67th Anniversary Of Democratic-Secular Indian Constitution: Hindutva Demolition Squad Waiting To Undo It

 by Shamsul Islam 

There is no doubt that despite many infirmities Indian Constitution as framed by the Constituent Assembly (CA) of India on November 26, 1949 was a fine document of liberal democracy. It’s emphasis on all-inclusive polity assuring social, political and economic justice was, in fact, continuation of anti-imperialist legacy. But Indian Constitution today faces most critical challenge to its existence. It is true that ruling parties before the enthronement of Modi government in 2014 paid lip service to the pro-people goals enshrined in the Constitution but none dared to declare that they would over-throw democratic-secular Indian Constitution. It is first time in the history of Independence India that PM Modi calls him a ‘Hindu nationalist’[i] and declares that he is RSS cadre and groomed as political leader by Guru Golwalkar.

It is to be noted that RSS is publicly committed to replace present Indian Constitution by MANUSMRITI, a Brahmanical scripture which assigns women and Sudras a sub-human status. The CA passed Constitution on November 26, 1949 and RSS English organ, Organizer on November 30, 1949, in an editorial rejected it and demanded MANUSMRITI as constitution. It read:

“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”.

Even after Independence RSS kept on denigrating the Constitution of India. MS Golwalkar, the only Guru to most of the present Hindutva rulers including our PM and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS in totality Indian Constitution in the following words:

“OUR CONSTITUTION TOO IS JUST A CUMBERSOME AND HETEROGENEOUS PIECING TOGETHER OF VARIOUS ARTICLES FROM VARIOUS CONSTITUTIONS OF WESTERN COUNTRIES. IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHICH CAN BE CALLED OUR OWN. IS THERE A SINGLE WORD OF REFERENCE IN ITS GUIDING PRINCIPLES AS TO WHAT OUR NATIONAL MISSION IS AND WHAT OUR KEYNOTE IN LIFE IS?”[ii]

Every RSS cadre including PM in its everyday prarthana (prayer) worships Hindu Rashtra and not democratic-secular India and pledge to accomplish a Hindu state. This can be known by a perusal of the following words of RSS prayer:

“AFFECTIONATE MOTHERLAND, I ETERNALLY BOW TO YOU/O LAND OF HINDUS, YOU HAVE REARED ME IN COMFORT/O SACRED LAND, THE GREAT CREATOR OF GOOD, MAY THIS BODY OF MINE BE DEDICATED TO YOU/I AGAIN AND AGAIN BOW BEFORE YOU/O GOD ALMIGHTY, WE THE INTEGRAL PART OF THE HINDU RASHTRA SALUTE YOU IN REVERENCE/FOR YOUR CAUSE HAVE WE GIRDED UP OUR LOINS/GIVE US YOUR BLESSINGS FOR ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT.[iii]

Importantly, the RSS organ Organizer in its issue on the very eve of Independence, dated 14 August, 1947, rejected the whole concept of a composite nation (under the editorial title ‘Whither’):

“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”.

But the most shocking is the denigration of TRI-COLOUR or NATIONAL FLAG by the RSS. On the eve of independence when Indian Constituent Assembly adopted Tricolour as its National Flag, same organ of the RSS, Organiser, in its issue dated August 14, 1947, denigrated this choice in the following words:

“THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME TO POWER BY THE KICK OF FATE MAY GIVE IN OUR HANDS THE TRICOLOUR BUT IT WILL NEVER BE RESPECTED AND OWNED BY HINDUS. THE WORD THREE IS IN ITSELF AN EVIL, AND A FLAG HAVING THREE COLOURS WILL CERTAINLY PRODUCE A VERY BAD PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT AND IS INJURIOUS TO A COUNTRY.”­

If RSS is dead against the democratic-secular Constitution of India and all symbols related to it, then question arises that why RSS cadres PM Modi and many of his colleagues are celebrating the 67thanniversary of Indian Constitution. As masters of DOUBLE-SPEAK these rulers are buying time and waiting for an opportune moment to strike from within. In last two and half years they have been destroying democratic institutions of Indian polity one by one, just waiting to demolish democratic-secular Indian polity. This plan was outlined by Guru Golwalkar long back in 1940. Golwalkar while delivering a speech before the 1350 top level cadres of the RSS at Resham Bagh, RSS headquarters in 1940 declared:

“RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land”.[iv]

All those who are concerned about the future of democratic-secular Indian polity must come together to resist the anti-national agenda of RSS.

Shamsul Islam  is a retired Professor of University of Delhi.Email: notoinjustice@gmail.com

For some of S. Islam’s writings in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu & Gujarati see the following link:http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam

Facebook: shams shamsul

Twitter: @shamsforjustice

[i] Modi as CM of Gujarat interviewed by Reuters at former’s residence at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat, July 12, 2013.

[ii] M.S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1996, p. 238.

[iii] RSS, Shakha Darshikha, Gyan Ganga, Jaipur, 1997, p. 1.

[iv]MS Golwalkar, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), vol. 1, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, p. 11.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/26/67th-anniversary-of-democratic-secular-indian-constitution-hindutva-demolition-squad-waiting-to-undo-it/