We should thank Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India for wanting to build Ram Rajya of Gandhi’s dreams which will be egalitarian and non-sectarian.[i] But as a senior RSS cadre and ideologue he must share with the nation what is his take on the criminals who murdered Gandhi and claimed to have been led by the politics of Hindutva. Naidu by designation is a ‘Cersuspracharak’ in the RSS, He must also comment on the following words of Sardar Patel, the then home minister of India, which he wrote in a letter to Golwalkar, the then chief of the RSS on September 19 1948, “the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death”.
The complete letter read:
“Organising the Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women and children is quite another thing…Apart from this, their opposition to the Congress, that too of such virulence, disregarding all considerations of personality, decency or decorum, created a kind of unrest among the people. All their speeches were full of communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus and organize for their protection. As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the invaluable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government, or of the people, no more remained for the RSS. In fact opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS…Since then, over six months have elapsed. We had hoped that after this lapse of time, with full and proper consideration the RSS persons would come to the right path.” But from the reports that come to me, it is evident that attempts to put fresh life into their same old activities are afoot.”[ii]
Earlier Sardar Patel in a letter dated July 18, 1948 to Syama Prasad Mookerjee a senior leader and ideologue of the Hindu Mahasabha wrote:
“As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating to Gandhiji’s murder is sub judice and I should not like to say anything about the participation of the two organizations, but our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible. There is no doubt in my mind that the extreme section of the Hindu Mahasabha was involved in the conspiracy. The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of Government and the State. Our reports show that those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure.[iii]
So far as egalitarian India is concerned the present RSS/BJP rulers including Naidu ji are committed to replace Indian Constitution with the Manusmriti which decrees a sub-human status Sudras and women in the Hindu society. The Constituent Assembly of India finalized the democratic-secular Constitution of India on November 26, 1949, RSS was not happy. Its organ, Organiser in an editorial on November 30, 1949, complained:
“But in our Constitution there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”
The alma mater of Naidu ji, the RSS is not familiar with the word non-sectarian. The RSS since its inception in 1925 is violently opposed to an all-inclusive. It surprised nobody when the English organ of the RSS, Organiser, on the very eve of Independence (August 14, 1947) editorially chalked out its concept of nation in the following words:
“Let us no longer allow ourselves to be influenced by false notions of nationhood. Much of the mental confusion and the present and future troubles can be removed by the ready recognition of the simple fact that in Hindusthan only the Hindus form the nation and the national structure must be built on that safe and sound foundation…the nation itself must be built up of Hindus, on Hindu traditions, culture, ideas and aspirations.”
Naidu ji will you act as VP of a democratic-secular India or an RSS pracharak? Do inform us citizens on which side of the divide you stand!