The year 2024 started with a massive campaign leading to the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22. It ended with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s mouthpiece, Organizer (December 29 edition), questioning the view of its own chief Mohan Bhagwat on the resurgence of the mandir-masjid dispute everywhere in India. An article “From Somnath to Sambhal: The Quest for Civilizational Justice” written by its Editor, Prafulla Ketkar, further ignited the very debate on which Bhagwat expressed STRONG displeasure in a lecture in Pune on December 19. Not only that, the RSS boss was criticized by several leading champions of Hindutva considered close to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
However, Ketkar immediately clarified that the article was actually written on December 18, that is a day before Bhagwat’s speech, and does not criticize him and that unnecessary controversy is being created.
Some independent analysts dubbed this ‘in-fighting’ as an exercise in shadow boxing to keep the pot boiling. They are of the view that the Sangh Parivar has the mastery over this art. Some others
are of the view that there are differences between RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party. They attribute the relatively bad show of the BJP in the Lok Sabha election held earlier this year to this squabbling.
Examples of Sudarshan, Advani
But the issue should be examined in another way too. Mohan Bhagwat may have been honest when he flayed the resurgence of the mandir-masjid dispute every day. In the past too several top figures of the Sangh Parivar had either criticized their own leadership or had undergone genuine change of heart.
This included former RSS chief (now late) K S Sudarshan, a hardliner, and former deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, whose movement led to the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
On the occasion of Eid on August 20, 2012, just 26 days before his death Sudarshan set off from his residence at the RSS office in Bhopal not just to greet Muslims, but also to offer namaz (congregational prayer) in Taj-ul Masjid. This created a somewhat embarrassing situation for the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh. The then urban development minister of MP, Babulal Gaur, who is also a former chief minister of the state, rushed to convince Sudarshan to give up the idea as the time for prayer was over. He asked Sudarshan to greet Muslims on the occasion of Eid instead.
The state additional director-general of police, Vijay Yadav, told the media that it was too late for the police to arrange for Sudarshan’s motorcade to reach the mosque.
However, many Sangh Parivar apologists attributed this action of Sudarshan to the loss of memory of the old man.
Notwithstanding this defence, it is also a fact that when he was the RSS chief between 2000 and 2009 he had on a number of occasions criticized the National Democratic Alliance government, especially its economic policies. Some months after the defeat of the NDA government in the 2004 Lok Sabha election he publicly called for the retirement of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani from politics.
Perhaps Mohan Bhagwat is asserting and adopting his line when he is taking a different stand on a number of issues. But what surprised everyone was the piece carried by Organizer, which is considered as an organ of the RSS. The sudden clarification did not end the row. At the same time it is a fact that Bhagwat’s stand had the support of some RSS functionaries. Yet it is also a fact that some clerics and Vishwa Hindu Parishad bigwigs said to be close to Yogi too have questioned Bhagwat. After the Lok Sabha poll early this year it was felt that proximity between Bhagwat and Yogi had increased as both have a common grudge against Modi.
Advani in Pakistan
If Sudarshan and Bhagwat had publicly lambasted the BJP leadership, the remarks of its patriarch Lal Krishna Advani, who had strong RSS links, at his birthplace Karachi in Pakistan in the first week of
June 2005 came as a rude shock. He virtually broke down before Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s grave and ended up giving the certificate of ‘secular’ to Pakistan’s founder.
Back home, this statement kicked up a storm in his own party the BJP and its parent body RSS. The rank and file started baying for Advani’s blood. The ruling Congress then too exploited this doublespeak of Advani and Sangh Parivar. Many in the saffron brigade never forgave Advani, the architect of Ram Mandir movement. He actually never recovered from here. He was on September 13, 2013 finally replaced by Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial face.
Jaswant Singh’s case
Former minister of external affairs, Jaswant Singh, may not be of the stature of the above three mentioned Sangh Parivar top brass, nor had he had such a strong association with RSS. Yet he too was thrown out of the BJP in August 2019 when in his book he gave a virtual clean chit to Mohammad Ali Jinnah for the creation of Pakistan. He held the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru and some other Congress stalwarts responsible for the partition of the sub-continent.
However, he was taken back into the BJP fold a few years later. But like Advani, he too failed to regain his stature.
It is premature to jump to any conclusion now, but it is a fact that Mohan Bhagwat is not alone. Another top RSS functionary Indresh Kumar held the arrogance of the BJP responsible for the poor performance of the party in the Lok Sabha election held earlier this year.
Instead of praising the BJP for the inauguration of Ram Mandi he said that Lord Ram had stopped the BJP at 240. Three days before his statement in June, Bhagwat too slammed the arrogance of the BJP.
Thus, the year 2024 which started with a big hope for the BJP ended in a not so bright note for the saffron family.
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