Interpreting Bhagwat and Hosabale: Is the RSS changing?

The two speeches, though different in tenor, indicate another phase of transition of the RSS as and when Hosabale takes over

'Against some people, you build up malice without knowing them,' wrote novelist Khushwant Singh about M S Golwalkar, the then sarsanghchalak of RSS, after their meeting in 1972. Singh even believed he could persuade the RSS to work for Hindu-Muslim unity. But the situation worsened in the 1980s and 1990s as both Hindu and Muslim community leaders took rigid confrontationist positions. The Gujarat communal riots of 2002 further complicated the scenario.

Still, over the decades, the RSS monolith has evolved slowly from a casteist, sectarian and rigid Hindutvawadi organisation to a more tolerant version of itself, evident in its strong condemnation of violent cow vigilantes.

Recently, the Sangh's two top leaders - Mohan Bhagwat and Dattatreya Hosabale - gave two different kinds of signals which, if considered together, convey a simple message: the RSS will always be the RSS, a staunch Hindu organisation, but will evolve and change itself to be more moderate and broad-based.

Watch: Is Mohan Bhagwat misleading nation on population control?

In his Dussehra speech, the sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, dubbed casteism as adharma, thereby demonstrating the RSS has come a long, long way from what it was in 1925. However, in the same breath, he spoke of a comprehensive population control policy to be applied equally to all segments of the population, and then illogically associated it with demographic imbalances (that is, the fall of the Hindu population from 84 per cent in 1951 to 80 per cent in 2011).

A population policy, though now considered unnecessary by the experts, is a secular concept. Bhagwat surely crossed the line by associating it with a demographic imbalance to win the hearts of Hindus. However, he then blamed it on conversion and infiltration, factors totally unconnected with a population policy.

So, what was his real intention? Was he attacking the Union and the state BJP governments for failing to stop conversion through allurement and identifying infiltrators? Most probably, yes. But being an old-school septuagenarian, he failed to be direct, and though his words smacked of communal overtones, he couldn't care less about it.

However, Dattatreya Hosabale's speech, which came just three days before Bhagwat's, was much more consequential and direct. Hosabale (the man perceived as the next sarsanghchalak) has dropped hints of further broad-basing the organisation by dealing with the larger socio-cultural-economic issues.

Also Read: No need for population control, says Owaisi on RSS chief's comments

In a webinar organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Hosabale flagged issues which portrayed the blind spots of the Indian economic growth saga so often drummed by the Narendra Modi government: poverty, unemployment and rising inequality.

"One figure says that India is among the top six economies of the world," he said, adding, "But is this a good situation? The top one per cent of India's population has one-fifth (20 per cent) of the nation's income. At the same time, 50 per cent of the country's population has only 13 per cent of the country's income." He also questioned the broad economic policy followed in the last few decades (that includes both the A B Vajpayee and Modi tenures).

It is not that the RSS top guns are criticising the government or speaking about socio-economic issues for the first time. But Hosable's tone and tenor indicate that these burning issues will occupy an important place in the RSS thoughts if he becomes the sarsanghchalak someday. Otherwise, he would not have risked spelling the points that debunked the Union government's claim of a new sort of 'shining India' just about eighteen months before the Lok Sabha elections.

Also Read: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat bats for 'Matri Shakti', religion-based population balance

A narrow interpretation, though an important one, will have it that the RSS is not satisfied with the Narendra Modi government's performance, which has for the last few years constantly ignored the demand side, i.e. lack of demand in the market due to the compromised purchasing power of the common person, particularly the poorer sections of the people.

In fact, Hosabale blaming the situation on the economic policy followed in the last few decades is reflective of a transforming RSS, under pressure from below, from a rightist organisation to a centrist one.

The two speeches, though different in tenor, were surely coordinated by the top guns of the RSS and are perhaps indicative of another phase of transition of the RSS as and when Hosabale takes over. But even then, it will still express its faith in Hindu Rashtra, which is tantamount to copying the concept of Islamic states.

In 1972, Khushwant Singh thought the RSS was amenable to change if issues were logically explained to it. Exactly 50 years later, in 2022, it is quite evident that the organisation is amenable to change under pressure. If society puts pressure on it, further changes will come quicker, while comparing it with the PFI will harm the seculars the most.

(Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a journalist and author based in Kolkata)

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