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During middle of February 2012, BJP
ruled Karnatka’s two ministers, Laxman Savadi and C C Patil were
watching the porn clip on the mobile belonging to another minister
Krishna Palemar. All three had to resign the job and BJP huddled
in to a Chintan baithak (Meeting for Introspection) to do the
damage control. Whether these BJP ministers are also RSS trained
swayam sevaks, like most top functionaries of BJP are, is not known.
But surely these porn watching ministers do come under the broad
umbrella of RSS combine, popularly known as Sangh Parviar.
There are many other incidents about those in the ambit of RSS
combine, in incidents which involve gender related issues. By
now the aggression of Pramod Mutalik’s Sri Ram Sene attacking and
humiliating the girls in a pub is too well known. Mutalik is a RSS
trained person. He joined RSS in1975 and became convener Bajrang
Dal for South India in 2004. He also helped BJP’s election
campaigns. Later he joined Shiv Sena before forming his own SriRam
Sene. The attacks on those celebrating Valentine day, by Shiv Sena,
Sri RamSene and other groups who are fellow travelers of RSS
politics is a sort of annual ritual.
Many of these elements have been attacking Muslim boys who were
found conversing with Hindu girls. In Gujarat, Babu Bajrangi, who
was very active in Gujarat anti-Muslim pogrom, who was caught in
the Tehelka sting operation boasting about playing the ‘One day
match’, killing the Muslims, was also the leader of a squad which
was intimidating the couples in the parks. The most systematic
attempt to combine gender issues, patriarchal norms with anti
Muslim tirade manifested in the form of the propaganda about ‘Love
Jihad’, a hoax deliberately floated to browbeat Muslim youth has
been seen in many a places particularly in Kerala. As per this
propaganda Muslim youth are being given money and training to lure
way Hindu girls with the aim of increasing Muslim population.
The pathological dislike for the girls trying to get autonomy in
choosing their life partners is being opposed in many a ways.
The couples meeting the in the public places are advised to abhor
love marriage and to go for the partners selected by their parents.
As a counter to Valentine day celebration, Asaram Bapu suggested
the celebration of Matri Pitru day (ParentsDay) on that day (14th
February, the Valentine Day) and the BJP ruled Chhattisgarh
Government has implemented this wish of Asaram Bapu and Matri Pitru
day was observed in Chattisgarh this year. To cap it all the
norms, morality and values followed by RSS combine were most in
display in response to the statement of the Hyderabad police Chief
Dinesh Reddy’s statement. Mr. Redd y(Dec 2011) linked the rape
cases with the dress of women. Not the first time any police person
or many others have said a similar thing. The difference this time
was that when Mr. Reddy was being criticized for his crass
statement, he received support from the un-expected or rather
expected quarter of one women’s organization. This women’s
organization happens to be Rashtra Sevika Samiti, an organization
subordinate to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While most of the
incitements which have been observed are a manifestation of
perverted sense of morality, a medieval mind set, the Rashtra
Sevika Samiti’s support to Mr. Reddy in linking up women’s dress
with rape, in turn holding them responsible for the crimes done
against them, is very revealing.
The likes of Babu Bajrangi, Promod Mutalik may be dismissed as
fringe elements, despite their association with RSS or
its affiliates, and the porn clip watching BJP ministers may not be
an exception in doing such a thing. But in the case of Rashtra
Sevika Samiti’s action the attitude of RSS ideology toward women
becomes more than explicit. RSS is an exclusively male
organization. In 1936 Laxmibai Kelkar, a woman related to
RSSmembers’ family, approached the then Sarsanghchalsk and asked
permission to join the RSS. She was declined the membership on the
ground that RSS is only for men. She was advised to start Rashtra
Sevika Samiti instead. The nomenclature of the two organizations is
very interesting. The dominating male organization has the word
Swayam (self), while in the name of women’s organization the word
Swayam (self) is missing, showing their subordinate position.
This deep adherence to patriarchy dictated by RSS keeps coming to
surface time and over again. In the decade of 1980s the then
BJP’s Vice President Vijaya Raje Schindia had supported the women
committing Sati (self immolation by woman after husbands’ death),
in response to the Roopaknwar Sati case. She asserted that Sati is
a great glorious Hindu tradition. She also said that to commit
sati, is the right of Hindu women. Somehow she herself
never exercised this right herself!
Another major leader of BJP, Mridula Sinha, belonging to BJP Mahila
Morcha (BJP Women’s Wing) had in an interview given to the
Savvy Magazine in 1994 defended the wife beating and dowry. She
said that women should not work outside unless there is a dire
financial crisis’ in the family. The major ideologues of Sangh
combine have talked gloriously about Manu Smiriti, the tome which
ordains the caste system and subordinate position of women. The
open preaching of patriarchal values is a core agenda of most of
the communal organizations, irrespective of to whichever religion
they belong to. RSS combine exemplifies it to the hilt, starting
from its nomenclature to the ideology and practices undertaken by
this multi headed hydra. In these matters the attitude of other
fundamentalist organizations, deriving their legitimacy from Islam
or Christianity may not be much different and they may hold
hands together on such issues, the way they stood together on the
issue of same sex relationships.
Our society during the period of 1950-1970s saw the strengthening
of the process of caste and gender transformation. The period from
1980s has been a sort of reversal of the healthy elements of the
process of social change. This reversal of the process of social
transformation is an accompaniment of the rise of politics in the
name of religion, the politics of RSS in India. While porn watching
BJP ministers may not be the only ones’ in doing what they did,
there is a need to look at the attitude to gender which is on
display due to the politics of RSS, the Hindutva.
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