Time for Stock Taking Whither Sangh Parivar? (RSS)

A study of Hindu-Muslim relations since the foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 tells us that Muslims have been making demands - ideological, political, territorial - and Hindus conceding them all along. Yet the Muslim problem remains with us in as acute a form as ever. With the advent of petro-dollars and the emergence of V.P. Singh, Laloo Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Kanshi Ram On the political scene, Muslims have become as aggressive and intransigent as in the pre-Partition period. It has become a habit with Hindu leaders to take Hindus for granted and bargain with Muslims on the latter's terms. Leaders of the Indian National Congress have taken Hindus for granted from 1885 till today. Now leaders of the Sangh Parivar look like following the same path. Hindus have to decide as to how long they are going to be taken for granted. 'Contrary to certain impressions created in the media,' observes Koenraad Elst, 'the BJS-BJP and RSS leaders have a heartfelt desire to woo the Muslims. The present official position of the RSS (and a fortiori of the BJP) is, more than ever, that Islam itself is quite alright, only fundamentalism is wrong. Even the well-known secularist theory that the Hindu-Muslim conflict was merely a concoction of the wily British colonizers is often repeated in RSS publications, sometimes with the addition that Congress and other secularist parties have now assumed the divisive role which the British once played. In every case, the role of the intrinsic hostility which Islam itself preaches and practises against 'idolatry' is down-played or kept out of the picture.' 'It is hard to conceive of a situation,' he continues, 'where a society is vexed and tortured by a persistent enemy, then generates a millions-strong organization pledged to the defense of this society, and yet this organization, this boastful 'vanguard', fails to produce even the most sketchy analysis of the motives and methods of this enemy. Table of Contents:- Introduction Section I: The Perspective 1. A Call for an Intellectual 2. Ideological Defence of Hindu Society Section I: The Responses 1. G.V. Ashtekar 2. Professor G.C. Asnani 3. Deep Chandra Awasthi 4. P. N. Awasthi 5. S. K. Balasubramanian 6. Abhas Chatterjee 7. G.C. Chaudhary 8. S. K. Dalvi 9. Ashoke Dasgupta 10. Jitendra D. Desai 11. Nachiketa Dogra 12. Adwayanand R. Galatge 13. K. B. Ganapathy 14. Padmashri Shalil Ghosh 15. Bhagwati Prasad Goenka 16. Shiv Goud 17. S. C. Gupta 18. B.L. Jaju 19. H.C. Joshi 20. Dr. S.D. Kulkarni 21. S.D. Laghate 22. Professor K. Lakshminarayana 23. Professor K.S. Lal 24. Professor R. R. Mangasuli 25. T. G. Mohandas 26. Professor S. G. Mujumdar 27. P. R. K. Naidu 28. S. Omkar 29. Virendra V. Parekh 30. Hem Raj Prabhakar 31. Baljit Rai 32. Dr. H. Ramarao 33. B.K. Rao 34. (Mrs) Veda Sampath 35. Smt. M. Sandhya 36. K. Satya Deva Prasad 37. Jagannath Sharma 38. Ajit Singh 39. Ram Autar Singh 40. Vikram Singh 41. Dr. Vinay Kumar Sinha 42. Shrikant G. Talageri 43. Mrs. Leela Tampi 44. B. K. Verma 45. R. C. Waswani 46. P. S. Yog 47. Brief Responses References Section III: Dharma Versus Dogma 1. Sarva Dharma Samabhãva or Sarva Dharma Sambhrama? (Unity or Confusion of Religions?) 2. Meaning of Conversions Section IV: The First Victims of Islam 1. Roll Over, Rushdie 2. Standing Up to Scrutinize Islam 3. Turning away from Mecca 4. Islam is religious fascism 5. Courageous author puts his life on the line 6. Far more dangerous than Nazism Section V: Some Revealing Press Reports 1. Legacy of Hate 2. BJP Shifts Stand to Woo Muslims 3. BJP Promoting a Minority-Friendly Image for Elections 4. BJP Looks for Muslim Plank to Move Towards Delhi 5. BJP Girds Up to Appease Muslim 6. Khurana's Go-Slow on Migrants Issue Irks Hawks 7. Pampering the Minority Ego 8. BJP to Bring Out Koran in Sanskrit 9. Vajpayee for Diluting Stand on "Hindutva" 10. More Space for Namaaz Urged 11. Chhabildas Sticks to His Guns on Minority Votes 12. Advani Allays Minorities Fears 13. Secret of BJP's Success 14. Advani Woos Indian Expatriates in London, Assails Govt's Kashmir Policy 15. BJP Bid to Woo Muslims 16. How Can Any Muslim in This Country Say That He Does Not Respect Ram? 17. Malhotra's Statement on Ayodhya Annoys Chavan 18. BJP Bid to Win Over Muslims 19. RSS Wants Muslims for Friends 20. Babri or Barabari? 21. Bihar BJP's First-Ever Muslim Leader Emerges 22. J.K. Hindu Exiles Eulogise Thackeray 23. Secularism Is the Very Colour of Our Blood: Vajpayee 24. A Good Augury 25. Muslims in Behrampada Voted in a Pragmatic Way 26. Joshi Sparks Off Row Over Religion Bill 27. VHP Drops Plan to Liberate Kashi, Mathura 28. Govt Seeks Revision of Order on Naib Imam 29. BJYM'S Meet on June 7 30. Vande Mataram Dispute at BJP Muslim Meeting Appendix I: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Vis-à-Vis National Integration The Tabligh Movement or Millions of Bearded Militants on the March Appendix II: Shape of Things to Come 1. Population Explosion in West Bengal: A Survey