education on this basis would require a well-researched account of ancient Sanskrit texts. This is a massive intellectual task and hardly one that can be achieved without `burdening’ researchers, teachers and students! It is particularly problematic because Brahmanical ideology itself grew out of sharp conflicts with the Lokayata Charvaka materialism, and the Sankhya Yoga and Naya Visheshika realisms. The anti-caste and anti-ritualist Buddhist and Jain philosophies of social organization were frankly anti-Brahmanical.  The rich body of Prakrits and Pali literatures are a recognized tradition distinct from and at variance with the Brahmanical Sanskrit literature.

Thus the attempt to glorify Brahminism by portraying India’s ancient civilizational history as a homogeneous continuum, until the advent of the `invaders’, is itself a deeply biased and prejudicial account that is hardly conducive to being the basis for a modern critical system of education.

In fact the position paper itself, while it seems unaware of the irony of its stand, states that recovering Bharatiyata requires the Indian presence of a Joseph Needham who produced an extensive study of the civilizational achievements of Chinese science and technology! However, far from following in his footsteps, IKS/KI moves in the opposite direction.

In the absence of serious research on the actual achievements of early civilizational philosophers and thinkers, not to mention the completely neglected medieval philosophical monotheisms and their sociological and linguistic impact in the spread and development of Prakrits, the ideologically motivated and unsubstantiated `shakha propaganda’ about a `golden age’ of Brahmanical achievement remains just that – propaganda.

It is this shakha-based propaganda to which the mass of India’s children will be subjected as the public system of education is crippled without resources and the constitutional commitment to providing quality education on the part of the Government is simply brushed aside.

The privileged elite, of course, will increasingly buy their education abroad or at foreign campuses located in India with the unregulated freedom to profit and repatriate.

(The author, previously an academic with the Delhi University is presently with the All India Forum for the Right to Education)

[1] Neighbourhood Branches of the RSS

[2] By 2017, May the Modi government had decided to junk the TSR Subramanian committee report on education reform terming it as a “mere compilation” of older reports. In 2015, the TSR Subramanian was set up to outline a new education policy, which submitted its report in May, 2016.

[3] In a modern context, it refers to the combined population of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Muslims, and minorities, who together constitute the demographic majority of India.

[4] Vidya Bharati (short for Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan) is the educational wing of RSS. It runs one of the largest private network of schools in India, operating at a minimum 2,000 schools with over 3.2 Million students, as of 2016. Since this government came to power it has set up some universities too. https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-saffronisation-of-education-rss-says-its-schools-imbibe-indian-values-in-students/305071; there is also the Ekal Vidyalaya the one teacher school run by a parallel foundation affiliated to the Viswa Hindu Parshad (VHP) and RSS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekal_Vidyalaya

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Talking about the circular, TDB president Ananthagopan said, “RSS shakhas were functioning in many temples, they were performing drills and such activities were taking place. That’s the reason why such a circular was issued. Temples are for the believers, there should not be any inconvenience for the devotees to worship. That’s the stand of Dewaswom board. To bring to the notice of officials, the circular has been reissued.”

The circular was issued following complaints from devotees that its earlier order to the same effect was not implemented. In the second order issued on May 18, the TDB directed its officials to ban RSS activities on temple premises. Speaking to the media including India Today, the TDB president K Ananthagopan confirmed the issuing of the fresh order and added that the governing body wanted to address the believers’ complaints peacefully.

Divine space

“The order was initially issued in 2021. A few temples have been facing issues due to the functioning of the RSS shakhas,” Ananthagopan told the media. “Temples are a pure and divine space and they should remain that way,” he further said.

“When you conduct such activities on temple premises, people with opposing views and beliefs would naturally object to it. There have been complaints against RSS activities at temples. We are objecting only to its activities in temple premises,” he added.

He said there had been no direct communication between the board and the RSS regarding the matter. “This is the directive to the officials. They will resolve the issue amicably. We are reminding the officials yet again since many of them did not comply with the earlier directive,” he said.

No to RSS drills

A copy of the order accessed by South First stated that in March 2021, the TDB had first asked its officials to prohibit the RSS from holding drills at temples under the board. The board directed its officials to ensure that armed or unarmed drills did not take place on temple premises.

It also advised the officials against providing temple resources to third-party groups. “But it has come to the notice of the board that the said order is not being properly followed. Strict disciplinary action will be taken against the officers who do not comply with the order,” the board stated in the fresh directive.

Related:

RSS seeks to disown Suresh Chavhanke, T Raja, says hate speeches don’t reflect RSS ideology

Hindu society at war, natural to be aggressive says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Organiser

Hindu state by 2025? BJP-RSS ‘will have no qualms’ in changing basics of Constitution

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RSS has been critiqued for long for its divisive and fascist ideology. Its role in spreading hatred, communal violence, killings – arson and loot, blasts has been pointed out by critics. However, the attempt of RSS to project itself as a cultural and nationalist organization working for the welfare of majority community, nation and practicing non-violent methods is still believed by many to be the truth. This is despite all the violence that is being instigated in the recent times.

The book by Sudheesh Minni titled ‘Cellars of the Inferno: Confessions of an RSS Pracharak’ breaks any doubts on RSS. Sudheesh was an RSS pracharak, who was inducted to its divisive ideology at a very early age of 5. He participated at different levels – both as a participant in shakhas as well as organizer of shakhas, both at the state level and the national level. He travelled across the country and spent about 25 years of his life with RSS. The initial conviction with RSS ideology later gave way to repentance for the activities carried. The book is a product of his repentance for his role as an RSS pracharak. The book provides an insider view of RSS, its activities, functioning’s, role in divisive activities.

Sudheesh was born in a small village in Kannur district of Kerala. His association with RSS started while he was 5 year old. He used to attend Balagokulam, which used to be organized on weekends. This was targeted at children. The natural curiosity of children to listen to stories of child Krishna was used as a means to instill hatred. Stories around Shivaji and Rana Pratap were also recited to children. Shivaji was depicted as a protector of Hindus from Muslim invasion. The facts of many Muslims being part of military machinery of Shivaji were never depicted. In the manipulated stories with ideological color, wars were never depicted as rivalries between kings for power and territorial expansion but as a war taking place between two different religions. The happenings of those times such as Mumbai bomb blasts were discussed in Balagokulams and were pointed as activities carried out by Muslims against Hindus.

The evening shakhas used to take place for an hour. Apart from yoga, nigooda (traditional war education), marching – what also used to take place was sports activities like kabaddi and khokho. In Kabaddi, children were instructed that on the other side of the line were enemies of the nation – who were Muslims, Christians and Communists. The children were instructed to touch as many enemies as possible during the game. This was followed by songs where they were made to feel proud of their Hindu identity. Inculcating superstitious thinking was common where in one instance it was pointed that a ‘political enemy would die out of snake bite, through god who would come in the form of a snake’.

The prathamik varg shikhak varg course used to be organized for a week during Christmas vacation. It used to be residential and go on for a week. It starts with morning prayers, followed by stick movement, discussions, speeches and evening sports. Each event has a strong anti-Muslim, anti Christian and anti Communist component. The content was primarily from Golwalkar’s ‘Bunch of Thoughts’ and ‘We and our Nationhood defined’. The last day was followed by lighting of lamp and a talk calling out the trainees to shoulder the responsibility of ‘protecting hindus’ who are in danger. With this they were prepared as primary instructors.

RSS has an organized structure. Based on duties, RSS has Khat Pramukh, Mukya Shikhshak, Shikshak, Shaka Karyavaha and Seva Pramukh. At the Mandal level are Mandal karyavaha, Saha karyavaha, Mandal sharirik pramuch, Mandal Boumik pramukh, Mandal Seva pramukh and Mandal sampark pramukh. Apart from this it has Taluk sangh chalak, Zilla pracharak and Zilla vyavastha pramukh. These were based on geography and functions such as sports, social activities and public relations. RSS had no economic agenda. It had its connection with more powerful sections such as large landholders. The concept of land belonging to the tiller was not a principle believed by them. These were seen in incidents where they stood by large landholders and against cultivating landless. This was seen as an arrangement through which they can get some land, monetary and political support for RSS activities.

The creation of rumors was a regular process. Rumors were manufactured to create the image of existence of threat to Hindu religious based activities and the community. An instance of Theyyam festival is pointed out where a rumor was spread of the festival going to be disturbed by the other party. Any suspicion of activities targeted against RSS was acted upon. Sathyan a famous athlete became a victim of such suspicion.

Sudheesh attended his first Sangh shiksha varg in Madurai for 25 days. Daily physical training, stick movement, speeches, discussions and exams were integral. The shibhir stressed that adoption of Christianity, Islam and Communist ideology had caused the destruction of Indian culture. It was emphasized that to protect Bharat Matha from becoming pieces and protecting its culture, they need to fight. The participants are made to draw map of Akhand Bharat which includes China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Srilanka. It is emphasized that as sevaks, they should rest in peace only after getting back Akhand Bharat. Elimination of three enemies is projected as a way and means to attain Akhand Bharat. In the second Sangh shiksha varg attended by author, the points discussed also included strategies for Hindu revivalism, anti-hindu behavior of Gandhi, critics of hindutva ideology, pilgrimages, old temples, the need to protect hindu temples etc.

The author points that events, which otherwise are not religious have a hidden agenda when undertaken by Pracharaks. He cites his example whereby he tried to reach out to minority institutions to impart vedic maths to Hindu students. Once the students enrolled to the course beyond the school, they were slowly inducted with ideas of a Hindu nation. This happens even in Yoga classes run by pracharaks. Other activities include spiritual activities, yoga, social activities, tuitions, job trainings, coaching institutions for services by Pracharaks. During these events there was subtle introduction to aspects of RSS ideology. He feels that aspects such as vedic maths and yoga can be taught by completely eliminating it of its religious color. The pracharaks operated clandestinely.

The author points to the huge network of Sangh parivar. This includes Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) targeting students, Bala Gokulam targeting small children, Yuva Morcha targeting youth, Mahila Morcha targeting youth, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh targeting workers etc. Other wings included Vignana Bharati (Swadeshi science), Vidya Bharati (Education), Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Aikya Vedika, Bharatiya Vichaar Kendra, Kshetra Sanrakshan Samithi, Seva Bharati (Social activities), Bhaskar Jyoti, Vanavasi Kalyana Ashram, Ekalavya Institutions and Vivekananda Kendra. It also includes Ayyapa seva samithi, Kannaki, Janmabhoomi, Kesari, Vrattantham, Kurukshetra prakasamm. It also started associations with fisher community. Besides large number of NGOs sponsored by RSS. Each of these works as part of the larger ‘Sangh Parivar’ to carry their agenda of Hindutva.

The author talks of his experience in organizing the shibirs with children in tribal areas. Ideas of Hindutva were introduced in a primitive community ignoring their identity. An anti-muslim and anti-chrisitan feelings was also propagated among them. This was in a community who never believed in Hindu identity and that by itself was alien.

Referring to his participation in Naipunya varg (secret summit) of RSS at Nagpur, it also had famous industrialists including Adani attending during inaugural session. To inculcate the idea of Hindutva among sections, separate cells were proposed for Industrialists, Government officials, Hindu priests, Teachers, Doctors, Media and Cultural cell. Each cell was to identify loopholes in identified areas, review once in three months and attack the government in power. Internet was to be used as a means to propagate. The closing ceremony was ended with a speech of retired judge who called for accepting Hindutva as a way of life. It points at the level of penetration of RSS ideology among the elite.

The author observes that RSS owned infrastructure have been reduced to places for corruption, sexual activities and preserving weapons. The need to prepare and buy arms for eliminating enemies is emphasized in Sangh. In the name of fighting back the enemies in Kannur, Karyavahak suggested the usage of Rifles instead of Bombs and swords. The author quotes an instance where he expressed his frustration to another sevak stating that Swayamsevaks are groups which indulge in women harassment, lootings and drinking. All this happens in the name of protecting religion.

Sharing about his visits on RSS mission to Northern parts of the country, he points that Swayamsevaks here also consisted of professionals such as Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, Police officials. Each had a sacred thread. Rich landlords with large landholdings were also part of them. The responsibility for running panchayati or block level shibirs was largely in their hands. Dalits who were landless were exploited. An instance is quoted where a rich landlord (a swayam sevak) was approached by lease farmer requesting for delay in paying due to crop failure. Instead the lease farmer was asked to send his wife and daughters to the landlord. Another instance was seen where demands of a tribal leader to install Ganesh in a temple in a tribal dominant locality was requested from Sangh leaders. This was rejected on the premise that this is reserved only for upper castes. When finally this was installed, the temple was put on fire.

The author points that while sangh mobilizes Dalits for events such as Babri Masjid demolition, the ones who instigated from upper caste continue to be safe. The Dalits who were made to participate became victims. This was equally true of Gujarat.

The Sangh mobilizes about crores of rupees in the name of Guru Dakshina. From within Kerala, about Rs. 250 crores is mobilized. Big industrialists, business persons, contractors, government officials also donate the RSS. A huge amount is mobilized from across the country. This is used for creation of communal incidents, planning terror activities, ending peace and harmony among communities.

The author parts away from RSS to join an alternative. He points that corporatization and communalization have come together and posing threats to the security and democratic values and secular fabric of the nation. Hence he emphasizes on the need for alternative.

The book by Sudheesh Minni is a necessary reading for those who still have an illusion about the RSS and Sangh Parivar. It also provides an anatomy and the way the parivar functions. Most importantly it helps in breaking the myth of RSS being a mere cultural and social organization working for protection of Hindus. It convinces you that more than protecting one, its activities are centered on propagating the idea of eliminating the other. In the idea of building Hindu identity, its attempt in maintaining caste and class based dominance becomes clear. It is a welcome reading for those working to expose the activities of RSS.

This article was first published on countercurrents.org.
 

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