RSS-BJP
Home minister Amit Shah on 23-01-23 said ‘‘while attempts have been made by earlier governments to undermine or overlook Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s ‘‘unparalleled’’ contribution to India’s freedom struggle, Netaji will shine like the Pole Star in India’s history.’’ (Times of India 24.01.23)
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on 23 January 2023 said the goals of his right-wing organization and that of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are similar. ‘‘We remember Netaji not only because we are grateful to him for his valuable contributions towards the freedom struggle but also to ensure that we also imbibe his qualities.
His dream of India which he wanted to build is still not fulfilled. We have to work to achieve it,’’ he said. ‘‘We have Subhasbabu’s ideals in front of us to follow. The goals he had are our goals too… Netaji had said India is a smaller version of the world and India has to provide relief to the world. We all have to work towards it,’’ the RSS chief said. (Outlook 25-01-23)
Just a few days back, Bhagwat, claimed in an interview that the Hindus of India are fighting a 1000—year war to protect their religion and culture, and that Muslims can live in the country if they shed their sense of supremacy. (The Wire-23-01-23)
In an unequivocal statement, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday said that India is a Hindu nation and ‘‘it is non-negotiable’’. ‘‘We can change everything. All the ideologies can be changed, but the only one thing that cannot change is that Bharat ek Hindu rashtra hai,’’ said Bhagwat during a book launch event in New Delhi on 1st October 2019. (Times Now 01.10.19)
Immediately after win of the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Modi in his victory speech crafted an image of himself as a Hindu ascetic carefully cultivating over decades by the Hindu right. His speech was replete with references to Hindu mythology (god of clouds), Hindu practices (cleansing oneself with a bath in the river Ganga) and the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
(The Conversation 26-05-19)
Netaji Subhash
‘‘Because Hindus are in the majority in India, we hear the slogan of ‘Hindu Raj’. These are all idle thoughts.’’ (Speech at Cumilla District Congress Conference, 14th June, 1938)
‘‘A group of self-seeking people are creating ill-feelings and conflicts between the two communities. In our freedom struggle such people are to be considered as enemies.’’ (Speech at Jessore District Congress Conference, 7th July, 1938)
‘‘Let me tell you one thing very clearly. I shall not allow in any way the influence of religion in our affairs. The basis of all our activities is nationalism. Do you want to unite them (the soldiers) on the edifice of religion? If that comes about to be then a day will come when they will be divided because of religion… In my world there is nothing but nationalism… If you come together on the basis of religion then you shall remain divided on national questions but once united on the basis of nationalism, no force will succeed in dividing you.’’ (As referred by Mr. Abid Hassan, Secretary to Netaji, in an interview to Madan Gopal; published in Anandabazar Patrika, 22 August 1997)
‘‘His (Binayak Damodar Savarkar’s) wartime slogan, Hindu politics and militarization of Hinduism meant in practice a combination of virulent anti-Muslim propaganda and full collaboration with the British.’’ (Collected Works—Subhas Chandra Bose)
‘‘Hindu Mahasabha has started to foment rabid communalism, day after day it is belching communal poison to vitiate the mind of the Hindus…Communal organizations like Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League have become even more communal than before.’’ (Signed Editorial, Forward Block, 4 May 1940)
‘‘To destroy communalism is, therefore, the task of all those Indians—Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, etc., who have transcended the communal outlook and have developed a genuine nationalist mentality.’’
(Crossroads, page 266)
