Which Martyrs – Comrade?

It was amusing to read comrade Brinda Karat’s rant against Prime Minister Modi and to hear comrade Pinarayi Vijayan “denounce” him for flagging and lauding, in his Independence Day address, the contributions of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the occasion of its centenary.

Comrade Karat, who had once prescribed the administering of “Dum Dum Dawai” - a communist political-slang of the 1960s calling for public thrashing – to the hapless farmers of Nandigram, who were shot and killed by her party’s, the CPIM, led government in West Bengal, spoke of Modi insulting martyrs!

Which martyrs was comrade Brinda referring to? Were they among those nearly 10,000 Bengali Hindu refugees in Marichjhapi, in the Sunderban, who were shot and killed by her party’s government in 1979? Which martyrs? Was she perhaps referring to the Ananda Margi monks and nuns who were accosted in broad daylight, on April 30 1982, by comrade Brinda’s party’s cadres, in one of the main thoroughfares of south Kolkata, Bijon Setu, doused with gasoline and burnt to death?

Which martyrs was she referring to? Those RSS Swayamsevaks in Moga, Punjab, 25 of whom were mowed down by Khalistanis while attending a Shakha on 25 June 1989? Their fault was that they stood and spoke for a united India, and of Punjab as an integral part of that India. The fault of RSS Swayamsevaks was that they had dared to save the lives of both Hindus and Sikhs; they had audaciously dared to resist Khalistani attacks and to counter the Khalistani mindset.

Expressing the spirit for which the RSS stood, even in extreme adversity, its Akhil Bharatiya Kayakarini Mandal (ABKM), while condoling the death and sacrifice of its Swayamsevaks, observed that, “It is in keeping with their spirit of dedication and discipline that the Swayamsevaks have borne the shock of the tragedy with calm and composure. Neither have they allowed their mental poise to be disturbed nor have they left any stone unturned to preserve the spirit of fraternity and amity in the society.” The ABKM offered its “tearful homage to all those national martyrs” and called upon all “Swayamsevaks to continue to strive in future also to root out all poisonous seeds of social distrust and discord from the society and see that the martyrdom of their brethren does not go in vain.” CPIM cadres and ideologues would maintain silence or melt in the wings during such a crisis.

When communists were backing Jinnah in his Pakistan project and canvassing for legitimising the idea, RSS Swayamsevaks, shed their blood, HV Seshadri records in his authentic study, ‘RSS: a Vision in Action’, in rescuing Sikh men, women and children along with other Hindus. During the dark days of terror preceding partition, Seshadri reminds us, “among those in the forefront defending the holy precincts of Darbar-Sahib in Amritsar were the Sangh Swayamsevaks.”

During the anti-Sikh pogroms in Delhi in 1984, hundreds of Sikh families, Seshadri records, “were given protection in Swayamsevaks’ homes.” Relief camps were “set up for the needy and necessary service rendered at their homes also.” Several “Sahajadhari Hindu families came forward to offer refuge to their Sikh neighbours, even risking their own lives and property.” The Sikhs migrating to Punjab after the Delhi killings carried with them the tidings of how the Swayamsevaks had come to their rescue at that crucial hour”, Seshadri notes. The Congress party, complicit in the anti-Sikh pogroms, receives unstinting political support from the CPI and the CPIM, who have made it a rule to spread false narratives and propaganda against the RSS.

The Swayamsevaks’ rescue operations, during the anti-Sikh pogroms, were not limited to Delhi. In scores of places like Patna, Bharatpur, Ranchi, Swayamsevaks played a decisive role in defusing the tense situation and saving Sikh families and gurudwaras from mob fury. Swayamsevak Harish Katyal, Mukhya Shikshak, of a Shakha in Ludhiana, who was shot in the head and Krishnalal, Mandal Karyavah, who was riddled with bullets while grappling with Khalistani terrorists, who were on a firing spree in the morning of March 28, 1986, were martyrs for the cause of Indian unity.

Numerous Swayamsevaks have silently faced and resisted the challenges posed by separatist outfits and divisive ideologies. Often, they have paid the price for resistance with their lives. They were martyrs for the idea of Bharat. Since communists of all hues and dimensions have always derided the idea of Bharat, they have no sympathy or respect for such acts of sacrifice.

In his memoir, ‘Journey as a Pracharak’, Sashikant Chauthaiwale, RSS pracharak from Nagpur, who has been stationed in the northeast since 1961, recalls these martyrs. A quintessential Maharashtrian, yet completely integrated and immersed in the Assamese culture and way of life, having internalised the rich cultural and linguistic tapestry of the northeast, the octogenarian Sashikant Chauthaiwale symbolises the spirit of integration that countless Swayamsevaks and Pracharaks exude.

He records how RSS Pracharaks bore the brunt of ULFA’s attacks and killings because they resisted the insurgent outfit’s propaganda of Assam being separate from India. “Encouraged by Maoist backing”, recalls Chauthaiwale, “terrorists started killing government officers and political leaders primarily. They used to kidnap young people and take them to their hideouts to train them in the use of arms and ammunition.” Since Sangh’s activities were expanding, and since “it believed in the concept of an undivided India”, RSS members started becoming terrorists’ targets.

Chauthaiwale lists some names of Pracharaks in the northeast who fell to terrorists’ bullets or disappeared having been kidnapped by them. Murali Manohar, Pracharak from Kerala, Pramod Narayan Dikshit from Pune, Omprakash Chaturvedi from Varanasi, all of whom were killed by terrorists. Their fault, they spoke of an integrated Assam and the northeast. Their crime was that they integrated themselves with the local communities, upheld and celebrated their rich cultural legacy and strove to weave these in a binding thread with people across the region.

The ULFA did not spare local RSS Swayamsevaks and Pracharaks either. Sashikant Chauthaiwale recalls in his memoir that despite the ULFA’s onslaught, RSS activities were fast expanding across the northeast. “ULFA hideouts were situated in the far-flung frontier areas of Arunachal Pradesh. Since the activities of the Sangh in this frontier region were flourishing, it was decided to hold the prathamik Shiksha Varga (basic training camp) there in December 1996. “When Prafulla Gogoi, zilla karyavah, was returning to his village after escorting the trainees to the camp, ULFA kidnapped him. After several efforts, he could not be traced.” Similarly, Sukleswar Medhi, “a young teacher of Balitara School in Nalbari district, who was a vibhag karyavah” was shot dead on his way to school. Medhi would work in the far-flung villages, reaching out to the marginalised tribal communities.

Madhumangal Sharma, RSS vibhag karyavah in Manipur, who later joined the BJP, was assassinated by the terror outfit People’s Liberation Army of Manipur. Sharma was active in the RSS since the early 1950s, jailed during the Emergency for participating in Jayaprakash Narayan’s Lok Sangharsh Samiti. He was a grassroots leader and activist who later led the BJP in the state during a difficult phase between 1985 and 1990. Gogoi, Medhi and Sharma were all martyrs for the integration and unity of India.

But comrades such as Brinda Karat and Vijayan cannot recognise them as such. The communist ideology and its theories prevent them from envisioning Bharatavarsha or Bharat Mata. They have a problem with that conception. It is antithetical to their propaganda of India being a congeries of nationalities destined to eventually disintegrate into independent or autonomous units. A committed comrade is essentially driven by that chimaera.

Views expressed are personal