samvad

1July2018

1. FESTIVALS: TRADITIONAL KASADA FESTIVAL MARKED IN INDONESIA: Yadnya Kasada function is a famous festival held in Bromo, East Java. Yadnya Kasada is an offering sesajen service for Sang Hyang Widhi by Hindu Tengger individuals on the 14th day of Kasada month in Javanese calendar. Yadnya Kasada is held at Pura Luhur Poten at the lower region of Bromo, beginning at midnight until sunrise. On the fourteenth day, admirers go to Mount Bromo to make contributions to the mountain divine beings. The cause of the celebration dates back to the fifteenth century when a princess began the realm of Tengger with her significant other, and the childless couple approached the divine beings for help in bearing youngsters. The legend says the divine beings conceded them 25 youngsters, however on the arrangement that the most youthful tyke be yielded in the hole of the volcano. These contributions are given to look for the endowments from the divinity of Mount Bromo, Hyang Widi Wasa and Mahadeva, the God of the mountain. The celebration's is accepted to have started amid the Majapahit kingdom.

2. Yogis in UAE, Saudi, US perform Asanas with great enthusiasm on Fourth International Yoga Day: Thousands of Yogis across the world laid down their mats and performed various ‘Yoga Aasanas’ on June 21. Not only Bharatiya community but all the other communities with different religions including men, women, children in 177 countries including The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United States of America etc. celebrated fourth International Yoga Day with great enthusiasm. In the United States of America, Washington, Houston, New York, Geneva and several other cities organized mega-events on Yoga Day in which thousands of people performed Yoga together. On 17th June, Sunday, hundreds of yoga enthusiasts gathered to exercise various asanas at historic monuments of the US, including the Capitol Hill, kick-starting a host of events planned to mark the fourth anniversary of the International Day of Yoga. People from various backgrounds, accompanied with their families, participated in the yoga sessions, performing the Surya Namaskar, Pranayama, various yoga asanas and breathing exercises.

Bharat’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, posted a picture of the UN headquarters which have been decorated to mark fourth International Yoga Day. He in a tweet said, “Yoga lights up UN Headquarters. Multiple events @UN to celebrate the 4th International Day of Yoga.” This year’s theme is #Yoga4Peace!

3. RASHTRAPATI KOVIND PERFORMS YOGA IN SURINAME: Visiting Rashtrapati Maha Mahim Ram Nath Kovind participated in the fourth International Yoga Day celebrations in Paramaribo along with his Suriname counterpart Desire Delano Bouterse, Vice President Michael Ashwin Adhin and others. Addressing the gathering, Kovind said yoga is an ancient Bharatiya tradition, but it does not belong to Bharat alone.

4. Yoga a unifying force, says Modi: Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi on June 21 heralded this year's main event of the International Yoga Day at the sprawling campus of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun where he performed yoga asanas for almost 45 minutes along with an estimated gathering of around 50,000 people. Before starting the yoga session, the PM in his address termed yoga as “one of the most powerful unifying forces in the world” and “a path from illness to wellness which is linking people from Dehradun to Dublin, and Shanghai to Chicago”. The yoga session was conducted by four students, two each from Patanjali Vidyapeeth in Haridwar and the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in New Delhi.

5. SCO headquarters in Beijing holds first Yoga Day event: For the first time, a Yoga event was organized at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) headquarters on June 16, kicking off this year’s UN International Day of Yoga celebrations in China. Besides SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimova, Bharatiya ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale, his wife Amita Bambawale, and diplomats from several countries as well as Chinese yoga enthusiasts took part in the event.

The SCO comprises of China, Russia, Bharat, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Bharat and Pakistan were last year admitted as full member of the organization.

6. International Yoga Day: Rajasthan creates Guinness record: Rajasthan created a world record on June 21 by bringing more than a lakh people together at a yoga session. Two representatives from Guinness World Records watched as yoga guru Baba Ramdev put the gathering, which included Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, through a series of asanas. The international private organization then handed over a certificate to Ms. Raje and Baba Ramdev, saying it had been the largest gathering worldwide of people performing yoga.

7. We must serve the society selflessly and egolessly – dr  Bhagwat: Sanatan Dharma is defined by the concepts of rebirth and fruit of actions, said RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on June 12 while laying the foundation stone of Seva Sadhana and Gram Vikas Kendra being built by the Shri Madhav Jan Seva Trust in Pattikalyana village, near Samalakha in Haryana. Along with Jain muni Upadhayaya Gupti Sagar Ji, Dr Bhagwat performed “bhumi pooja” by planting a sapling. The prosperous well-to-do people should come forward to help the deprived and the needy ones. It would help spread equality in the society and help remove discrimination, added Dr Bhagwat.

He said that the idea of setting up a seva sadhana and gram vikas centre in Pattikalyana village has been there for quite some time, but today it has formally started.

Besides Union minister of state Rao Inderjit, Gyanananadji Maharaj, Ravi Shahji Maharaj, Gannaur ashram, Swami Molar Nath Madlauda Ashram and Shri Madhav Jan Seva Trust president Pawan Jindal were also present on the occasion.

8. A VETERAN PASSED AWAY: Shri Naresh Arora, a very active and talented Sangh Karyakarta, formerly from Bharat and then of UK, passed away on 21st June at Chatham, a suburb in London due to cancer related ailment. He was 78 and is survived by his wife Virender Sindhu and a grown up son Siddhesh.

While in UK, he played a very significant role in various Sangh inspired activities such as Friends of India Society and Oversees Friends of BJP and other socio cultural activities involving the local Bharatiyas.'

He was a well known figure in the Hindi Literary field and was a recipient of several awards such as "Vishwa Hindi Samman " Hindi Sewa Samman".

He was a regular contributor to Panchjanya and was a correspondent for Hindusthan Samachar during 1969-75. He was a regular Hindi news reader at BBC London from 1968 for more than a decade.

Shri Nareshji was born in Firozpur, Punjab in 1940 in a middle class family. He worked as a Sangh pracharak at Palampur in Himachal Pradesh for two years during 1960 – 62. In Nareshji's passing away, Sangh has lost not only a veteran karyakarta but also a very lovable and pleasing elder. (Written by Dr Shankarrao Tatwawadi)

9. “Dr Hedgewar was an Unsung Freedom Fighter”: Senior RSS worker Narendra Sehgal, who recently authored a book, “Yugpravartak Swatantrata Senani Dr Hedgewar ka Antim Lakshya: Bharatvarsh Ki Sarvang Swatantrata” (The Complete Freedom of Bharat: The Final Goal of Epoch Maker Freedom Fighter Dr Hedgewar) explained the role of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in freedom movement to the media persons on June 5. Shri Sehgal said the RSS founder Dr Hedgewar was an unsung freedom fighter, who neither wrote his autobiography nor rallied to get published in the newspapers. Since day one the RSS workers have been convinced of the motto – nahin chahiye pad-yash-garima… (We don’t want post, fame and name…) and dedicated their life for complete Independence of Bharat.

10. HOW MY VIEWS ON SANGH AND SWAYAMSEVAKS CHANGED OVERNIGHT:

Zafar Irshad, a Lucknow-based journalist narrates that how his views on Sangh and Swayamsevaks changed overnight

As a journalist, I’ve covered many events of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). However, I never knew about their ideology and activities much. After the visit of the former President Pranab Mukherjee, as we witness a media storm now, I find it surprising that people do not know about the social works and selfless service of the Sangh at all. I didn’t know about that as well. But, I am a witness to the same and the story must be told.

In those days, I was with a newspaper agency and was posted in Kanpur as their principal correspondent.

On July 10, 2011, my phone rang and my editor informed me that a serious train accident has taken place at Malwa near Fatehpur. I called my sources, got confirmed and left for the ground to report the mishap.

What I Saw, Changed my Views Forever

 When I reached the spot, I was taken aback by the horror of that accident. I was trying to calm me down before I start reporting, and then I saw something. Men dressed in white shirts and khaki shorts were volunteering in taking the corpses out of the train and then covering the dead bodies by a white sheet- the kafan. It took me a while to figure out that who these men were? I went ahead and inquired. They didn’t reply and continued with their work.

After a while, the same men started serving tea and biscuits to the passengers and the families of those who were killed and injured. The same was also offered to me. While busy in my reporting, I took a sip. Now, I was fixed! I so wanted to find out about these men who were endlessly serving without doing much talking.

I chased one of the volunteers. I asked him about his identity. With a very calm face, he turned towards me and said, “If you need more tea, please come near that peepal tree.” I didn’t need more tea. I needed to find out about these selfless volunteers. I went near the tree to find a kurta-pyjama clad old man who was giving directions to men and women under the tree. I asked him about the volunteers. He smiled, didn’t reply and got busy with his work.

I left without my answers and started reporting again. At dusk, the same old man appeared from somewhere and he handed a plastic bag to me. I asked him about its contents. He calmly replied, “It has some four chapattis and vegetables. You are reporting for a long time. Eat your food first.” This time I became adamant. I replied that until he doesn’t share his identity with me, I won’t eat the food. I introduced myself as Zafar Irshad. The man said they were Swayamsevaks of the Sangh (RSS). I was taken aback. I had never realised that those who are affiliated with Sangh can have such humanely faces as well. It was new for me!

I requested the elderly person to tell me more about their work so that their social service can become a part of my news story. He sternly said no. When I insisted he told me about their arrangements but on the condition that I won’t ever tell people about it. He informed me that women who were making tea and who cooked food are from their families only. And the kafan which was taken here for the dead bodies was contributed by a Swayamsevak who owns a cloth shop. He reminded me of the promise again that I must not report it, and he left.

After almost seven years, I remember that incident which showed the human and loving face of the Swayamsevaks, not as a report but as another human being. Yes! Selfless service is what the Swayamsevaks do. (Organiser Weekly, 12^th June 2018)

11. CULTURAL UNITY IS THE HALLMARK OF OUR NATION – NIRMALA SITARAMAN Cultural oneness plays a crucial role in the country’s progress and there is need to recognize the unifying factor that maintains the country’s unity in diversity, said Nirmala Sitaraman Ji, Union Minister for Defense while speaking at a discussion forum on ‘Re-emergence of India that is Bharat – Role of Fifth Estate,’ organized by Samskruti Foundation in Hyderabad. Delivering the principle talk, RSS Sah Sarkaryavah Sureshji Soni said that only good practices and models can help to counter the threat to the culture of India. Noted industrialist B.V.R. Mohan Reddy and other dignitaries were present for the program.

12. At 12 yrs 10 mths, Chennai boy is world’s 2nd-youngest Grand-master: Bharatiya chess legend Viswanathan Anand was 18 when he became a Grandmaster. Magnus Carlsen, the man who toppled Anand as world champion in 2013 and has been reigning since then, became a GM at 13 years and 4 months. On June 13, R Praggnanandhaa from Chennai became the world’s second-youngest GM ever at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Praggu, as he’s affectionately known, achieved the feat when he defeated GM Moroni Luca Jr in round 8 of the 4th Gredine Open in Italy. Praggu became the youngest International Master in the world in May 2017 and bagged his maiden GM norm at the World Junior Championships in November last year. If he had two more GM norms before March 10 this year, he would have beaten Sergey Karjakin's record of becoming the youngest ever GM (at 12 years and 7 months).

13. Bharat to handhold nations into space: Bharat has decided to train space scientists of countries that lack satellite building capability. The country announced this initiative during the UNISPACE+50 meeting in Vienna recently. ISRO chairman K Sivan, who led the Bharatiya delegation at the four-day summit from June 18, said, “Bharat has taken the initiative to train scientists of countries like UAE and African nations that lack the technical knowhow and capability to build a satellite. Bharat won’t charge for this capacity-building programme but will play a role in shortlisting scientists for training.”

14. Canada speeds up student visa process for bharatiyas: Canada has introduced a faster and simpler visa processing mechanism for students from Bharat and three other countries. The number of Bharatiya students opting for studies in Canada is on the rise and this new program cuts down the processing time for study permits to within 45 days as opposed to within 60 days.  

15. Monkeys Live Like Kings in Thailand's Lopburi: Monkeys, said to be descendants of the Hindu God Hanuman, continued to live a life fit for kings on June 2 in the Thai city of Lopburi, where local authorities give them food twice a day by and allow them to roam freely in the streets and around temples. An estimated 3,000 macaques - Macacafascicularis - live in the city, situated around 93 miles north of Bangkok, although their biggest colonies are found in the Khmer-style Prang Sam Yot temple and the Phra Kan shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

"We have lived together for a long time. I have spent 40 years here, and there have always been monkeys. However, their number has grown in recent years. When I arrived, there were less of them," Taveesak Srisangnan, a 74-year resident, said. The reason why the primates are tolerated and even cared for is related to a legend which says they are descendents of Hanuman, who helped the prince Rama - an incarnation of Vishnu - kill a giant, Thotsakan, according to the epic poem Ramakien, the Thai version of Bharat's Hindu epic Ramayana. Lopburi's name is also inspired by a character in the Ramakien, a reflection of the eclectic religious atmosphere in Thailand, where the majority practices a form of Buddhism mixed with Hindu and animistic beliefs.

16. 179TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF MAHARAJA RANJEET SINGH OBSERVED IN PAK: For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the 179th death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, the leader of the Sikh Empire, was observed at the historic Balahisar Fort on 27^th June. The anniversary was largely attended by the members of the Sikh community at the fort, which now serves as the headquarters of Frontier Corps (FC) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Ranjit Singh was born in Gujranwala, undivided Bharat, on November 13, 1780 and died on June 27, 1839 in Lahore.

17. BHARAT NO LONGER HOME TO THE LARGEST NUMBER OF POOR: In the time that it takes you to read this article, several Bharatiyas will have escaped the clutches of extreme poverty. In fact, about 44 Bharatiyas come out of extreme poverty every minute, one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world. As a result, Bharat has finally shed the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of poor, with Nigeria taking that position this May.

If present trends continue, Bharat could drop to No. 3 later this year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo taking the number 2 spot. Defining extreme poverty as living on less than $1.9 a day, a recent study published in a Brookings blog says that by 2022, less than 3% of Bharatiyas will be poor.

18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Visitors: Dr Manoj Motwani - HongKong

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Chaah miti Chinta miti manwa Beparwah. Jisko kuch nahi chahiye Wo Shahenshah. – When Desire disappears so do worries, The mind left free from trouble. He who doesn’t want anything is a true king. – Sant Kabir

JAI SHREE RAM

THANK YOU, PRANAB DA, FOR THE CONVERSATION

Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to the RSS headquarters reflects the Bharatiya tradition of acceptance; neither imposition nor appropriation

Despite the staunch protest by his own party, Dr Pranab Mukherjee remained resolute in his decision to participate in the closing ceremony of the Tritiya Varsh Sangh Shiksha Varg of RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS). His conviction in the democratic principle of open engagement is worth acknowledging with gratitude. During his visit to Nagpur, the former President visited Dr KB Hedgewar’s ancestral home and offered homage to a man he considered “a great son of India”.

He also paid his respects at Smriti Mandir, dedicated to the memory and service of Dr Hedgewar and Shri Guruji Golwalkar at the RSS headquarters and went on to place his thoughts before the gathered audience with unflinching honesty. Before the program and away from the camera lens there was a meet-and-greet program with senior RSS functionaries and special invitees, in which he participated with endearing simplicity. At the time of personal introductions, he suggested all present introduce themselves and, leading by example, offered: “I am Pranab Mukherjee.” For a man who needs no introduction, his simplicity was heart-warming.

Pranab da had come with a written speech in English whilst RSS Sarsanghachalak Dr Mohan Rao Bhagwat spoke in Hindi. Both speeches, however, met at the confluence of — Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti or That which exists is ONE, sages call it by various names. Furthermore, Pranab Da explained very clearly that the Bharatiya concept of the nation based on a unique, integral view is entirely different from the state-nation concept in the West. He emphasised our 5000-year old civilisational history with eloquence, highlighting the beliefs embedded in our view of life — Vasudhaiva Kutumbhakam and Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina which are values of diversity, secularism and tolerance that are further enshrined in our Constitution. Dr Bhagwat also expressed the same views in different words. Instead of ‘tolerance’ he used acceptance of all. He emphasised that no Bharatiya can be treated as ‘other’ or alien as we all come from the same ancestors. Both stalwarts emphasised in their speeches that the national life of Bharat did not flourish on the basis of one religion, language or race but on the basis of a spirituality-based integral, holistic view of life and the values that stemmed out from it. Dr Bhagwat also clearly articulated that the “Sangh would remain the Sangh and Pranab da, Pranab da” as this is the Bharatiya tradition of acceptance; neither imposition nor appropriation but acceptance.

This very view of life and value system is reflected in our Constitution. This humane worldview is also our greatest inheritance. Our neighbour Pakistan (which was once a part of Bharat) also gave itself its Constitution at the same time as us. However, its Constitution does not speak of these values that are inclusive; it neither takes note of inherent diversity nor celebrates it. Now the obvious question that arises is that when both were one country and one people, then why did this distinction emerge going forward?

The answer lies in the very spirituality-based, integral and holistic view of life which we have inherited. Former President Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore have described it as the “Hindu View of Life”. Pakistan rejected it and Bharat accepted it. Actually, our Constitution is not the reason for our liberal and inclusive values enshrined in it but the result of our age-old integral and holistic view of life. These liberal, plural values have not come to us from our Constitution but through our Constitution. As Kahlil Gibran writes in his poem Children — Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

Similarly, we are traditionally liberal, secular and inclusive not because of our Constitution but our Constitution has enshrined these values because we have been like this since ages, for at least 5,000 years. Hence, it is our duty to honour and follow the Constitution. The RSS has stayed steadfast in this pursuit. Despite the unfair, unjust ban on the RSS imposed by the then regimes twice, the satyagraha carried out in protest on both occasions was countrywide, disciplined and peaceful; an unparalleled example of protest in the history of independent Bharat, and one that was absolutely Constitutional. No other organisation or party can claim such a history. But consider the dissonance — those who violate every tenet of the Constitution, take the path of violence, attack our own armed forces, and those who support divisive, unconstitutional activities are the ones who preach the virtues of the Constitution to the RSS.

On April 2 this year, the “Bharat Bandh” called only in six BJP-ruled States which witnessed despairing scenes of unprovoked violence was actively supported by Rahul Gandhi and the “secular-liberal” lobby, without any consideration for the Constitutional and democratic values propounded by Dr BR ‘Babasaheb’ Ambedkar and  enshrined in our Constitution. After Pranab da’s speech, those who had been anxious about what this engagement might reveal were quick to come up with sanctimonious summations that explained away this engagement. These reactions confirmed that the Left still has influence over the political and intellectual space of our country. This very Left ideology lacks space for dissent, liberty and tolerance — and being non-Bharatiya does have something to do with it. Left intellectuals discarded analysis and commented with farcical haste that Pranab da had shown the RSS “a mirror” by speaking of secularism and Jawaharlal Nehru from an RSS platform et.al.

It is important to note, however, that critics of Pranab da’s visit to Nagpur had nothing to say of Dr Bhagwat’s speech. It’s possible that they didn’t hear his speech; maybe it wasn’t worth their time. After all, that would be in sync with their elitist definition of ‘free speech’ which prescribes that all they say is correct and all else is falsehood. Essentially, they were saying ‘We are right and you are wrong’, on the lines of “Four legs good, two legs bad”, the famous analogy used by George Orwell in Animal Farm to expose the authoritarian tenets and hypocrisy of the communists. Hence, listening to “two legs” would obviously be blasphemy. The inclusiveness of Vasundhara Parivar Hamara (the song recited before the speeches in Nagpur) includes everybody, even those who practice intolerance. But those who believe “four legs only are good” would prefer to reside in the darkness of their ignorance.

In all those negative articles that followed the Nagpur visit, not one writer spoke of his/her own experience of interaction with the RSS as to be in conversation with the RSS is considered blasphemous and results in instant ostracisation by the “liberal left”, an oxymoron if there ever was one. Under such pressure, paying heed to what the RSS Sarsanghachalak says is not even an option.

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL: RSS-HATERS ALL

You can say Bharatiya and we can say Hindu. Some others may say Indic. We would understand that we are all speaking of one and the same thing

A few months ago, I met with a Christian family from Agra and they asked a lot of straightforward questions about the RSS. I answered every one of those queries. They attended some RSS programs and had a first-hand experience of the Sangh. Now, when they meet a co-religionist who claims that RSS is anti-Christian, they pose three questions to them:

Is your opinion based on your own experience?

Have you ever met with a Sangh functionary?

Have you read any literature from the RSS?

Invariably, the answers they get are in the negative. During a subsequent routine tour, when I was in Agra, this family insisted I should stay with them. They also arranged my meeting with the Bishop there. We went to the Bishop’s office and the meeting went well. But we can’t expect such openness from the Left-inspired RSS haters.

There is a Marathi poem, roughly translated, which goes: Those who are habituated to say “Yes” do not want to hear any “No”. And those who are habituated to say “No” have no place for a “Yes”. In the same vein:

In our "inclusion” of all we also include these “intolerants”.

But in their (intolerant) tolerance they cannot tolerate us, the “inclusive”.

During his travels, the RSS Sarsanghchalak often meets influential people from all walks of life. During one such interaction, he met with a well-known industrialist who suggested that in place of using the word “Hindu” the Sangh should use the word “Bharatiya”. To this Dr Mohan Bhagwat replied, “For us, there isn't much difference between the two terms. However, the term Bharat has a territorial connotation while the term Hindu has value-based resonance.” This is the reason why Pakistan-born academic Tarek Fateh refers to himself as Hindu. Hence, you can say Bharatiya and we can say Hindu. Some others may say Indic. We would understand that we are all speaking of one and the same thing. This is what is meant by Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti.

But in the dogmatic worldview of communists these values, so Bharatiya in their essence, hold no significance. Their tribe insists that in the so-called “secularist” lingua franca Hindutva is a pejorative. Should you deviate from this language, then even the right to live is denied. You are not even worthy of being tolerated, let alone be engaged with. In Kerala, the bastion of communist intolerance and a Stalinist enclave, from March 1965 till May 2017, over 233 RSS workers have been killed for the only reason that they were working for the Sangh. Significantly, 60 per cent of them were former communists.

As many times as one may try and explain the idea of a Hindu Rashtra in conceptual terms and its true meaning, communists and left-leaning “intellectuals” — sans engagement or debate — will define it only as narrow, divisive and exclusive. They will quote some old letters or an article and copy, paste and reproduce it without any allusion to historical context or deliberation. They will never pay heed to what RSS leaders have been saying during these years and continue to say till today. The reason is simple — it’s their Orwellian response of “two legs bad”!

However, just because they choose to look away and obfuscate at every given opportunity, the irrefutable fact remains that there are Muslims and Christians in the RSS. As Hindus, we do not believe in conversions, hence these Swayamevaks keep following their religious practices freely. In 1998, there was a three-day camp of the Vidharbha Prant (in Maharashtra) where 30,000 Swayamsevanks participated in full uniform, staying in tents. These camps normally take place only over the weekend and a headcount in undertaken of participants to make special food arrangements for those who observe a fast on Saturdays.

During the headcount, it emerged that as it was the holy month of Ramzan and there were 122 Swayamsevaks who were keeping rozas, they needed to break their fast after sundown. Accordingly, arrangements were immediately made to facilitate this. Had it not been the month of Ramzan, no one would have noted that there were Muslims among Swayamsevaks in the camp.

These are stories drawn from real- life experience which do not usually make it to the hallowed pages of mainstream publications. However, if you observe carefully and eschew the rhetoric that is peddled therein, their stark intolerance and fascist approach to heterogeneity of ideas is clearly visible and increasingly stands exposed.

A recurring theme of their commentary in recent days has been that Pranab da has shown the RSS a mirror; well, the Sangh is quite open to looking into the mirror and does so every year at Chintan Shivirs and the Pratinidhi Sabha! In these meetings, a careful examination of the activities undertaken and course correction if necessary is deliberated upon. Such a meeting took place as recently as in the month of April in Pune.

But when will ‘left-liberals’ who stake claim to the progressive values of inclusiveness but display every aspect of intolerance in their actions look in the mirror as see beyond their hatred of the RSS? Whether or not they choose to look into the mirror, their truth is reflected in their actions and the public continues to take note of the rampant hypocrisy, between words and actions.

On a lighter note, one must express one’s gratitude. Had it not been for their shrill display of intolerance, the media would not have turned the lens on a program that is an annual RSS event and always has distinguished guests invited to speak.

Thanks to the intolerance of communists and those inspired by their hollow rhetoric, the general public got to witness live transmission of the programme.

From June 1 to June 6 the official RSS website received an average of 378 hits/requests each day; on the day of the program attended by Dr Pranab Mukherjee we got 1,779 hits/requests. Need one say more?

(The two articles appeared in Daily Pioneer on 27-28 June 2018, The writer is Sah Sarkaryavah, RSS)