FROM THE TELEGRAPH OF 17 MAY 2005
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AN UNPOLLUTED MIND
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Kuppahalli Sitaramayya Sudarshan, sarsanghchalak of
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, gave an interview to Shekhar Gupta a month
ago. He caused a sensation by saying that he was in favour of the retirement
of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as well as Lal Kishenchand Advani. This was perhaps
the least important remark of his. If he really wanted them to go, all he
need have done was to order them to, and they would have, being loyal
soldiers of the RSS. What I found most interesting is what the interview
revealed about Sudarshan, and by implication about the RSS style of thinking.
Shekhar started with Sudarshan's unwillingness to meet the media. He gave
Sudarshan a chance to explain why he had finally agreed to talk. In response,
Sudarshan burst into an inspirational song which said that one should work
and not show off. So why had he emerged from the woodwork' It could not be to
give a message to the Hindu joint family. I think it was because he felt the
need to educate the Anglophone middle class ' like the readers of The
Telegraph.
Sudarshan named two heroes and two
not-so-great leaders. The leaders were Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao. His
choice of Indira Gandhi is comprehensible: she was the one that severed
Pakistan into two. Paki-bashing is a core business of the RSS. After the
death of Sanjay, Indira also became rather demonstratively Hindu; she started
wearing arudraksha necklace and visiting temples. That too may
have helped her in getting into Sudarshan's good books. But Indira also
declared the Emergency for purely personal gain and imprisoned the entire opposition:
if democracy was ever in danger in this country, it was on account of her.
She nationalized banks just to give industrialists a bloody nose. It was not
because she was a committed socialist, but because they supported the old
guard of the Congress.
Sudarshan had no qualms about any of
this. The only faintly critical word about Indira is that she was
self-centred. No wonder; the poor girl grew up in the vast Anand Bhavan, and
was afraid of the ghosts in its cavernous rooms. So she saw ghosts everywhere.
And then, she had a lot of servants who gave her whatever she wanted; so she
became jiddi(not Sudarshan's word; it is Urdu). I would be
surprised if Sudarshan minded her improprieties or even considered them
improper. And why should he'
Sudarshan's other hero is Narasimha Rao,
'because he was the only one who ruled for six years without being a part of
the Nehru clan'. That shows rather an extreme bias against the Nehrus. But
Sudarshan is being inconsistent, having praised Indira. So why did he get sold
on Narasimha Rao' Because of the reforms' Because Rao steered India deftly
into a comfortable relationship with the US after the collapse of the Soviet
Union'
No, stupid; because he resolutely
watched while the Babri Masjid was pulled down by members of the Hindu joint
family. Rather a limited qualification for greatness, but that is how
Sudarshan's mind works. Sudarshan is not fond of Jawaharlal Nehru. And that
is not because of Nehru's socialism, his antipathy towards businessmen, or
his launching on a development path that turned sterling-rich India into a
starving, bankrupt country within eight years. Apparently soon after
independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel decided to admit RSS members into the
Congress. But when Nehru returned from abroad, he stopped it. I find it
difficult to believe, but Sudarshan does not. No wonder he is not fond of
Nehru: but for Nehru, BJP would have been unnecessary. The Congress would
have joined the Hindu joint family ' it would have become Mahabharatiya
Ugrarashtrawadi Congress.
Sudarshan's least favourite leader is
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Because he did nothing to realize the BJP's core agenda
' Ram temple, Section 370 and common civil code ' and he gave Ranjan
Bhattacharya free rein. Sudarshan himself says that the coalition that
brought the BJP to power could be forged only by putting these issues on the
back burner. But then, consistency is not his strong point. And yes, Vajpayee
did nothing to help the Hindus who were being subjected to atrocities in
Bangladesh. What could he have done' Invade Bangladesh, of course.
Invasions hold great appeal for
Sudarshan. He thinks Azad Kashmir should be annexed by force. He thinks that
the army should invade Pakistan and attack terrorist training camps. And what
if there is a nuclear war' 'If it happens, it'll happen. We can't keep quiet
all the time because of the scare of nuclear weapons.' But Sudarshan is not
an unalloyed belligerent; he also believes in befriending Pakistan. Why'
Because if India's image amongst the Pakistanis improves, they will all want
to join India, and 'Pakistan will be finished'. As it is, the Land of the
Faithful preserves its faith only because of India. In Pakistan, 'the Army is
always in power. More importantly, they have removed all the madarsas from
there. However, the chief of all madarsas has said, 'We have been banned in
Pakistan but we will continue in India.' In border areas we have madarsas
where Pakistanis come to study.' So would Bangladesh; its people envy us for
our cheap salt, and would gladly join us for it. It is an interesting world
Sudarshan lives in.
Sudarshan is against foreign investment
in telecommunications. Why' Because 'you say 50 things over a phone; those 50
things should not get into the wrong hands. That would not be right. It should
stay with the government'. He probably does not know that RAW is always
listening in to conversations between Kashmiri terrorists and their Pakistani
handlers even though they do not use the Indian telecommunications systems.
And how much would it cost a foreign spying agency to plant Indian-born spies
to listen in to conversations on Indian telephone lines' But of course, any
Indian born in a devout Hindu family must be kosher.
Not only telecommunications; Sudarshan
wants all public sector undertakings to remain in the government's hands as
long as they are profitable; he is very disapproving of Arun Shourie for
having sold family jewels. Which means that you must wait until an enterprise
begins to make losses before you sell; at which point you will probably get
less than its break-up value, whereas you might have made handsome capital
gains if you had sold it while it was profitable. But profit and loss are
base concerns for run-of-the-mill businessmen; Sudarshan is in the business
of making the country great.
For me, the most chilling part of
Sudarshan's interview was about Uma Bharti and Govindacharya. These poor
lovebirds wanted to marry. But Bhaurao Deoras told them it was not good for
them, and just stopped them. He sent Uma off to a sadhu in
Amarkantak, who gave her sanyas diksha - which, I fear, means,
no sleeping with anybody. Apart from the joy of congress, marriage would have
made Uma more human. But then she might not have remained the Hindu joint
family's prize verbal wrestler. The nation will pay dearly for her celibacy.
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