By Sanjay Raman Sinha
The central government’s decision to allow government servants to participate in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) activities has sparked political feud between the BJP and other parties. In a post on X, BJP leader Amit Malviya wrote: “The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on government employees taking part in the activities of the RSS has been withdrawn by the Modi government. The ban was imposed because on November 7, 1966, there was a massive anti-cow-slaughter protest at the Parliament. RSS-Jana Sangh mobilised support in lakhs. Many died in police firing. On November 30, 1966, shaken by the RSS-Jana Sangh clout, Indira Gandhi banned govt staff from joining the RSS.”
The Opposition took the government to task by saying that it wants the RSS functionaries to man governmental and constitutional posts. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X: “On this day in 1947, India adopted its National Flag. RSS opposed the Tricolour, and Sardar Patel had warned them against it. Sardar Patel had also banned RSS after Gandhiji’s assassination on February 4, 1948. Modiji has lifted a 1966 ban on government servants attending RSS activities, after 58 years. We know how BJP is using RSS to institutionally take over all Constitutional and autonomous bodies. By lifting the ban on government employees from participating in RSS activities, Modiji wants to politicise government offices and employees on an ideological basis.”
The ban and subsequent revocation of the RSS has a history of its own. It symbolizes the conflict between the Centrist, Left parties and that of the extreme Right. In the aftermath of Gandhiji’s killing, India’s first deputy prime minister and home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel banned the RSS on February 4, 1948. The ban was ostensibly put in place to eliminate forces threatening national freedom and peace, and to root out the forces of hate and violence. Patel believed that the RSS was an extremist extension of the Hindu Mahasabha, and he wrote about this to the then RSS chief MS Golwalkar as well, pointing to the incendiary speeches of RSS leaders.
On July 11, 1949, the ban on the RSS was lifted after Golwalkar made promises to the Indian government. Golwalkar wrote a letter to the government in which he committed that the RSS would remain loyal to the Constitution of India and the national flag. He also promised that the RSS would cease its political activities and function only as a social and cultural organization. These assurances convinced the government to lift the ban. However, the RSS headquarters in Nagpur has not hoisted the national flag on Independence Day even once since then.
In 1966, the Indian government issued an order forbidding government employees from associating with the RSS or the Jamaat-e-Islami. The order clarified that the activities of these organizations were incompatible with the duties of government servants. Participation in these organizations’ activities by government employees would violate sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rule, 1964. This rule stresses on maintaining the neutral and secular nature of government services. The rule states: “No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.” It must be noted that when the ban was first clamped in 1966, there was no BJP. So, the political mobilization and articulation on behalf of the RSS was mostly absent in the political arena.
It is interesting and instructive to relook at the 1966 parliamentary debate on banning the RSS. The ban was clamped amidst rising Hindu-Muslim tensions and controversies over violence over anti-cow slaughter protests. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi remarked in Parliament: “While we recognize the sentiments of those who support cow protection, it is imperative that we ensure these sentiments do not lead to communal disharmony and violence.” The then Home Minister Gulzarilal Nanda also took a strict stand. He said: “The government is committed to taking stringent action against any organization that disrupts communal harmony and poses a threat to the secular fabric of our nation.” The Communist Party of India (CPI) vituperated: “The RSS has been at the forefront of promoting communal hatred. It is high time that decisive action is taken to curb its influence.”
However, Opposition members, including Jan Sangh leaders, defended the RSS. They held that it was a cultural and social organization committed to national unity. They vehemently opposed the ban, saying that the RSS has always stood for the unity and integrity of India. To call it communal is injustice to its contributions.
Despite fiery arguments in Parliament, the government did not ban the RSS, instead it allowed it to continue operating under close scrutiny. The 1966 debate set the tone and tenor for further debate and action on the RSS. It also signified the drawing of battlelines between the Centrist and Right-wing ideologues.
1975 was the year of the infamous Emergency. The Indira Gandhi government banned the RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami along with 26 other organisations, including some CPI(ML) factions and Ananda Marg. Later, when the Janata Party came to power, it revoked the ban on the RSS and withdrew the order preventing government staffers from participating in the activities of the RSS.
When Indira Gandhi returned to power, the ban on RSS was relaxed in 1980. The government allowed the RSS to function, but banned government employees from joining it. The reason given was the need for a secular outlook amongst the government officials.
The RSS was banned again post the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. The then PV Narasimha Rao government imposed a ban on the RSS along with other organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. But the ban was later lifted in 1993 by Rao.
The Liberhan Commission formed to investigate the Babri Masjid demolition named the RSS as one of the main organizations involved in the planning and execution of the demolition. It would be relevant to add that in November 14, 1948, post the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, the Bahri Commission was formed to investigate the activities of the RSS and assess the justification for the ban. The Commission found that the RSS propounded and propagated a specific ideology that could have influenced people like Nathuram Godse. However, it did not find any direct proof of the RSS’s direct complicity in the conspiracy to kill Gandhi. This exoneration did much to provide relief to the RSS and shaped the narrative against it and balanced the call for outright ban with evidence-based action.
The order was cited by later BJP governments post-1992 to relax the ban on the RSS. In the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots, the RSS was blamed for violence against Muslims and once again demand from various quarters rose to ban the organisation. Various courts, including the Supreme Court, took cognizance of the riots and took to task the state government for its handling of the situation. However, no formal ban was imposed on the RSS during this period. In the 2008 Malegaon blasts, some RSS members were accused of involvement in the attacks. This led to demand for banning the organization. While some RSS members were arrested and investigated, the organization itself was not outlawed.
Recently, the Madhya Pradesh High Court applauded the central government for lifting the ban on RSS. The bench, comprising Justices Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari and Gajendra Singh, commented while deciding on the case brought by Purushottam Gupta, who had challenged the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules. The bench said: “The court notes with regret that it took the central government almost half a century to correct this mistake, finally acknowledging that an internationally renowned organization like the RSS should never have been categorized among banned organizations.” The current central order keeps the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami stopping government employees from participating in activities of the Islamic organisation.
Clearly, over the years while the overall court verdicts against the RSS have been finely nuanced, public opinions have been strong and searing—swinging between adoration and abhorrence. As an organization which prefers to remain in the background and drive the political discourse through its political organizations, the RSS is at once reviled and respected by different groups. While scholars and sociologist try to fathom its popularity and longevity, the mystique of the RSS keeps everyone guessing. The RSS gains legitimacy through the doctrine of Hindu nationalism which it espouses and the peculiar brand of Hinduism—Hindutva: an eclectic mix of religion, politics and nationalism.
As a maverick organization, the RSS doesn’t fit the bill of existing outfits. If the political class tries to slot it in its own conceived pigeon hole, the burgeoning masses embraces it with abandon. The RSS as an organization continues to remain an enigma, but its philosophy finds strong resonance with a large swathe of Hindu citizens. Herein lies the dilemma of the Centrist and Left-to-centre political class which tries to tame the heretic organization.
The order on RSS should also be seen in the context of government-RSS relationship which has seen an apparent downturn in the last few years. There has been a growing rumbling in RSS on Narendra Modi trajectory. The recent comments of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in which he said that people who become successful think themselves as God is seen as a veiled reference to Modi.
RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP and they share a common world view. Modi started his career as a sangh pracharak, foot soldier of RSS. Now, with the likes of Lal Krishna Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi out of reckoning, the new group of ideologues in the BJP is finding it difficult to maintain the RSS connect. It can be assumed that the loss of camaraderie between Modi and RSS is sought to be made up by the new official diktat.
JUDICIARY’S TAKE ON THE RSS
- Justice MS Liberhan (Liberhan Commission Report, 2009)
“The RSS… played a significant role in organizing and mobilizing kar sevaks for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.”
- Justice HR Khanna (Keshav Singh case, 1965)
“The rule of law must prevail over the rule of force, irrespective of the ideologies involved.”
- Justice JS Verma (SR Bommai vs Union of India, 1994)
“Secularism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution… The state must remain aloof from religions, and there must be no mixing of religion and politics.”
- Justice KT Thomas (post-Godhra riots, 2002)
“In a pluralistic society like ours, every organization, especially those with a wide reach, must ensure their actions do not incite communal discord.”
- Justice AP Shah (public interest litigation against RSS, 2012)
“While freedom of association is a constitutional right, it must be exercised with a sense of responsibility towards maintaining public order and communal harmony.”