The other event is the grand “Hindu Samagam” (Hindu congregation), which will be held at Bhopal on February 28. It will be addressed by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

The parivar plans to mobilise more than five lakh people for the “Hindu Samagam” and an equal number for the public meeting that will follow the national executive meet of the BJP. The Indore meet will cost upwards of Rs. 3 crores. According to reports, the party has identified 300 “donors” who will contribute Rs. one lakh each for the event. The delegates in the Indore meet will be staying in tents rather than in hotels. It is another matter that in terms of luxury, the tents will easily beat the rooms of any five or seven-star facility. Several teams of Central leaders have visited Indore to ensure that the stay of the delegates is comfortable and enjoyable.

Even more importance is being attached to the Hindu Samagam. A door-to-door campaign has been launched by the RSS to mobilise support for the meet. The RSS workers, who are undertaking the campaign, are collecting a donation of Rs. 10 from each house. Besides the receipt for the donation, the donors are being given a brochure and a Vikram Samvat calendar.

The brochure carries the photographs of RSS's founder Dr. Hedgewar, Subhash Chandra Bose, Vir Savarkar, Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh. The brochure explains the objective of the 'Hindu Samagam” and a brief history of the RSS. The brochure claims that the RSS took an active part in the freedom struggle, saved millions of Hindus from being massacred by the blood-thirty Muslim goons and lists the various humanitarian services rendered by the RSS.

The brochure also lists the challenges the country faces today. These challenges, according to the RSS, are: Jihadi terrorism “which has already claimed the lives of 60 thousand innocent persons and around 10 thousand security personnel”, infiltration of Bangladeshis, the danger posed by China to the Indian economy, caste-based politics, criminalisation of politics, infusion of black money into politics, erosion in moral values due to “influence of Western culture”, attacks on Hindu holy places and the “dangerous recommendations” of the Rangnath Mishra commission, including reservation to Christian Dalits and Muslims and Christians.

The brochure claims that these challenges can be met only by the unity of Hindus. The brochure says that the rise and fall of India is inextricably linked with the rise and fall of the Hindus. Therefore, the need of the hour is to consolidate the unity of the Hindus. It also claims that Hindutva is co-terminus with Nationalism. The brochure recalls that the RSS was founded to bring Hindus under one banner, ignoring the divisions based on caste and other considerations.

The Vikram Samvat calendar being distributed carries the photos of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Bhagat Singh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Prithviraj Chauhan, Emperor Harshvardhan, Maharana Pratap, Emperor Vikramaditya, Samudragupta, Chanakya, Chandragupta Maurya, Sardar Patel, Vir Savarkar, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ahilya Bai, Laxmi Bai, Tantya Tope, Subhash Chandra Bose, Shivaji, Tilak, Krishnadeva Rai, Rajraja Chola and Sam Manekshaw. Surprisingly, pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and Jawaharlal Nehru do not figure in the calendar.

The February 28 event has aroused great interest among the people but critics of the RSS and its policies are not prepared to accept the claims made in the brochure. The brochure claims that the RSS workers actively participated in the Anti-Simon Commission agitation and that they also took part in the 1942 Quit India movement but there is hardly any evidence too suggest that the RSS played any role in the freedom struggle. In fact, there is enough evidence to suggest that the RSS deliberately kept itself away from the freedom movement.

Similarly, none can agree with the view that only Hindutva is genuine nationalism. According to a spokesperson of the Congress, “As a nation, we have rejected the religion-based concept of nationalism. Our nationalism derives its strength from the combination of various religions. We cannot think of nationalism, excluding non-Hindus. We are a plural society and therefore, our nationalism has also got to be plural.”

It will also be naïve to think that the challenges listed in the brochure can be successfully met without the support and co-operation of people of all faiths. Can only Hindus help us combat terrorism and the related problems? Can we think of facing the economic challenge being posed by China by evoking the Hindus-alone criterion? The critics of the RSS also reject the idea that the downfall of India always coincided with the downfall of Hindus. In fact, history stands testimony to the fact that it were the Hindu Raja-Maharajas of ancient and medieval India, who, because of their self-centered policies invited invaders from outside India. It is obvious that by holding Hindu Samagam, RSS wants to spread its ideology, which is totally against the ethos of Indian nationalism, which stands on the foundation of secularism. (IPA)