Appeasing a malignant deity

If any proof was needed of the futility of a "dialogue" with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat's speech on Dussehra provides it. The RSS chief raised the same old bogeys of demographic change due to conversions and the increasing Muslim population that the RSS has always been obsessed with. Like any zealot, he chose to ignore evidence that went contrary to his mission, evidence that is available in the public domain, and also presented to him as recently as August 22.

That was the day former Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi gave Bhagwat his book titled 'The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India'. The occasion was the RSS chief's meeting with Quraishi and four other Muslims, including a former editor of a reputed Hindi daily, a retired army officer and VC of a central university and a former lieutenant governor of Delhi.

Also Read — Can't ignore religion-based population imbalance while framing policy, says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

The posts they had once held required these men to be taken seriously. After all, these were Muslims who had "served the nation", not to be counted among those malcontents who talk of India having become unsafe for Muslims, whom Hindutvavadis want to be sent to Pakistan.

But then, if the RSS were to start taking Muslim intellectuals seriously, would it be the world's leading Hindutva organisation and the mentor of those who rule us today? How can it depart from its core beliefs, the raison d'etre of its existence? Those who follow Islam and Christianity, religions that originated outside India, cannot be trusted; conversion from Hinduism to a "foreign" religion automatically means a change of loyalty to the country; controlled by maulvis and madrasas, Muslims breed like rabbits and are intrinsically backward; they are pro-Pakistan; every Muslim must be held responsible for what Muslims do anywhere in the world – how many times have RSS members and supporters said this to me! It's naive indeed to think that today, when the RSS is more powerful than it has ever been, it would give up these beliefs. After all, it's the decades of propagating such beliefs among all sections of Indians that have brought the RSS to the position it holds today.

Bhagwat's speech was a masterclass in doublespeak. He spoke of Navaratri and the importance of shakti for shanti, the necessity of self-employment, and the need to treat women as equals capable of making their own decisions. His followers, meanwhile, have been doing exactly the opposite: indulging in ugly displays of shakti against Muslims during Navaratri; attacking self-employed Muslims for daring to sell their wares to Hindus; "protecting" women who they say are easily trapped by sweet-talking Muslims. What took the cake, however, was Bhagwat's warning against those who want to create a chasm between people, who have no regard for the law. No, the RSS chief wasn't referring to Hindutvavadi mobs.

Bhagwat also repeated the same old false allegation that Muslims don't condemn their own wrongdoers, referring to those who'd killed Udaipur tailor Kanhaiyalal in June for supporting former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. It would be difficult to find a Muslim organisation that didn't condemn this murder. And coming from Bhagwat, this was rich indeed, considering that the RSS has yet to condemn Sharma for her insulting remarks against Prophet Mohammed on prime time.

Bhagwat's Dussehra speech was a slap in the face of the dignitaries who met him, and those who believe one can engage fruitfully with the RSS. In Mumbai, a group of Muslims thought that a campaign about Prophet Muhammed's personality would help dispel misconceptions among Hindus. The first lot they invited was the media, the "most influential section", as they put it.

Anecdotes about little-known facets of the Prophet's life were narrated, with not a word uttered about the current climate of hate. "We don't want negativity," emphasised the hosts. Yet, at the end of this, the questions and comments from senior journalists ranged from "The Prophet is all very well, but what about Owaisi" to "We respect Muslims like President Abdul Kalam and 1965 war martyr Abdul Hamid, but don't expect us to bow before Yakub Memon's mazaar." (A reference to the beautification of the grave of Mumbai 1993 bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon, by his family inside a private graveyard.) A suggestion that Hindus, including women, be invited to visit mosques, was tweeted by one journalist as "a group of Muslims has decided to take even non-Muslim women to masjids." The tweet got the desired response.

In ancient times, people would propitiate the reigning deity with sacrifices, hoping to be protected from calamities they couldn't fathom. But the deity remained malignant as ever. Given that the ancient is the flavour of the season in New India, Muslims should remember this.

(Jyoti Punwani is a journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.