'Golwalkar knew Bible better than his British teacher': Journo lays bare RSS 'truths' at Hortus

Dhirenda K Jha, the author and journalist who has extensively researched Hindutva, gave a truncated demonstration of debunking popular narratives about the RSS during his session with Naresh Fernandes, the editor of Scroll.in at Manorama Hortus in Kochi on Friday. Fernandes was curious about the superhuman aura of RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar.

One of the narratives went like this. As a child, Golwalkar was a sharp boy with a prodigious memory, destined for greatness. He knew the Bible better than his British teacher. His thirst for knowledge was so insatiable that he went on writing an examination even after being bitten by a scorpion. 

Jha didn't blink and said, "A lot of lies have been told. He himself participated in the process of spreading lies. In fact, it was his failures which led him to the RSS," said Jha.

According to Jha, RSS was born out of desperation. "When Savarkar was jailed in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, he became desperate to get out of jail. In his second last mercy petition, he said he could be useful to the British and that his enemy and theirs were the same. He was then shifted from the cellar. In his last petition, he elaborated on this idea. He was released later, and he began the process of establishing RSS," said Jha.

The British, at that time, were growing desperate to implement the divide-and-rule policy when Gandhi was able to forge Hindu-Muslim unity at the core of the freedom struggle. "Both were desperate, and there was a need for an organisation to unite the Hindus," said Jha. 

 He said that the period after the assassination of Gandhi was a delicate and desperate phase for the RSS. The organisation was banned. They had thought that the anger being generated among the people after the partition could be used in their support. Assassination changed everything. There was serious backlash against them. 

"It seemed as if RSS would fizzle out. The pracharaks came back and returned to normal lives, but Golwalkar remained adamant. While RSS was banned, they came out with a new organisation called ABVP. It was not a student body, much later it became one. ABVP was the new banner under which RSS started assembling again," said Jha.

Jha feels that Congress didn't act strong enough to put an end to the RSS. "Once the ban was lifted, they were allowed to work. Nobody asked, not even Nehru, the role of a paramilitary organisation in a democracy. There is no legal provision to register such an organisation. They are part of a fascist regime. How could you let them function? Because this question was not asked, they were allowed to work in their style," he said.