Who is minority ?

Election fever is everywhere in India and all the parties are throwing up promises like anything. This is is typical scenario in India and this has been happening for last 50 years. So now we are used to it. The main difference this time is a clear dichotomy of the choice voters have. Either you go for Congress led alliance or B.J.P. led one. And one of the main issues that differentiates these two camps is the policy over minorities. Unfortunately the issue comes many a times only for election and is discussed only from a political viewpoint. Never has it been discussed apolitically in the light of Indian ethos.

The word minority means a section of society which has a somewhat different identity than the major section. Typically this word is used in case of two different groups having been come together for some mutual benefit on the basis of some mutual understanding, this nexus may be political or apolitical in nature. The two groups may have different aspirations on the issues other than the binding issue (The issue on the basis of which they have come together). These different aspirations lead to differences and eventually division in most of the cases.

In case of India, the word 'minority' is typically used in terms of religious minority. In particular, Christians and Muslims are typically addressed by this term. It is interesting to note here that in India also live people of Parsi religion and a few Jews. Also there are people of innumerable religions which come under the umbrella of Hinduism, but are different than the mainstream. Hardly any of these groups are referred as minorities in common terminology.

The question I wish to ask is, why these two communities think that they are minority. As the minority is supposed to have issue that differentiates them from majority and which is indispenseble or can not be compromised. But in India, it has been observed through history that different religions are not really treated differently in any social affair. We can look for Maurya period when Buddhism was on high. India as been the land of great philosophical and spiritual debates. But never have been the wars fought on this issue. Indian people are truly tolerant in this issue.

Secondly we always keep saying that India is a nation with "unity in diversity". Unfortunately we just remember the diversity and forget to recognize the underlying thread of unity. We may have different faiths, different languages, food or costumes. But essentially we are one people. We all are the children of this great nation, standing tall as the guiding pole for many aspects of social life, through a long history. And we need to be proud of our great heritage which forms this interlink between apparently different parts of this society.

Hence the correct policy towards minorities, if any, should be in a direction to integrate them in the mainstream society, without forcing them to give up their individuality. This really can not be achieved by appeasement policy of political parties. This rather increases the drift by creating insecurity amongst majority section of society, and therefore hostility. Through education, it should be imbibed that we are one society, brothers and sisters of each other, not some different groups just come together for some mundane benefits.

And if still there is no way of intermingling different sections, then the conflict is unavoidable. And majority section cannot only be held responsible for this conflict. In fact rather minorities are more responsible in most of the cases, as they behave rather intolerantly in these situation.

Thus I would say, the key of eliminating the minority issue is in the hands of minority. They must try to be in unison with the majority section. Although its the responsibility of entire society, it is more on the shoulders of minority section. In my dream, I see India with no minority and Indians as hundred percent majority.

New face of RSS

Last month we witnessed the change in the supreme leadership of RSS. Shri Mohan Bhagwat took over as Sarasanghachalak from Shri K. S. Sudarshan. According to the constitution of RSS, the selection of Sarasanghachalak is not by majority vote but rather the existing Sarasanghachalak appoints the new one in his place. This is quite contrary to the other posts in RSS. E.g. Sarakaryavah or general secretary is elected by the Pratinidhi Sabha, and his tenure is three years. 

Shri. Bhagwat is sixth Sarasanghachalak of RSS. History tells us that whenever RSS gets a new Sarasanghachalak, we see the organisation taking a new turn. It can be considered as 'progressive unfoldment' of the organisation towards its final goal. In 1925 when RSS was founded it actually worked on single point program and that was Shakha. Although Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of RSS himself was very much active in national politics, he just quit that, and all the fame and glory that comes through, and decided that strengthening nationalistic mindset among the people is the top priority job now. He took the organisation from Nagpur based small group to a national level organisation.

In the era of newly independent India, RSS had become a national level organisation, which started to branch out in various field of social life and the entity called Sangh Parivar these days came into existence. ShriGuruji led RSS in this period to make it a national level power which could not now be neglected on any issue. This was very aptly proved in the time of emergency, when RSS was the main force behind the movement. Balasaheb, the third chief and Rajjubhaiya, the fourth one, gave two new facets to the organisation, viz. social amalgamation (removing barriers of jaati) and service. It is not that these issues were not addressed by RSS previously. But as the organisation acquired more strength, it started to assert on various issues more emphatically. E.g. by making a monthly sevaa din mandatory for all shakhas. In Sudershan ji's era, RSS saw even further branching with focus on issues like Integral Humanism and Dharmajaagaran.

In this period, RSS not just expanded in terms Shakha, but also branched in almost all fields that touch the social life of a common Indian man. Today one can easily say that organisation of sangha parivar are at forefront on any issue in India. RSS even as videsh vibhag or foreign branch which works within Hindus settled abroad. It also emerged as the most trusted organisation when comes any calamity, be it natural like tsunami or man made.

The new chief is relatively of young age when we compare him last two chiefs viz. Rajjubhaiyya and Sudershanji. Hence it is expected that he may remain in the place for a longer tenure. Former two sarasanghachalaks held the post for only 6 and 9 years respectively. But Shri Mohan Bhagwat is expected to have longer timescale at hand and hence make more clearer impression on Indian history.

But in this process, RSS has also acquired some permanent foes. The main reason for this enmity is the philosophy of hindutva. The unification scheme of the Indian society is hindutva, according to RSS. It believes that it is the way of life for people in India, not a religion practised by a fraction. (It is interesting to note that the word India actually comes from Hindusthan, which means land of hindus). Unfortunately the word hindu is wrongly associated with issues like casteism, inferior treatment to women, hatred towards religions of non-Indian origin etc. And this has been purposely done by forces who do not wish India to rise and stand tall and strong at world scenario. Hinduism is not some stagnant philosophy but it by its very nature is ever changing flow of life. It keeps on adapting and assimilating new currents and sometimes leaves behind ashes of some old, inconsequential traditions. RSS has been on forefront in last 75 years in bringing the new currents in hindu society, like the removal of untouchability. If one reviews various movements run in this country towards eradication of untouchability, we find RSS to be most successful amongst all. And this was even acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi when he had visited a RSS camp. It is probably the only organisation in India, political or non-political, where no decisions are based on caste of its members, which is unfortunately not seen even in some sectarian groups which declare themselves caste free single society.

RSS has never cared much about the criticism on it. It rather believes in drawing a bigger line and lets the people of this nation make decision. And people have trusted RSS on numerous occasions. People have rather started to look towards RSS as THE organisation which can bring some positive changes in the country. This makes RSS even more responsible. With its ever growing and far reaching power, people have started to believe that RSS is the solution to many problem currently Indian society is facing. And with a new chief in chair, much younger than earlier one people expect change with RSS in pivotal role.

It is expected that the history will take a new turn in next decade the signs of which have started to appear as ripples in world economy and ever growing terrorism. The new leadership has a tough period ahead and the Indian hopes may get pointed towards it. As Savarkar had once said there is no blue print of hindu nation. But definitely it is now the time to assert the fundamentals and form a firm, strong society which can endure all kinds of attacks. And I hope under the new leadership RSS will emerge as the backbone of this nation and India will prove Manu's Ship for the world.