Hinduism with its 5000 years old roots in Bharat (India) is one the oldest civilizations existing in the world. This civilization once was spread across all over Indian sub-continent till Gandhar in west, which is now known as Afghanistan to Indonesia and Cambodia in east. Hinduism is a religion, which is constantly evolving. Vedas were one of the earliest works or scriptures which formed the base of Hinduism, but Hinduism did not just stay with Vedas, it moved on with time and became one of the most tolerant religion.
Turning back into history shows that the victory in the battle over Rajputs by Mohammad Ghazni about 1000 A.D., marked the beginning of Muslim invasions into the Indian subcontinent and continued until the next 700 years. The last notable invasion of the Muslims from outside was the invasion of Nadir Shah in 1739, during which he unleashed a great horror on the native Hindu population. During these 700 years of Invasion every Muslim ruler raised towers of Hindu skulls with huge massacres and many others were forcibly converted into Islam. Still many Hindus either faced the death or preferred to be a Hindu and lived in poverty. Some recent studies suggest at least 100 million Hindus were massacred from the period 1000 AD and 1525 AD alone. In 17th century the British East India Company entered into India on the pretext of trade and slowly from then on the British rule started for the next 200 years. During these two hundred years many missionaries were invited to India and millions of the tribal Hindus were forced to convert into Christianity by force or money.
While the rest of the world was undergoing a tremendous religious transformation during this period, the Hindus in India were able to stand against that storm, and during a thousand years of rule Muslims and Christians were able to make only a small dent in fortress of Hinduism. The early revival of Hinduism in first half of this millennium was to a great extent brought about by people like Adi Shankaracharya and Ramanuja. Renaissance period for Hinduism coincided with the Muslim and British rule. While warriors like Sivaji, Rana Pratap and Guru Gobind Singh Fought against Muslim rulers other great people like Mera Bai, Sant Tuka Ram, Chaitanya Maha Prabhu, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekananda to name a few, brought about Hinduism renaissance during the Muslim and British Rule.
With this brief background of Indian history and Hinduism let us see what some so-called leaders in modern India say about those people who espouse the cause of Hinduism and India. The Congress Chief Minister of Kerala A.K. Antony on July 14th 2002 in a statement branded R.S.S (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) as a terrorist organization. While another Congress Chief Minister Digvijay Singh of Madhya Pradesh said on 7th September 2003 that RSS incites violence and communal feelings. What makes these people call RSS a terrorist and communal organization?
What is RSS and what are its Origins?
Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889-1940) founded the ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ (RSS) on 27th September 1925. It rebounds to the foresight of Dr. Hedgewar that he anticipated the need for strengthening the foundations of the Hindu society and for preparing it for challenges on social, economic, cultural, religious, philosophical and political planes. The thought of selfless people who will volunteer on their own to serve the country, which can never be achieved being a part of political party has led to the foundation of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). Dr. Hedgewar has studied medicine in Calcutta; the land of patriotic and revolutionaries came back to Nagpur in 1916. Dr. Hedgewar himself is a patriot himself from childhood, when he refused to eat the sweets distributed marking the golden jubilee of Queen of England's coronation and when he got banned from school for echoing and re-echoing Vande Mataram. Hedgewar even refused to marry and kept his family poverty aside and worked for the cause of the countries freedom until his death in 1940.
Many young and old came forward to be part of this organization for various years and today RSS has over more than 25,000 centers allover India. RSS worked to its strength and did some dedicated works. If one has to look internally the aim of RSS, it is to bring the dharma concept and spirituality into the society and work for the well being of the nation.
The quality of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh comes to fore during times of natural or man-made disasters. When there were earth quakes in Assam, Gujarat, Latur, Uttarakshi, or in Surat, when the Costal Andhra, Bihar, Bengal or Orissa hit with cyclone, or when there is famine in Karnataka, Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat or Rajasthan, it is common to hear from various sources that the Swayamsevaks will be there at every national calamity providing services and relief for the victims. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that after the disastrous cyclone of December 1977 in Andhra pradesh, the Swayamsevaks took care of rehabilitation of the whole Avanigadda village and the then Survodaya leader of Andhra said "The name R.S.S stand for Ready for Selfless Service without discrimination.
In 1965, during the war with Pakistan or during Bangladesh Liberation war, in 1971, or the latest Kargil war, media was full of reports of the role played by Swayamsevaks by providing moral support and relief in the post war period by providing blood donations and establishing nursing camps at war sights for the treatment of wounded soldiers. During the partition of the country in 1947, when several millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were stranded in Western Pakistan, Swayemsevaks of the same RSS sacrificed their lives to bring back those hapless people into a safe place, by showing limitless valor, sacrifice and martyrdom. Does these qualities make it a terrorist and communal organization?
What makes one or an organization terrorist?
American Heritage Dictionary: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
Does the Rhastriya Swayamsevak Sangh have any of these qualities in its work to make it a terrorist organization? R.S.S works against the perverted beliefs in the name of religion such as untouchability and casteism. Sri Balasaheb Deoras declared "If untouchability is not wrong, there cannot be anything wrong in this world." R.S.S never showed any discrimination in its works and also conducted several programs to eradicate such practices. Thousands of Swayamsevaks invite people from the slums to their houses to participate in the pujas during the festivals and go to their slums and share the fun and happiness of the festivals. R.S.S also established schools at the village level for the purpose of education of below poverty people and hospitals in rural areas, where the governments failed to provide the least medical facilities.
Does these types of works make R.S.S a terrorist organization?
It is really pity and sad to see and hear that the so-called secular forces term such type of organizations as terrorist organizations. These days the communists and the so-called secular fronts made it a habit to call every Hindu organization as a terrorist organization.
These secular and communist forces have forgotten that when the Machu reservoir embankments breached, thousands of people became homeless and most of them were Muslims in it. The Swayamsevaks took care to organize food and relief to the victims and not to forget this calamity happened during Ramadan and Swayamsevaks took every care in the food keeping in mind the Roza norms and made every effort to provide prayer facilities for the victims and not to forget the Gujarat earthquake where several Muslims and Hindus became homeless. R.S.S again worked for relief without any discrimination. Does this quality of Rashtriya Swayamsevaks make it a communal organization?
Can these psuedo secular forces and the communists name any other organization, which works solely for the purpose of nation outside their religion? Has these communists and secular forces did anything for the nation?
Is this terrorism and communalism? I would rather follow such a ‘terrorist’ organization rather than those good for nothing politicians who spread the venom of casteism and religious division.
If trying to make India a progressive and educated country is terrorism then these politicians should quickly seek a psychiatric help. These people lack the credentials to be a critic of an organization as great as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Christian missionaries continue to convert many poor Hindus by promising to give them money in Kerala and several evidences were found to prove it, but A.K. Antony never responded to that and he didn't even have a second thoughts before calling Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh a terrorist organization. A.K. Antony and Digvijay Singh proved that they are one of the thousands of dim wit politician who speak without knowing a fact.
