Title: The RSS: A View to the Inside
Author: Walter K. Andersen & Shridhar D. Damle
Publication: Penguin Viking
Pages: 405
Price: Rs. 699
Discipline, fitness and focus are the keywords they infuse among its younger members. And when their cadres move to carry out selfless service during natural calamities or manmade eventualities they do not recognise caste on community differences. Yet, many label them as a communal, narrow-minded, and fanatic organisation. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the most influential cultural organisation in India today, with affiliates in the fields as varied as politics, education and trade is leaving no stone unturned to get into more modern and universally acceptable image.
The RSS: A View to the Inside by Walter K. Andersen and Shridhar D. Damle not just touches upon the past of RSS from its origin and motive, but also provides a deep insight into the organisation’s current holdings, aspirations and goals. RSS by and large has been an organisation which is often misunderstood by many or not at all understood by the rest. And those who understood RSS to the core are the Swayamsevaks themselves.
The book, besides being a great study material for the students of politics, also gives insights into some of the most unique patterns of organisational skills and control. On one hand, where it brings to the fore issues like Indianising education and protecting the cow, on the other hand, it touches upon the concept of Hindutva according to RSS and a debate of economic self-sufficiency. And, as we go deeper into the corridors of Sangh and Shakha, the authors make us understand the transformation RSS has undergone in the mindset of people within and outside of BJP.
In 2005, when L K Advani stepped down as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president after a furor over him calling Muhammad Ali Jinnah ‘secular’, he had said RSS should leave politics to the BJP. In 2014, the volunteers from Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the overseas counterpart of RSS in US, were ensuring that all went well at Madison Square Garden where 20,000 people had gathered to hear the then newly-elected Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Having its presence in three dozen countries, RSS is very much politically active now.
With war room set-up and political parties busy in getting their social media warriors battle-ready for 2019, the electoral scenario and political dimensions have undergone a change with every general election held in India. The RSS, too, had its share of changes with regards to membership and policy orientation. After all, the Swayamsevaks have always been the real warriors of the BJP during every poll battlefield, be it state or national.
To sum it up, I could not agree more to what Sheela Bhatt, Editor, National Affairs, NewsX, had to say about the book: “In the Narendra Modi government, only two power centers exist, the Prime Minister’s Office and the RSS headquarters in Nagpur. To understand Modi’s strategies, and to have an idea of India’s trajectory under BJP rule, one needs thorough knowledge of the RSS universe. Read this book to know the depth and breadth of the RSS’s growth in India and its likely politicisation.”
