From Reservations to Homosexuality: The RSS speaks out
- In Society
- 06:26 AM, Mar 29, 2016
- Sagar Kinhekar
A Few days back in the India Today Conclave Dattatreya Hosabale, the Joint General Secretary of the RSS said that “I don’t think homosexuality should be considered a criminal offence as long as it does not affect the lives of others in society”. Hosabale said, “Sexual preferences are private and personal. Why should RSS express its views in a public forum? RSS has no view on that. It is for people to have their way. Personal preference of sex is not discussed in RSS and we don’t even want to discuss that.” A very balanced and apt reply to the question of homosexuality and Article 377 of IPC. Since then both mainstream media and social media have been showering praise on Mr. Hosabale. The tone of praise however is finally-RSS-is-talking-sense. Sample this praise form Taslima Nasreen.
For long RSS has been portrayed as conservative at best and fundamentalist at worst. However, as they say, the Indian public and media have a short term memory. In May 2014 Ram Madhav, then RSS spokesperson had taken a similar stand on the issue of homosexuality. This stand on homosexuality is not a case of a recent change for the RSS. It has always maintained that sexual orientation and preferences are personal in nature and unless they affect society adversely, they need not be criminalized.
Those who know RSS from the inside, know that RSS does not express its views on matters which are personal in nature. This includes sexual preferences and religious beliefs. Yes, RSS does not interfere with the way one prefers to worship one’s God. In fact, there are many full time RSS workers and officials who are atheists and then there are those who follow ritualistic religion or other forms of worships. Dr Hedgewar, the RSS founder, was himself an atheist by many accounts. His successor the second chief of RSS, Golwalkar was a follower of ritualistic traditions. It is just that no one asked RSS about its thoughts on way of worship, these things did not come to the forefront It’s only recently that questions about sexual preferences have been asked to RSS officials and that is why they were needed to express their opinion.
There are many news portals which colour it as RSS’s attempt to reinvent its public image. A portal wrote that “Hindutva headquarters changes shorts and stripes, wants homosexuality decriminalized” (link). This was apparent reference to change of RSS uniform and Hosabale’s statement on homosexuality. However, what most don’t know or ignore that RSS always has been progressive in its thinking. Be it a social issue, an issue of economics or a religious one, RSS has always had a modern approach.
RSS founder in 1926 dreamt of an organization which considered all Hindus as one irrespective of caste. This was the time when Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar was fighting against social injustices meted out to Dalits. Dr. Ambedkar had to sadly move out of Hindu religion and embrace Buddhism. Dreams of a united Hindu society across castes in those times would be laughed at. But not just Dr. Hedgewar had this revolutionary thought of uniting Hindus but he also made this impossible a reality by creating successful organization where Hindus do not worry about each others’ castes.
In 1960s, talking about private investment was almost like a crime in economists’ circles. It was RSS thinker Deen Dayal Upadhyay who talked about public-private partnership when socialism was at its peak. This was so much ahead of its time then. The so-called progressive economists of left would scoff at Upadhyay and call him an agent of capitalists. Today the same concept is back bone of India’s progress.
It is only the RSS which has had the courage to talk about a review of caste based reservation policy in India today. Recently the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gave a suggestion that reservation policy should be reviewed. The policy should be made so that reservation reaches to the person who really needs it. He said in one of his speeches that demand of reservation by any interest group should not be at the cost of others who really need reservation. This is a very brave statement in today’s political scenario. None of our political or apolitical worthies has had the courage to talk about reservation beyond the limits of the caste based policy. It is only the RSS which can talk in such revolutionary tone.
Therefore, trying to read too much on what Hosabale said about homosexuality and to see it as an attempt of RSS to reinvent its image is not correct. Having said that, this is certainly a good opportunity for outsiders to understand what the RSS really stands for. Its an opportunity to remind ourselves that some of the most revolutionary thoughts in India have come through the RSS.
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