Late HV Sheshadri Explains What Is True Dharma

RSS leader Dr. Mohan Bhagawat was mentioning about the late HV Sheshadri. An interesting narration. Let me see if I can type it keeping the same interest that he generated in the talk.

Once HV Sheshadri of RSS was traveling in a bus in Karnataka. He was the Karnataka pranth pracharak. A well dressed and educated man boarded the bus, and sat next to HVS. They got into hello-hello chats. The man talked about his MCom education, employment at a bank, his family etc.

Dr. Mohan Bhagawat with the Late HV Sheshadri in the background. Pic - Samvada

Then he asked HVS. "What do you?"
HVS: "Nothing. Go from home to home, tell good things. Serve the society. Pretty much that's it".
Passenger: "Then how do you take care of your family?"
HVS: "I am not married. I don't have a family to take care of".
Passenger: "So you don't have a family. You don't earn anything. You have no duty of raising a family.. what's the use of your life? You are not an asset to the society".

Both kept quiet for some time....

HVS: "That's the way I am.. BTW, can you tell the names of your 8th generation from father's side?"
Passenger: " I don't know"
HVS: "Mother's side?"
Passenger: "Not sure. We know only 3 generations for shraddha (Vedic ritual for the dead) purposes. Never thought of it.".

Both kept quiet for some time....

HVS: "Do you know about Swami Vivekananda? The monk who...."
Passenger: "Of course.. Who doesn't know the Swami? I have studied many times about him. Here are some details....."
HVS: "Was he your relative?".
Passenger: "How can that be? He's from Bongo and I am from Karnataka".
HVS: "Oh.. maybe you met him?"
Passenger: "Are you joking? I was born 50 years after his death!"
HVS: "Maybe he visited your village sometime back?"
Passenger: "No. Never".

Both kept quiet for some time....

Swami. Pic - Wiki

HVS: "Strange... Swami Vivekananda was not your relative. You have never met him. He never even came near your village. And he was from generations before you. But still you know a lot about him. You also should know that he never earned any money. He didn't support his family the way you do. He never got married. He didn't raise kids. But everything he did in his life was for the society.. for the people.. for the country.. for the humanity. He lived his life per Dharma, to the perfection. 

On the other hand, your family's 8th generation before you did everything you are saying as valuable to the society. They got married. They raised kids. They educated them. They earned. They passed on things so that you are prospering today. Still you don't even know their names!!" 

Both kept quiet for some time....for a very long time...

The passenger seriously felt something in his heart. He apologized to HV Sheshadri and asked why this kind of thing happened.

HVS: "See.. it happens with all of us. We focus only on the material benefit for the immediate family. But that's not everything about Dharma. In the real sense, Dharma is all about Dharana or carrying. Dharayati iti dharma.  We alone getting educated, enjoying or prospering in life is not enough. We should take the society with us. Some of us can take smaller load and some like the Swami can take massive load. But our efforts must be to take everyone with us on the path of prosperity. That is the true Sewa. And, Sewa or selfless service is the best Dharma. Hence our lives must be dedicated as a daana or gift, for the humanity. Try to think more on why some of us make Sangha and its Sewa as the topmost priority in life and dedicate ourselves towards the society".

Needless to say.. the passenger had nothing else but total respect to HV Sheshadri!

Ten Things about BR Ambedkar That You Probably Didn't Know

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar is a tall figure of 20th century Indian  history. Popularly known as Babasaheb, the details about his careers as a lawyer, politician, constitution framer, social reformer and an economist are well known. He's an inspiration to crores of young Indians today of various classes and ideologies.

But there are ten snippets about this famous man, that are not quite highlighted. Time to take a look at them. I will provide references for each as to where I learned about them, and if any of them need correction or contention, please post comments with authentic references.

1: Dr. Ambedkar stood for Sanskrit as the official language of India.

This is not a well known fact, but it is a fact. In 2005, this was revealed by Chamu Krishna Shastry, a well known Sanskrit proponent in India.

"Dr Ambedkar himself wanted to sponsor Sanskrit as the official language of the Indian union along with his supporters Dr BV Keskar, deputy minister for external affairs, and Naziruddin Ahmed. He moved an amendment draft on September 10, 1949. The resolution had to be withdrawn due to political pressure."

Reference: Ambedkar wanted Sanskrit as official language

It is anyone's guess as to who might have exerted " political pressure" on Ambedkar in 1949 to withdraw that historic resolution, which could have changed India in an different direction. Ambedkar's strong support to Sanskrit is something to ponder upon, for those who consider Sanskrit as an "Aryan" language of upper castes, that should not be supported.

2: Ambedkar is actually a Hindu Brahmin surname.

Image from Wiki

Bhimrao's original surname was Ambavadekar. It comes from his family's native village name in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, even though he was born in today's Madhya Pradesh region. In Marathi, it is a common practice to add "kar" to the village name as the surname.

In this writeup in the Outlook, Smruti Koppikar describes how his favourite Hindu Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname 'Ambedkar' in the school records. The respect Bhimrao had for his teacher Mahadev, ensured that his borrowed surname continued for rest of his life! It tells us that Bhimrao respected all castes - his fight was against caste discrimination, and not Hinduism or any particular caste.

Reference: Bhimrao Sakpal Ambavadekar became Bhimrao Ambedkar

3. Ambedkar's father was a Vegetarian.

This one really surprised me. In the recent days, whenever there's a protest against ban on cow slaughter, you will invariably see an Ambedkar picture and beef eating "ceremonies".

But after reading Vikram Doctor's blog on the Economic Times, I stumbled upon two surprising details.   

"Nor is it correct to equate all upper-castes with vegetarianism and all Dalits with eating meat – Dr.Ambedkar’s father, for example, was vegetarian."

"I’m not sure if Dr.Ambedkar became vegetarian when he converted to Buddhism – Keer’s book doesn’t seem to make this clear and there is a surprising lack of other biographical material."

It looks like being a Kabir Panthi, Ambedkar's father Ramji was certainly a vegetarian and teetotaler. It also kind of implies that Babasaheb might have become a vegetarian coming from that family and also a vegetarian during the later part of his life. Something that needs a bit more research. And those who follow Ambedkar's path, this is something critical to ask - why was his father and (likely) himself vegetarian?

Reference: The Dalit Meanings of Food

4. Nehru prevented Ambedkar from entering Lok Sabha. Jan Sangh got him to Rajya Sabha.

Ambedkar contested Lok Sabha election twice. Both times Nehru's Congress made sure that he was defeated. Babasaheb Ambedkar contested from Bombay North in the first Indian General Election in 1952 but lost to the Congress candidates Narayan Kajrolkar, who had been his assistant once. He tried to enter Lok Sabha again in 1954 when he contested the by-election from Bhandara but he was placed third in the ballot won by Congress.

"In 1952, the Congress defeated Ambedkar in the parliamentary seat of Dadar in Bombay. It is strange that Jawaharlal Nehru did the sin of campaigning against Ambedkar during the elections.”

"The reason behind this was the Congress mentality of devaluing him. Later, the role played by Jan Sangh in getting him elected for Rajya Sabha from West Bengal is not hidden from anybody,” -  Arvind Menon, BJP.

So much for "love" of Ambedkar by Congress party.

Reference: Babasaheb was close to Jan Sangh, says BJP

Edit on 17th August 2016 - The reported claim by BJP above (see reference) was challenged by many people. Some are giving credit to Muslim League and JN Mandal of Bengal too. But the common theme is still that Congress did not help Dr. Ambedkar, but others did.

5. Bhimrao's second wife was a Hindu Brahmin.

Ambedkar met Dr. Sharada Kabir, a Saraswat Brahmin, when he needed medical treatment in the late 1940s. He married her on 15 April 1948, at his home in New Delhi. His first wife had passed away a decade ago. Doctors recommended that he needed a companion who was both a good cook and a possessor of medical knowledge and could thus take care of him. She adopted the name Savita Ambedkar and took care of him for the rest of his life.

Pic: photobucket

It is unfortunate that any political or NGO conversations regarding Ambedkar quickly turn into anti-Brahmin mode, when his borrowed surname is that of a Brahmin and his wife who served him during most needy years, was a Brahmin woman.

6. Ambedkar was not against Hindutva or RSS.

Ambedkar actually claimed Hindutva for the Dalits (untouchables or depressed classes) in 1927.

"Hindutva belongs as much to untouchable Hindus as to the touchable Hindus. The temples must be open for all. Efforts were made for the growth of Hindutva by Brahmins like Vasishta, Kshatriyas like Krishna, Vaishyas like Harsha and Shudras like Tukaram. The same amount of efforts for Hindutva were pitched in by untouchables (Dalits) like Valmiki (of Ramayana), Drishthara of Vyadha Gita, Chhokamela and Rohidasa. We have brave Sidnak Mahar kind of untouchable who fought for protection of Hindutva. Both touchable and untouchable Hindus have served the Hindu temples built in the names of Hindutva. So everyone has the right to enter them."

He also also praised Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar's efforts to eradicate caste discrimination in his Janata paper in 1933.

"Savarkar's efforts to uplift Dalits are as noble and effective as Gautama Buddha's" 

Ambedkar even visited RSS camp and praised them.

"Ever conscious of Hindu movements supporting Sanghatan – social solidarity, Dr.Ambedkar visited RSS camp in Pune in May 1939. He expressed his satisfaction: “I am surprised to find Swayamsevaks here moving about in absolute equality and brotherhood without even caring to know the castes of others."

References:

• Essays on Dalits book by Raj Kumar, page 72. 
• Kannada Prabha 14-Apr-2015 page 7, by Tejasvi Surya. Need to save Ambedkar from pseudos
• Bodhi Sattva’s Hindutva: Part 4 by Aravindan Neelakandan.  

7. Ambedkar's strong views on Muslim society's evils, Christianity and Partition of India.

When some Dalit youth were supporting the anti-India Razakars of Hyderabad after independence, Ambedkar told them not to take that path:

"Hyderabad state's scheduled castes must not support the Nizam or Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen under any circumstance. No scheduled caste member should join hands with anti India forces, bringing disrepute to their castes"

If you read Ambedkar's book, chapter 10, you would start seeing his absolutely rational arguments condemning the evils of Muslim society in pre-partitioned India.

Read chapter 10 for instance which has a sub title ;- Muslim Society is even more full of social evils than Hindu Society is. 

"the Muslim woman is the most helpless person in the world."

 "No words can adequately express the great and many evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery to a Muslim woman. It is true that because polygamy and concubinage are sanctioned, one must not suppose they are indulged in by the generality of Muslims; still the fact remains that they are privileges which are easy for a Muslim to abuse to the misery and unhappiness of his wife."

"Take the caste system. Islam speaks of brotherhood. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. Regarding slavery nothing needs to be said. It stands abolished now by law. But while it existed, much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries.While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse..... But if slavery has gone,  caste among Musalmans has remained. As an illustration one may take the conditions prevalent among the Bengal Muslims."

"There can thus be no manner of doubt that the Muslim Society in India is afflicted by the same social evils as afflict the Hindu Society. Indeed, the Muslims have all the social evils of the Hindus and something more. That something more is the compulsory system of purdah for Muslim women."

Regarding Pakistan, if you read the Chapter 14 of the same book, you can clearly see that he wanted transfer of Muslims to Pakistan (east and West) with non Muslims back to India from there.

What about its workability? The scheme is not new. It has been tried and found workable. It was put into effect after the last European War, to bring about a transfer of population between Greece and Bulgaria and Turkey and Greece. Nobody can deny that it has worked, has been tried and found workable. The scheme I have outlined is a copy of the same scheme. It had the effect of bringing about a transfer of population between Greece and Bulgaria and Turkey and Greece. Nobody can deny that it was [=has] worked with signal success. What succeeded elsewhere may well be expected to succeed in India.

The most recent Organiser special edition on Ambedkar notes his view about Christianity and Islam, and conversion in general:

Ambedkar was against Dalits converting to Christianity or Islam because he believed that “if the numbers of Muslims and Christians rise and it will cause danger to India.” 

 References:

• Kannada Prabha 14-Apr-2015 page 7, by Tejasvi Surya. Need to save Ambedkar from pseudos
• Book: Pakistan or the Partition of India by BR Ambedkar - Chapter 10 and Chapter 14.
• Ambedkar a pioneer like Savarkar, Malviya: RSS.

8. Ambedkar's openly opposed Article 370 of Nehru's Congress, for Jammu and Kashmir. 

Ambedkar opposed Article 370 in the Constitution, which gives a special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and it was put against his wishes. Balraj Madhok reportedly said, Ambedkar had clearly told Sheikh Abdullah:-

"You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the Law Minister of India, will never do it."

Reference: Kashmir problem from Ambedkarite Perspective, by K Jamanadas.

9. Ambedkar was a confirmed enemy of Communists, in his own words!

Read this excerpt from a book on India. 

In another context, presiding over a District conference of the Depressed Classes at Masur in September 1937, Ambedkar declared that he was a confirmed enemy of the Communists who exploited the labourers for their political ends, and there was no possibility of joining them. 

Reference: Book Perfidies of Power: India in the New Millennium, by P Radhakrishnan, page 54.

10. Ambedkar warned India against China's aggression on Tibet and beyond.

The Time issue dated October 22, 1951, noted:

“Ambedkar is the first important Indian official who has openly attacked Nehru for being too friendly to China and not friendly enough to the US”.

On China he disagreed with the Tibet policy and the enunciation of Panchsheel. He said:-

 “If Mao had any faith in the Panchsheel, he certainly would treat the Buddhist in his own country in a very different way. There is no room for Panchsheel in politics”.

Reference: Ambedkar’s views on foreign policy, by Harish Parvathaneni 

Hope you gained some insight after reading these today. Anything else you want to share in comments?

ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯ ನವರೆ.. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧಿ ವಾದದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳೋಣಾ?

ಗಾಂಧಿ ಜಯಂತಿ ದಿವಸ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ನೆನೆಯುವುದನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬೇರೆಲ್ಲ ವಿಷಯಗಳು ಸುದ್ದಿಯಲ್ಲಿದ್ದವು. ನಮ್ಮ ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯನವರಂತೂ ತಾವು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಎಲ್ಲ ೬.೩ ಕೋಟಿ ಜನರ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನು ಮರೆತು, ತಾವು ಕೇವಲ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪರಿವಾರದ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅನ್ನೋ ಹಾಗೆ ನಡೆದುಕೊಂಡರು.  ಅವರ ಕುಣಿತಕ್ಕೆ ತಾಳ ಹಾಕೋ ಹಾಗೆ, ಖರ್ಗೆ, ಮೊಯ್ಲಿ, ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರ ಮತ್ತಿತರು ಉಘೆ ಉಘೆ ಅಂದರು.

ಅಂದ ಹಾಗೆ ಆಗ ಬಾರದ ಅಚಾತುರ್ಯ ಆಗಿದ್ದಾದ್ರೂ ಏನು?

ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯನವರಿಗಿಂಥ ೮ ವರ್ಷ ದೊಡ್ಡವರಾದ ಹಿರಿಯ ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿ ಶಂಕರ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಅವರು, ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯ ಅವರ ಅರ್ಧ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ವಾಗ್ಮಿ ಚಕ್ರವರ್ತಿ ಸೂಲಿಬೆಲೆ ಅವರನ್ನು ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿ ಅವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಭಾಷಣ ಮಾಡೋಕೆ ಕರೆದ್ದಿದ್ದು. ಇದು ಯಾವ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಅಥವಾ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತದ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ ಅಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದು ಕೇವಲ ಮಹಾತ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರ ಆದರ್ಶದ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಸಮಾರಂಭ. ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯನವರಿಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಾಪಟ್ಟೆ ಅಲರ್ಜಿ ಆಗಿದ ವಿಷಯ, ಈ ಇಬ್ಬರು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಸ್ವಯಂಸೇವಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಜೊತೆ ಹೊಂದಿರುವ ಬಾಂಧವ್ಯ!

ನಾನು ಚಕ್ರವರ್ತಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಸಲ ಭೇಟಿ ಆಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಅವರ ವಾಕ್ ಚಾತುರ್ಯ ನೋಡಿ ಶಭಾಶ್ ಅಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಅವರ ದೇಶ ಭಕ್ತಿಗೆ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ತಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಅವರಿಗೆ ನನ್ನಂತಹ ಲಕ್ಷಾಂತರ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು ಇದ್ದಾರೆ. ಚಕ್ರವರ್ತಿ ಅವರು ಜಾಗೋ ಭಾರತ್ ಅಂಥಹ ೨೪ ಕಾರೆಟ್ ಚಿನ್ನದಂಥ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ಮಾಡಿ, ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಹಳ್ಳಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತದ ಮತ್ತು ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸೈನಿಕರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಬಾರೋ ಹಾಗೆ ನೋಡಿ ಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಇಂಥಹ ಭಾರತ ಮಾತೆಯ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಪುತ್ರನಿಗೆ ಏಕ ವಚನ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿದ್ದು ಪರಮಾಶ್ಚರ್ಯ! ಹೋಗಲಿ ಬಿಡಿ.. ಶಂಕರ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಚಕ್ರವರ್ತಿ ಸೂಲಿಬೆಲೆ ಅವರಿಗೆ, ಸಮಾಜದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರದ್ದೇ ಗೌರವ ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ಥಾನ ಇದೆ. ಅವರೇನು ಈ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಪತ್ರ ಪಡೆಯೋಕೆ ಹೋಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಇಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಬಹಳ ಜೋರಾಗಿ "ಗಾಂಧಿ ಪರ" ಕೂಗಾಡಿದ ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯನವರು ಎಷ್ಟು ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಗಾಂಧಿ ತತ್ತ್ವ ಮತ್ತು ಸಂದೇಶ ಖುದ್ದಾಗಿ ಪಾಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆಂದು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ನೋಡೋಣ. ನವರಾತ್ರಿ ಸಮಯ ಆದದ್ದರಿಂದ ಒಂಭತ್ತು ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಚಲಿತದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಒಂಭತ್ತು ವಿಷಯಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಗಮನ ಹರಿಸೋಣ.

೧) ಮೊದಲನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರು ಸಸ್ಯಾಹಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪ್ರಾಮುಖ್ಯತೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರು. ಅಹಿಂಸೆ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರ ಪರಮಧರ್ಮ ಆಗಿತ್ತು. ಪ್ರಾಣಿ ಹಿಂಸೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಡಿ ಅಂತ ಅವರು ಬೋಧನೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.
ಆದರೆ ನೀವು ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮಯ್ಯ ಅವರೆ.. ಮೊದಲ ತಿಂಗಳಲ್ಲೇ, ಗೋ ಹತ್ಯೆ ನಿಷೇಧ ಕಾನೂನನ್ನು ತಿರಸ್ಕಾರ ಮಾಡಿ, ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರಿ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಲು ಕೊಡದ ಹಸುಗಳು, ಕರುಗಳು, ಎಮ್ಮೆಗಳು, ಎತ್ತುಗಳು, ಕೋಣಗಳ ಮಾರಣಹೋಮ ಮಾಡಲು ಅನುಮತಿ ನೀಡಿದ್ದೀರಿ. ಇದು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧೀವಾದವೋ?

೨) ಮಹಾತ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧಿಯವರ ಜೀವನ ಪರ್ಯಂತ ಅವರು ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಮತಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಸಂಘರ್ಷ ತಡೆಯುವದರ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರು.
ಆದರೆ ನೀವು? ಬೇರೆಯವರನ್ನು ಕೋಮುವಾದಿ, ಜಾತಿವಾದಿ ಅಂತೆಲ್ಲ ಜರಿದು, ಖುದ್ದಾಗಿ ಬರೇ ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕೋಮು ಯೋಜನೆಗಳನ್ನೇ ತಂದು ಸಮಾಜವನ್ನು ಒಡೆಯುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದೀರ. ಶಾದಿ ಭಾಗ್ಯ ಅಂತ ತಂದು ಮುಸಲ್ಮಾನರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹಿಂದುಗಳಿಗೆ ತಾತ್ಸಾರ ಬಿತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರ. ಅಹಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಪ್ರವಾಸ ಅಂತ ಬೇರೆ ಜಾತಿ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೆ ಅನ್ಯಾಯ ಮಾಡಿ, ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ಮಕ್ಕಳ ಹಸಿ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಜಾತಿ ವಿಷದಿಂದ ತುಂಬುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರ. ನರ್ಸಿಂಗ್ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿನಿಯರ ಹಾಸ್ಟೆಲ್ ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿ, "ಮೇಲ್ಜಾತಿ" ಹುಡುಗಿಯರನ್ನು ಹೊರಗಿಟ್ಟು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅನ್ಯಾಯ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರ. ಯಾರಾದರೂ ಇವುಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತಾಡಿದರೆ, ಅವರನ್ನು ದಲಿತ ವಿರೋಧಿ, ಹಿಂದುಳಿದವರ ವಿರೋಧಿ, ಮುಸಲ್ಮಾನ ವಿರೋಧಿ ಅಂತ ಕೂಗಿ ಬಾಯಿ ಮುಚ್ಚುಸ್ತೀರ.  ಇವೆಲ್ಲ, ಗಾಂಧೀ ವಾದವೋ?

೩) ಗಾಂಧಿ ದೇಶದ ಸಂಪತ್ತನ್ನು ಲೂಟಿ ಹೊಡೆಯೋರ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ನಿಂತಿದ್ರು.
ನೀವು? ದೊಡ್ಡ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ ಆರೋಪ ಇರುವ ಸಂತೋಷ್ ಲಾಡ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಮಂತ್ರಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದ್ರಿ. ನಂತರ ಬಹಳ ಜನರಿಂದ ಕಿವಿ ಹಿಂಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ಮೇಲೆ ಅವರನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು, ಅವರಿಗಿಂತ ಗುರುತರ ಆರೋಪ ಇರುವ ಶಿವ ಕುಮಾರ್  ಮತ್ತು ರೋಶನ್ ಬೇಗ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಮಂತ್ರಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮೇಲೆ ಖುದ್ದಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಕಾವತಿ de notification ಆರೋಪ ಇದ್ರೂ, ಅದನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ನಿರ್ಲಕ್ಷ್ಯ ಮಾಡಿ, ಬೇರೆಯವರನ್ನು ಭ್ರಷ್ಟರೆಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತೀರ. ಇದು ಗಾಂಧಿವಾದವೋ ?

೪) ಗಾಂಧಿ ಎಂಥ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶದಲ್ಲೂ ಕೂಡ ಒಬ್ಬರ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೈ ಮಾಡದ ಅಹಿಂಸಾವಾದಿ.
ಆದರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತ ಇರೋ ಜನ? ಭೈರಥಿ ಅವರು ಪೋಲಿಸ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಲ್ಲೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರು ಅಂತ ನಾವು ಒದಿದ್ವಿ. ಅಭಯಚಂದ್ರ ಜೈನ್ ಅವರು ಆಟೋ ಚಾಲಕನ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಲ್ಲೆ ಮಾಡೋಕೆ ಹೋದರು ಅಂತ ಟಿವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿದ್ವಿ. ಇದೇ ಜೈನ್ ಅವರು ಒಬ್ಬ ಕರಾವಳಿ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತನಿಗೆ ಜೀವ ಬೆದರಿಕೆ ಹಾಕಿದರು ಅಂತ ಕೂಡ ಕೇಳಿದ್ವಿ. ವಿನಯ್ ಕುಲಕರ್ಣಿ ಅವರು ಒಬ್ಬ ವೈದ್ಯಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ರೀತಿ ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ಪಂಚ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದನ್ನು ಟಿವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿದ್ವಿ. ಇವರಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರದ್ರಿಗೂ ನೀವು ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟರಾ? ಇದು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧೀವಾದವೋ?

೫) ಮಹಾತ್ಮಾ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರು ಭಗವದ್ ಗೀತೆ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಮಾಯಣದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅಪಾರ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡವರು.
ಎಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲಾದರೂ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಅಥವಾ ರಾಮನ ಆದರ್ಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಉಲ್ಲೇಖ ಇದೆಯೋ? ನಾವಂತೂ ಕಂಡಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ, ನೀವು ಜರಿಯುವ ಸಂಘ ಪರಿವಾರದ ಮೋದಿ ಅವರ ಭಾಷಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇಕಾದಷ್ಟು ಭಾರತೀಯ ನೀತಿ ಬೋಧನೆ ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೇವೆ!

೬) ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರು ಮಾತಿನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಗಮನ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅಪ್ಪಿ ತಪ್ಪಿಯು ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಆಪಾದನೆಯಾಗಲಿ, ಕೀಳು ಟೀಕೆಗಳಾಗಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದವರಲ್ಲ.
ಆದರೆ ನೀವು? ೨೦೧೪ ನೇ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ದೇಶದ ಸರ್ವೋಚ್ಚ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯದ SITಯಿಂದ ಕ್ಲೀನ್ ಚಿಟ್ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಂಡ ನರೇಂದ್ರ ಮೋದಿ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ನರಹಂತಕ ಅಂತ ಅಪಪ್ರಚಾರ ಮಾಡಿ, ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಆಯೋಗದಿಂದ ಛೀಮಾರಿ ಹಾಕಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ದೇಶದ ಏಕೈಕ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಮಂತ್ರಿ! ಅದು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗಾಂಧೀ ವಾದವೋ?

೭) ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರು ಎಂದೆಂದೂ ಸಾರಾಯಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇತರ ಆಲ್ಕೋಹಾಲ್ನಿಂದ ದೂರ ಇದ್ದರು.
ಆದರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸುತ್ತ? ಕಾಶಪ್ಪನವರ್ ಅಂಥ ಕುಡಿತದ ಬಾರ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಪೋಲಿಸ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಲ್ಲೆ ಆರೋಪ ಇರುವ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಸದಸ್ಯರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರ ಮೇಲೆ ಏನು ಕ್ರಮ ತೊಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದೀರ?
ನೀವು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸರ್ಕಾರದಿಂದ ಕುಡಿತದ ಹಾವಳಿ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾಡಲು ಏನು ಕ್ರಮ ತೆಗೆದು ಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೀರ?

೮) ಗಾಂಧಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸರ್ವಾಧಿಕಾರ ಬಹಳ ಅಸಹ್ಯ ಆಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಅವರು ಹಿಟ್ಲರ್ ಅವರಿಗೂ ಕೂಡ ಒಂದು ಪತ್ರ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದರು.
ನೀವು? ಪ್ರಮಾಣ ವಚನ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿದ ಮರು ನಿಮಿಷದಲ್ಲೇ, ಸಾವಿರಾರು ಕೋಟಿ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಹಣವನ್ನು ಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕೋಮು ಆಧಾರಿತ ಸಾಲ ಮನ್ನಾಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಬಿಟ್ಟರಲ್ಲ..  ಕ್ಯಾಬಿನೆಟ್ ಕೂಡ ಮಾಡುವ ಮುಂಚೆ ಒಬ್ಬರೇ, ಇಷ್ಟೊಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ನಿರ್ಣಯ ತೊಗೊಂಡು, ಬೇರೆಯವರನ್ನು ಸರ್ವಾಧಿಕಾರಿ ಅಂತ ಭಾಷಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಜರಿಯುತ್ತೀರಲ್ಲ.. ಅದು ಗಾಂಧಿ ವಾದವಾ?

೯) ಕೊನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ಗಾಂಧೀ ಅವರು ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಗೌರವ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಮಾನವ. ಗಾಂಧೀ ಅವರು ನಿತ್ಯ ಪಠಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ "ವೈಷ್ಣವ ಜನತೋ" ಭಜನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಸಾಲುಗಲಿವೆ.

"ವಾಚ, ಕಾಛ್ ಮನ ನಿಶ್ಚಳ ರಾಖೆ" - ಅಂದರೆ, ಮಾತು, ಕೆಲಸ ಮತ್ತು ಯೋಚನೆ ಶುದ್ಧಿಯಾಗಿ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೋ.
"ಪರಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಜೇನೇ ಮಾತ್ ರೇ" - ಅಂದರೆ, ಪರಸ್ತ್ರೀಯನ್ನು ತಾಯಿ ಅಂತೆ ನೋಡು.

ಆದರೆ ನೀವು ಗಾಂಧಿ ಜಯಂತಿ ದಿವಸ ಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಟೋಪಿ ನೆಹರು ಅವರದ್ದು. ಗಾಂಧಿ ಆ ಟೋಪಿ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದು ಬಹಳ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅಥವಾ, ಇಲ್ಲವೇ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಅದೇ ನೆಹರು ಅವರು, ಮದುವೆ ಆಗಿ ಮಗಳಿದ್ದ ಗೃಹಿಣಿ ಎಡ್ವಿನಾ ಮೌಂಟ್ ಬಾಟ್ಟೆನ್ ಜೊತೆ ಹೇಗಿದ್ದರು ಅಂತ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಎಡ್ವಿನಾ ಅವರ ಮಗಳು ಹೇಳಿರುವದನ್ನು ಓದಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪರಮಾಪ್ತ ಸಿ ಎಂ ಇಬ್ರಾಹಿಂ ಅವರು ಇಂದಿರಾ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾಡಿರುವ ಭಾಷಣಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಗಮನ ಹರಿಸಿ. (ಈಶ್ವರಪ್ಪ ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡ ಬಹುದು). ಆಮೇಲೆ ಹೇಳಿ, ನಿಮ್ಮದು ಯಾವ ಸೀಮೆ ಗಾಂಧಿವಾದಾ?

ಮುಕ್ತಾಯ: ಒಂದು ಸಮಾಜ ಅಂದ್ರೆ, ಬೇಕಾದಷ್ಟು ತತ್ತ್ವ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಜನ ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಾರೂ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮೌಲ್ಯಗಳನ್ನೇ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ. ಒಬ್ಬ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಆಗಿ, ನೀವು ಎಲ್ಲ ತರಹದ ಜನರನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಸಿ. ನೀವು ಕೇವಲ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷದವರ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅಲ್ಲ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಬಹು ದೊಡ್ಡ ನಾಯಕ ನೆಹರು ಅವರು ಕೂಡ ತಮ್ಮ ಕೊನೆಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ RSS ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಪರಮದ್ವೇಷವನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು, ಅವರನ್ನು ೧೯೬೩ ಗಣತಂತ್ರ ದಿನದ ಪೆರೇಡ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾಗವಹಿಸುವಂತೆ ಆಮಂತ್ರಣ ನೀಡಿದ್ದರು ಅನ್ನೋದನ್ನ ಮರೆಯಬೇಡಿ!

ಕನಿಷ್ಠ ಪಕ್ಷ ನಿಮ್ಮ ೨೦೧೫ ಗಾಂಧಿ ಜಯಂತಿ ನಡವಳಿಕೆ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಹುದ್ದೆಗೆ ಘನತೆ ತರುವಂತೆ ಇರತ್ತೆ ಎಂದು ಹಾರೈಸೋಣ.

Images from: coastaldigest, mangaloremath.wordpress, corruptcongress.wikia and oppanna

My Visit To Prabodhini School - A Perfect Indian School

We live in a world, where talking about Hindu culture or tradition is usually frowned upon by the self-declared progressives. I know many people who think Hinduism is full of superstition and upbringing children in a solid Hindu environment is impossible. I also know a few of them blindly aping Europe and America, with an unapologetic message that if the future of a kid has to be bright, a westernized education system is a must, keeping away the ಗೋಡ್ಡು ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ (useless traditions) that a primarily Hindu traditional school would offer. Let's not even get into the medium of instruction, as English medium education right from the start is more preferred than Indian languages, in most cases.

Don't get me wrong. I love English. I strongly believe that there are lots of good western values that should be inculcated into a child, during the growing years. Things like charity, cleanliness, social involvement, scientific temper are great things. But aren't there schools which get all these into children, while giving education in a local language, and deeply sustaining the rich Indian (primarily Hindu) culture and tradition?

To my surprise, I was invited to visit one such school for their annual function, as a chief guest. My friend Guruprasad Bhat from Mumbai, got this arranged as his family runs a school called Prabodhini, at a gorgeous place called Kalasa, tucked in the beautiful ಮಲೆ  ನಾಡು (western ghats) area of Karnataka. And to put it simply... I was blown out! The school is run by RSS volunteers, deeply rooted in Indian tradition, and the quality of education is outstanding. Yet, the school treated students from all castes, languages and religions equally, preparing the best batch of future citizen of India.

The family and friends who run this school. 

The serene setting of absolutely charming greenery, where the school is located.

This school is run so well, in spite of no money coming from the government, that it has scored 100% result year after year, this century! In fact, it was started by Mr. Raghavendra Bhatt and family, for a few really poor kids whose parents were busy throughout the day on daily labour. It has expanded now into nearly 800 students capacity!

Coming to the function we were invited for.. They greeted us with traditional Hindu Vedic prayers.

Then we witnessed top class meditation and discipline.

The chanted Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic Shanti mantras. Crisp, clear and fully involved prayers for the ಸರಸ್ವತಿ ವಂದನ (Saraswati Vandana) part. Traditionally students are expected to always begin any major function with Saraswati prayer, invoking the Goddess of education. But off late I see lot of resistance to this citing secularism, which for me is a meaningless argument. How is praying the deity of education against secularism? This Prabhodini school surprised us pleasantly!

Then every part of the day long function fascinated me. The 10th standard children were asked to bring their parents and do ಕೃತಂ ಸ್ಮರ (felicitating the parents, Kritam Smara). The literally worship the parents, thank them for all the support to get them educated till this level, and get their blessing to continue their study further.  All this happens right in front of Goddess of Education, Saraswati.

 

And, caste or religion is no bar. I saw even Muslim women in their burqa and hijab, participating in this function, happily blessing their sons and daughters for a bright future! The self-declared seculars would get a heart attack seeing this :)

Then the outgoing students (10th standard) are made to take a oath that they would keep up the good tradition, behave well in life, and make their parents proud.

Not only that, the outgoing senior batch is made to hand over ದೀಪ (Diya) to the next batch, asking them to safeguard the tradition and future of the school. Great camaraderie!

The cultural aspect of respecting the elders by touching their feet after award ceremony, was quite visible. I even saw the Head Master following this tradition himself.. Here is the head master taking blessings from the generous Guruprasad Bhat, who has served this school even when away from the town of Kalasa for decades.

Saraswati Mata, the primordial ಪ್ರಣವ (Om) and Bharat Mata were prominently visible in the school, along with 100s of pictures of pictures of great Indian educationists, freedom fighters, spiritual gurus and so on. Students get an overdose of the feeling of nationalism and dedication to Indian society in such a school.

And the dance and cultural event after all the speeches and prize distribution was so special. They covered so many folk dances, story telling, inspirational events... I was overwhelmed as to how deeply the students are rooted in the Indian culture and tradition, while keeping a very good scientific and mathematical temper!

The more interesting part was the boys and girls equally performed in various events, keeping 100% gender equality.

And how can any event happen in coastal and western ghat area of Karnataka, without the colourful ಯಕ್ಷ ಗಾನ - Yaksha Gana costume?

How can they miss Ishwara and family, when they are from a Kalaseshwara town?

Cute girls showing village costume from Karnataka.

And some nice energetic village dances.

And their patriotism..

Their energy levels of drum beating..

Their Karate..

Bhuvaneshwari.. the Karnataka mata.

Ever loving glorious Bharat Mata..

Outstanding acrobatics involving pyramids...

 ಮಲ್ಲ ಕಂಭ - Malla Khambas..

The display of energy, culture and tradition was so overwhelming that I had to think about it for days after that..

Such a school also exists in today's world where children are mostly forced into rote learning, with very little physical activities making them obese, in the highly polluted cities with very little green nature around them, stripping their cultural roots for most part in the name of westernization and/or secularism??

That too in a location which is just one hour walk from this gorgeous hill near ಅನ್ನಪೂರ್ಣೆಶ್ವರಿ - Mata Annapoorneshwari temple at Horanadu!

They are just 10 to 12 KM from a gorgeous trekking spot, high above western ghats.. so high that most vegetation disappears. It's called ಗಾಳಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ or the windy hill.

And when they are just 30 minutes walk from this beautiful ಅಂಬಾ ತೀರ್ಥ - Amba teertha area of Bhadra river..

100% results.. great science education involving computers too.. dedicated staff giving an all round modern education... deeply rooted in India's glorious 5000+ years culture and tradition.. and amidst one of the heavenly locations of the planet next to big mountains and lovely rivers, plus moderate temperatures throughout the year!

I wish you all studied in such a school.. if not, at least your children or grand children. This is as close to the ancient Guru Kula education that you can get in 21st century, as possible :)

Two notes:

1) If you have more time, browse through nearly 300 pictures here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/110981894709471519856/albums/5978739794695073985?banner=pwa

2) Since this amazing school caters to some of the lowest income families, and completely supported by private donors, you can also sponsor children for their studies. Contact @gbhat_ or @KiranKS on twitter. Or just leave a comment and I will have the school management contact you.

Myths about RSS

Today, I saw twitter trending #NationalistRSS in India. Social media has been a powerful medium in exposing the sinister campaign against RSS.

While reviewing some of the tweets by anti RSS propagandists, I felt it is necessary to expose some of the popular myths about RSS. A lot of people are blindly ranting against Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh, without getting proper information. You can't change everyone, but at least you can put some facts on the table. So here we go.. Note that these are not the official statements of RSS, but that of general social media population in India today. Full credit to the original thinkers and the original photographers, for the information presented here onwards.

Myth 1: RSS Killed Gandhi.
Fact 1: Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Godse had left RSS in 1930s itself. This has been reiterated countless number of times by RSS, and the recent one is from December 2010, when Ram Madhav of RSS claimed court records clearly showing RSS had nothing to do with Gandhi's murder. Justice Kapur Commission Report clearly says: "RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organisation as such as being responsible for that most diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace. It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS"
Also, Nathuram, the convict was hanged within months, bringing justice to the whole incident. Blaming RSS for Gandhi's murder just because Godse was a former member of RSS, is like blaming Congress for Muslim League's mass murder and atrocities during Partition, because Jinnah was a member of Congress earlier. Jinnah was a member of Congress party between 1906 and 1920. So someone who was a member of Congress for long 14 years, was instrumental in inciting Direct Action Day and other mass atrocities against Hindus, resulting in 1000s of deaths. Will today's Sonia Gandhi's Congress claim responsibility for all the wrong doings of Jinnah, including breaking up an age old civilization resulting in millions of deaths?

Myth 2: Sardar Patel disliked RSS.
Fact 2: Sardar Patel had to take action in 1948 due to political pressure from "secular" Nehru and group. But when the ban on RSS was lifted, read Sardar's letters to Guruji, the RSS chief. Patel was the happiest man then! All the bans till date on RSS, including the ones after Sardar's death, are purely the hate that Congress party nurturers for RSS. Everyone knows that RSS does not negotiate with vote bank politics, corruption or country's soverignty. If the same yard stick was used against Congress, SP or other parties, they all should have been banned for the violence of their cadres, or the deadly riots their governments failed to stop (and in some cases helped rioters like in 1984) over the years.  Here is a partial list of nearly 150 incidents of Congress violence. If for each riot or disturbance Congress party was banned, that number would have easily gone beyond Sachin Tendulkar's international century count!

Myth 3: RSS is anti national.
Fact 3: RSS is the most nationalistic organization in India. In fact, even the most bitter enemy of RSS, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited RSS to come participate in the 1963 Republic day parade. 3500 Swayamsevaks marched on that day, in their typical Gana Vesha. During his final years, Nehru realized the patriotic pulse of RSS, that too only when his Congress party's foreign policy went seriously wrong resulting in a humiliating defeat at the hands of China. It was RSS that helped Indian soldiers and civilians greatly in 1962, for which even Nehru was forced to invite them to be a part of 1963 Republic Day parade. I am sure the icon of secularism, Nehru would not invite an anti national organization to march with Indian army during republic day. In fact, the so-called secular folks like members of Indian communist parties, were busy raising donations for India's enemy China during 1962 war! During the 1965 Indo-Pak war PM Shastri requested nationalist RSS to help control traffic in Delhi so policemen could be freed for defence duties. When Pakistanis were trying to take over Jammu and Kashmir, it was swayamsevaks who cleared the snow, so that Indian air force could land their aircrafts.

Myth 4: RSS is fundamentalist.
Fact 4: RSS is pro India, pro Hindutva. RSS' ideology says that there are only two kinds of Hindus in India. Those who are Hindu today and those who were Hindus yesterday. That makes every single human in India (and rest of Indian subcontinent), Hindus by culture, ancestry and tradition. That is the Hindut-va (Hindu essence). Tva in Sanskrit means characteristic, essence or hood - like Bhratrutva (brotherhood), Maatrutva (motherhood), Shatrutva (Enmity) and so on. RSS never preaches any religious doctrine using any sacred book with the eventual goal of converting everyone to that doctrine 100%. RSS does not believe in converting anyone to its "religion". So calling such organization fundamentalist is silly. If at all RSS has any fundamentals, it is that of calling India as Bharat, and treating her as the mother of every single human in Indian subcontinent. In fact, RSS supports uniform civil code in India, meaning one type of marriage/divorce/inheritance laws for ALL citizen, which is opposed by so called progressive parties like Communists and Congress!

Myth 5: RSS is fascist and a terrorist organization.
Fact 5: When you show the long list of social service organizations that are a part of Sangh Parivar (family), the favourite line of Jihad supporters is that Jamat ud Da'wah also does social service. But they don't understand the basics that RSS does not preach violence in any of its shakha. It only teaches people to be proud of India's glorious 5000+ years culture and tradition. It teaches swayamsevaks (volunteers for the nation), self defence. Every human on this planet has the right to defend himself or herself. RSS never advocated for killing or converting "non-believers", like Jihadi terrorists or radical evangelicals do. If any person who claims to be associated with RSS is convicted of any crime, RSS won't play communal or victim card. RSS believes in law taking its own course and punishment for anyone who violates law, unlike Congress party that still supports a convict Lalu Yadav or those charged with mass murder like Sajjan Kumar, or those caught giving genocidal "15 minutes" hate speeches like Akbaruddin Owaisi. While Nehru was unable to stop the blood shed during partition, it was the RSS that organised over 3000 relief camps for the Hindu Refugees from Pakistan after the Partition. In short, every effort to frame RSS to a fictional "Hindutva terror" or "Saffron terror" has failed till date. Here is one such example.

Myth 6: RSS is only for Hindu males.
Fact 6: This is the favourite line of ignoramus feminists. There are two kinds of RSS setups. Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh for males, and Rastra Sevika Samiti for females. Both are thriving in India for decades. Both take out marches, celebrate India's heritage festivals and glorify India's national Hindutva icons.

Myth 7: RSS is anti Muslim and RSS is anti Christian.
Fact 7: RSS treats Muslims, Christians and everyone else in India, irrespective of caste and creed as cultural Hindus. Hindutva is an all encompassing ideology of RSS. This is the reason why RSS never has RSS Muslim shakha (daily assembly) or RSS Christian shakha. Anyone can become a member of RSS as long as they are ready to respect Bharat Mata (Mother India). RSS is against only those whose work against India's soverignty and heritage. In the famous Ranganathacharya Agnihotri case,  "Primafacie the RSS is a non-political cultural organization without any hatred or ill will towards non-Hindus", declared Karnataka High Court (then Mysore HC).

Myth 8: RSS is for Brahmins, Kshatriyas and other upper caste Hindus only.
Fact 8: Totally wrong. RSS has no caste system at all. It treats every single member, be it male or female, as equal. In fact, even Mahatma Gandhi had applauded RSS' casteless setup 7 decades ago. All RSS requires from a volunteer, is respecting Bharat Mata (Mother India) as "vatsale, Maatru bhoome".

Myth 9: RSS was anti Sikh in 1984 riots.
Fact 9: Even the most staunch Sikh supporters of 1984 time, won't claim such things. Read Kushwant Singh's writeup. In fact, RSS was instrumental in helping Sikhs in large numbers when Congress party's murderers went on rampage to kill, and their leader Rajiv Gandhi failed to stop the mass killing. 

Myth 10: Organizations like the Sri Rama Sene of the infamous pub incident, Abhinav Bharat and other organizations are part of RSS.
Fact 10: No. RSS clearly has defined who is a part of Sangh Parivar and who is not. You can't club everyone who claims to be a Hindu organization, and malign RSS because of those organizations' actions. In fact some of those ignorantly clubbed as "Sangh Parivar" with RSS, were trying to kill RSS leaders! Every attempt to malign RSS, like how Congress leaders did in case of Ajmer blast, has backfired.

Myth 11: BJP is the political outfit of RSS.
Fact 11: Wrong. RSS has always been a non political organization. It's prime aim is service to the society, character buidling of youth and nation building. BJP evolved from Jan Sangh. Many BJP leaders, like Vajpayee, Advani and Modi might be from RSS background, but that does not maike RSS a political outfit. In fact, many Congress, AAP and other party leaders are also of RSS background. It is like scores of Indian leaders today  could be from NCC, but that does not make NCC a political organization. RSS volunteers support many political parties, depending upon who is doing the best service to the society, without bias, at that time. The only non-political force that vehemently opposed Emergency was RSS. It was so feared, that Indira Gandhi, who had murdered democracy in 1970s, banned the RSS during her draconian Emergency. J P aandolan, Janlokpal aandolan and a whole lot of popular movements had RSS support. In short, there are RSS admirers and RSS opponents in every party of India. To give an example, even the most staunch anti RSS politician in India today, Digvijaya Singh, was sharing dais with RSS leaders when it suited his Congress party :)






Myth 12: RSS has a membership process.
Fact 12: Wrong. RSS has no business card or party member ID. Anyone can walk in, and anyone can walk out. The concept is that of Swayam sevak. No RSS volunteer carries a Sangh membership card. In short, anyone who wants to serve the society and Bharat Mata, can become a part of RSS, temporarily or permanently. RSS adheres to the age old saffron colour flag (Bhagwa) that was an inspiration to serve the mother land for billions of Indians over millenia.

Myth 13: RSS only concerns with Hindus.
Fact 13: RSS deals with all sections of Indian society. RSS is the first one in majority of natural disasters like 2004 TN Tsunami, 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, 2009 Karnataka-AP massive floods, 2013 Uttarakhand floods, or any rail/bus/building disasters. RSS volunteers are found from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, rushing to help every single natural disaster. They are also in forefront to help people in case of man-made disasters like 2012 Asom riots caused by illegal foreign settlers from Bangladesh. It was RSS volunteers who donated blood during 1971 war. RSS runs over 1,70,000 projects across India via organizations like Sewa Bharati, catering to every language, state, religion, caste, colour and creed. Go to their website to learn. RSS runs 27,041 schools (Ekal Vidyalaya) in remote tribal areas : 7,53,123 socially deprived tribal students are enrolled. RSS is in fact the world's largest voluntary service organization with over 60,00,000 active members, plus millions of supporters. RSS was one of the first to land at Uttarakhand to help the needy. They even proudly helped the organization that helps every Indian.. the national army! Watch this video.

Myth 14: RSS does not raise Indian flag.
Fact 14: RSS Sarsangh chalak (highest position within RSS), Mohan Bhagawat himself stands and respects an Indian flag during important national festivals.

There are scores of other myths being propagated systematically against RSS. For now, this list is enough. Just remember: 

R : Ready for
S : Selfless
S : Service

RSS will become stronger with availability of social media, as the malicious propaganda against the Sangh Parivar, will eventually have to die down.

सत्यमेव जयते !