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Hindu Activism outside the Sangh Parivar

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Sangh Parivar

Sangh Parivar

“An RSS man”, that is how the Indian media and the Western South Asia scholars label anyone known as or suspected of standing up for Hindu interests. In fact, there have always been Hindu activists outside the RSS Sangh, working as individuals or in smaller organizations. Today, the modernization of Indian society and especially the spread of the internet has facilitated the mushroom growth of new forms and networks of Hindu activism.

Most supposed experts refuse to see the existence of Hindu activism outside the Sangh and instead reduce any Hindu sign of life to “Hindutva” (thus incidentally flattering the Sangh). One reason is purely political: in the struggle against Hindu activism as a whole, it is simply more useful to extend all prevalent criticism of the Sangh, e.g. that it murdered Mahatma Gandhi or committed “genocide” in Gujarat 2002, to any and every form of Hindu resistance. It implies that if you hear a Hindu complain about, say, Christian missionary demonization of Hinduism, you must stop him for he is about to commit murder if not genocide. In the Indian media, this kind of innuendo is frequent enough.

The main reason, however, seems to be that India-watchers have settled for a conspiratorial explanation of the existence of Hindu activism. In their construction, you first have the Sangh, or its historic core, then you get Sangh propaganda, and as a result of this, you get a belief among large numbers of Hindus that they are suffering various injustices, historical and contemporary. This is the dominant paradigm in Hindutva studies: a Hindutva conspiracy has created for itself a large constituency by means of mendacious propaganda.

The existence of multiple independent sources of Hindu activism makes this Hindutva conspiracy theory harder to sustain. It becomes more likely that they had independently noticed a really existing state of affairs, which then aroused their indignation.

For example, in numerous media and academic accounts, the Ayodhya controversy is introduced with the explanation: “Hindu nationalists claim that the Babri mosque had been built in forcible replacement of a Hindu temple”, or something to that effect. While the Hindu nationalists do indeed assert as much, the formulation falsely insinuates that this “claim” is of the Hindu nationalists’ making. In fact, that “claim” has been made in all the historic sources that speak out on the matter: Muslim, Hindu and European. Before the controversy became politically important in the 1980s, it was accepted by all competent authorities, e.g. the 1989 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. So, the temple vandalization scenario was not a piece of propaganda deliberately floated to plant false consciousness in the minds of the Hindu masses. It had very solid historic credentials, and consequently, divergent people with no mutual organizational connection or common ideological allegiance could independently act upon it.

For another example, the “Hindutva claim” that the Indian state imposes some and tolerates other injustices against the Hindus, can simply be verified. Thus, when I asked Hindu activists of any stripe in the 1990s what motivated them, practically everyone of them would mention the constitutional exception for the non-Hindu majority state of Jammu & Kashmir (and likewise Nagaland and Mizoram) and the related expulsion of the near-total Hindu community from Kashmir in 1990. Well, has this expulsion taken place or not? From most Western studies of Hindu nationalism, you wouldn’t learn about it, and yet, the answer is that it really has. Moreover, no Indian or Kashmiri government has seriously attempted to resettle the expelled Hindus in their homeland. One need not be duped by a Hindutva conspiracy to notice this fact as well as the injustice of this fact. Consequently, non-Sangh Hindus as well as Sanghis have spoken out against this injustice. If the Sangh had not existed, Hindus would still speak out against this injustice.

When the Pope came to India in 1999, the Indian media loudly denounced as “Hindutva paranoia” the assertion that the Church was out to destroy the Indian religions by converting their adherents to Christianity. But of course it is official Church doctrine that only Christians are saved and that out of charity, all Pagans must be converted. Having gone through the Catholic school system myself, that is what I learned from the horse’s mouth. And when the Pope finally opened his mouth in Delhi, he said in so many words that the Church was in Asia in order to “reap a rich harvest of faith”, modern Church parlance for the harvesting of Pagan souls. He merely restated a generally known fact, one from which any Hindu could draw his own conclusions without anyhow being compromised with “Hindutva paranoia”.

For yet another example, the “Hindutva claim” that the absence of a Common Civil Code amounts to “pseudo-secularism”, or indeed to a simple absence of secularism in the Personal Law dimension of the Indian state, would have to be acknowledged as more than just a Hindutva claim. It is something that Hindus of all kinds including those hostile to the Sangh, and people of all denominations, can see. Indeed, were it not for the widespread assumption that anything coming from the RSS-BJP must be “Hindu fundamentalist” or “Hindu fascist”, all international observers would readily concede this point. By definition, a secular state is one that has laws applying to its citizens regardless of their religion. The usual insistence that “Hindu nationalists want to abolish secularism” and its implication that the Indian state is indeed secular, cannot stand scrutiny on this score. But admitting this much would upset the entire conceptual framework of Hindutva studies.

Anyone desiring to uphold the dominant construction of Hindu nationalism, viz. the Hindutva conspiracy paradigm, logically has an interest in denying or minimizing the existence of independent non-Sangh Hindu activism. But the facts on the ground show increasingly that concerned Hindus are emancipating themselves from this identification of their own work with Hindutva.

Some of these start from philosophies different from the nationalistic RSS narrative, others are not ideologically different but want to provide an alternative mode of action to complement or replace an RSS working-style in which they have become disappointed. For indeed, the BJP election defeats in 2004 and 2009 and the steady decline in RSS shakha attendance since 1998 highlight a longer-standing disappointment in Hindu revivalist circles with the Sangh Parivar and its version of Hindu nationalism. The media construed the BJP defeats as “proof that the Indian masses are turning away from Hindu nationalism”, when in reality, the former BJP voters have only turned their backs on the betrayers of Hindu nationalism. This disappointment continues to be nurtured by Sangh displays of incompetence, such as the failed textbook rewriting initiatives in India 2000-04 and California 2005-09; and acts of “treason” such as the NDA government’s passivity regarding the Ayodhya temple and the Kashmiri refugees, or its permission of foreign media ownership. Far from abolishing the Hajj subsidies, a financially marginal but highly symbolic instance of “Muslim appeasement”, the Vajpayee government actually increased the Hajj subsidy (hence the nickname given him by his Hindu critics, “Hajpayee”). On each of its distinctive old campaign themes, they had acted just like non-BJP governments had done before and have done since.

As former swayamsevak Shrikant Talageri argued in 2000 already, the BJP has proven that “more foreign agency, anti-nationalism and injustice are possible in India in the name of Hinduism and Hindutva than in the name of Islam and Christianity or Secularism and Leftism. And more dangerous since it is cloaked in the garb of Nationalism”. Talageri notes that this government policy was rooted in long-standing RSS mores, viz. a radical non-interest in Indian culture as such, in Indian wildlife, environment, handicrafts etc. (see the RSS’s Western uniform and marching band music), and a mindless reliance on slogans and rumours rather than on serious analysis and principled ideology. While the RSS undoubtedly started out as politically nationalist, its occasional self-description as “cultural nationalism” implies a claim on cultural awareness that proves hollow.

The RSS has never abandoned the working style introduced by its founder Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who had been formed by the Revolutionary movement and adopted its secretiveness, discouraging written communication in favour of personal communication through travelling office-bearers. A lot of physical locomotion is a status symbol in the RSS hierarchy, but motion is not action. The numerous RSS self-praise brochures boast about mass campaigns with millions marching, but these have rarely translated into the realization of their stated goals. Thus, the anti-cow-slaughter campaign of the late 1960s achieved nothing, and the Ayodhya campaign in spite of its unprecedented magnitude has not realized the construction of the projected temple even twenty years later. Though it is part of Hindutva culture to deny failure (vide the way the California Hindu parents tried to present the disappointing court verdict in the textbook case as a victory), inevitably at least some people had to draw the logical conclusion from these failures and try something new.

This disillusionment with the Sangh is triggering the emergence of new independent centres of Hindu activism. Between such non-Sangh foci in India and similar-minded NRI initiatives, there is little structural connection except for exchanges on internet forums: the loose network is their more modern alternative to the organizational rigidity typical of the Sangh.

It must be stated at this point that there has always been a wide array of Hindu activism outside of the Sangh, though often overlapping with the Sangh’s work, and at any rate not standing in the way of cooperation or friendly personal relations. In my experience, Western observers who have started believing their own shrill rhetoric of “Hindu fascism” tend to be surprised and shocked and indignant when they see apolitical Hindu dignitaries, praised in East and West for their spiritual qualities and leadership, interact on a friendly basis with the Sangh. Thus, when RSS Sarsanghchalak Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiyya) visited the Netherlands, he first of all went to see the Maharshi Mahesh Yogi in his castle in Vlodrop, to the consternation of reporters for the New Age media, who had lapped up horror stories about the RSS. Likewise, Edward Luce in his book In Spite of the Gods, notes the close cooperation between peacenik celebrity guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the RSS as if it were a dirty secret and a blot on the Guru’s name.

One reason for the Sangh’s respectability among the Hindu masses, though you might not know of it if you only read the expert studies on Hindutva, is its massive presence in social and relief work. After an earthquake, Sangh relief workers are the first to arrive in the disaster area. That doesn’s prove anything about its politics, and could be likened to the motivated social and relief work of the Christian Missions or the Hamas; but at least it ought to be noticed and reported. It helps explain why most criticisms of the Sangh among Hindus are restrained by an acknowledgment of its undeniable merits. But now it is dawning upon an increasing number of Hindu activists that all this charity is no substitute for ideological clarity. Therefore, while they may maintain contact with the Sangh, their initiatives and inspiration are clearly separate and distinct from the Sangh and its ideological line. Many Hindu activists who criticize the Sangh accept the intention of Sangh workers to serve Hindu society, and leave them to pursue this goal by their own lights. Also, sometimes they cannot bypass the relative omnipresence of the Sangh network. And finally, there is no definitive reason why Sangh workers shouldn’t be amenable to developing their understanding beyond the elementary level inculcated by the Sangh.

Some Hindu activists, however, have totally given up on the Sangh. Thus, when Muslim groups pressured the Jammu & Kashmir government into reneging on its promise to provide facilities for Hindu pilgrims to Amarnath in 2008, local Hindus in Jammu organised a non-violent protest campaign but purposely kept the Sangh at arm’s length. They feared that the RSS with its penchant for control would take the movement over, then with its equally typical craving for certificates of good conduct would abandon and dissolve the campaign in an attempt to prove its “secularism” and “reasonableness”. In the event, the Amarnath campaign, in contrast with so many Sangh campaigns, was successful: the original plan for pilgrim facilities was implemented overruling the Muslim objections.

The most pressing occasion for Hindu self-organization cocnsists in threats to their physical security. For quite a while groups have been sprouting here and there that promised to fill the void allegedly created by the Sangh’s insufficient militancy. During the Khalistani terror campaign, Hindus in Panjab started a local “Shiv Sena”, disappointed in the way the RSS failed to react in kind when its cadres were targeted for murder by the Khalistanis.

On internet forums, you frequently hear Hindus fumble that “if Muslims can get away with terrorism, why don’t we take to the gun, and the bomb?” Thus, a Delhi-based group calling itself the Aryavrt Government and a related outfit called Abhinava Bharat (after an armed revolutionary group in the independence struggle) does advocate paying the enemy back in the same coin. On its website its request for donations is strengthened with this warning: “Else keep ready for your doom. Remember! Whoever you are, you won’t be able to save your properties, women, motherland, Vedic culture & even your infants. Choice is yours, whether you stick to dreaded usurper Democracy & get eradicated or survive with your rights upon your property, freedom of faith & life with dignity?”

Mostly this is impotent rage by middle-class Hindus who have never seen or touched a gun, but of course the possibility exists that some young lads may act upon it. It has been alleged that the Malegaon bomb attacks in 2006 were committed by such an ad hoc Hindu terrorist group.

However, these rare cases of erratic and counterproductive Hindu violence should not obscure the actual need for self-protection in areas where Hindus are indeed prey for anti-Hindu mobs and militias, such as the Bengal border, where illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are trying to push out the Hindu villagers. That is where one sane and disciplined Hindu group for self-protection has come into being: the Hindu Samhati, founded in February 2008 by Tapan Ghosh. Until November 2007, and ever since graduating in Physics and spending three months in jail as a pro-democracy activist during the Emergency, he had been an RSS whole-timer for 31 years. But not seeing the desired results from RSS work, who started out on his own and soon attarcted a following.The group’s thrid anniversary celebration was attened by 14,000 people. It can already claim many successes on its local scale, such as protecting young couples where one of the partners is a Muslim joining a Hindu family, or ensuring the safety of Hindu festivals, which had become difficult to celebrate due to increasing Muslim harassment.

The one name towering over the whole field of non-Sangh Hindu activism is that of historian and publisher Sita Ram Goel (1921-2003), Gandhian then Marxist in his young days, later anti-Communist and finally reborn Hindu. In 1957 he stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the embryonic Swatantra Party (with whose founder Minoo Masani he cooperated in anti-Communist activism) on a Jana Sangh ticket for the Khajuraho seat. He subsequently contributed some articles to the RSS mouthpiece Organiser, until the RSS leadership intervened to have him expelled from its pages for being too unkind to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The stated reason was that if Nehru were ever murdered, criticism of Nehru in their own pages would cause them to get the blame. In the 1980s Goel was re-invited to contribute, until he was again expelled, this time for being too unkind to Islam. (It is routinely assumed that the RSS preaches hatred of Islam; but I award my bottom dollar to anyone who can show me an instance from the editorials of Organiser. And I will award it again for an authentic quotation from a Sangh leader that is more anti-Muslim than the revered Dr. Ambedkar’s book Pakistan or the Partition of India.) As a book author and publisher, he also had to deal with the Sangh, e.g. when he had to straighten out the BJP’s initially very muddled White Paper on Ayodhya. So, it is not as if he boycotted the Sangh, in spite of their treatment of him.

Yet his judgement of them was merciless. In writing, he diplomatically limited himself to intimating that “in the history of an organization, there comes a point when its original goal gets overshadowed by its concerns for itself”. But when speaking, he was much blunter. In the presence of myself and of prominent witnesses, he said for example: “The RSS is the biggest collection of duffers that ever came together in world history” (1989), “The RSS is leading Hindu society into a trap from which it may not recover” (1994), “Hindu society is doomed unless this RSS-BJP movement perishes” (2003).

Goel’s main criticism of the Sangh concerns its anti-intellectual prejudice, its refusal to analyze hostile ideologies, hence its lapse into emotionalism and erratic policies. Thus, instead of reactive anti-Muslim outbursts after every act of Islamic terrorism, he posits the need for an ideological critique of the Islamic belief system, equipped with all the methods and findings of modern scholarship: “The problem is not Muslims but Islam.” The difference is that those who refuse such critique (and that is the case of the RSS) has no one but the physical Muslim population to vent its anger on whenever another act of Islamic violence occurs. This way, a more incisive deconstruction of Islamic belief translates into less violence against actual Muslims. (The converse is also true: George W. Bush and Tony Blair have spoken out in praise of Islam but killed a great many Muslims.)

Goel and his mentor Ram Swarup (1920-98) took inspiration from the British liberal tradition of Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw and George Orwell, even before rediscovering the Hindu debating tradition of Yajnavalkya and Shankara. For them, free debate was a matter of course. Hindutva organizations, by contrast, in the Sangh as well as some new ones like the Hindu Jagruti Samiti, react to every insulting book or film or painting with calls for a ban, perfectly echoing Islamic organizations demanding a ban on the Danish cartoons or The Satanic Verses. Calls for banning unpalatable opinions stem from an inability to meet the challenge intellectually, which was never Shankara’s problem but is very much the Sangh’s.

Some NRI-PIO organizations created in the 21st century explicitly adopt their line. One is the Hindu Human Rights group in London, founded by a streetwise performing artist, Arjun Malik along with writer Ranbir Singh. His answer to the humourless RSS and its equally humourless secularist critics is to “put the fun back into fundamentalism”. The HHR publishes an on-line paper and occasionally stages demonstrations on matters of Hindu concern, such as human rights in Bangladesh. On the challenge of the Christian missions, it has monitored and promoted scholarly studies, outgrowing the simplistic Hindutva positions current in India and the diaspora, which tend to confuse “Christian” with “white”, as if the world and the Churches hadn’t changed since decolonization. It interacts critically with the official pan-Hindu platforms and with the British multiculturalism authorities. These sometimes solicit its views, knowing that it represents a really existing and growing segment of opinion in the British Hindu community. Typically, the HHR sometimes cooperates with Muslim organizations on matters of common concern, all while staying away from the usual Hindu platitude that “all religions essentially say the same thing”. Human understanding does not require suspension of the mental power of discrimination.

The second similarly inspired initiative in the diaspora is based in Houston. Like the HHR, it also explores contacts with post-Christian spiritual tendencies in Western society and encourages Hindus to transcend the “racism” many of them display vis-à-vis Black, White and East-Asian population they encounter abroad. Quite a few Hindu individuals and local Hindu temple associations in North America also evince or acknowledge some influence from this line of thought.

Ram Swarup’s idea of a common inspiration and interest between all traditional religions, jointly targeted for conversion by the “predatory” religions Christianity and Islam, has also gained a following mainly through Hindu leaders based outside India. Swami Dayananda Saraswati (based in Coimbatore and in Saylorsburg PA) has been building bridges with the Jewish community, culminating in a joint Jerusalem Declaration with the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. It also has penetrated the Sangh in the initiative for cooperation with Native American, Yoruba, Maori and other traditional religionists, the World Council for the Elders of Ancient Traditions and Cultures founded by US-based pracharak Dr. Yashwant Pathak.

In India too, these ideas have been picked up in independent as well as in Sangh-related centres of Hindu awareness and activism. The influence is palpable in some publications of the Vigil Public Opinion Forum and of the Centre for Policy Studies, both in Chennai. Then again, in India the strictly nationalist viewpoint, with increasing anti-Western overtones, still seems to prevail against the universalistic critique of hostile religions and ideologies as pioneered by Ram Swarup and S.R. Goel. Thus, consider the title of an otherwise well-crafted study of NGO activities and financing by Vigil authors Radha Rajan and Krishan Kak: NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry (2006). Its main stated focus is on anti-national rather than anti-Hindu activities, in the mould of the RSS rhetoric about Babar as a “foreign” (rather than Muslim) invader and Rama as a “national” (rather than a Hindu) hero. In some cases, as in Sandhya Jain’s online medium Vijayvaani, this goes as far as supporting Muslim causes against the West, not too different from the traditional Congressite line exemplified by Nehru’s support to Nasser.

In the case of Hindutva, nationalism is proving to be the last resort of blockheads unable to construe conflicts and power equations in ideological terms. While Christianity has changed race several times in its history (from Levantine to North-African and South-European to North-European to non-white), and while most missionaries in India are now non-white and generally Indian-born, Hindutva polemicists keep on ranting against “white racist Christian missions”. This saves them the trouble of studying the scholarly critique of Biblical truth claims and the challenge of arguing the religious case for Hinduism and against Christianity with fellow Indians who happen to be Christian. One very useful experience of NRIs and PIOs in their non-Indic surroundings is that religious issues exist in their own right, by virtue of the distinctive mores inculcated and the truth claims of religions, and regardless of the ethnic origin of a religion’s followers. The modern identification of Sanatana Dharma with the geographical entity India, explicitly proposed by Hindutva ideologues, is negated by the NRI-PIOs’ experience, where Hindu traditions turn out to remain meaningful even after being severed from their geographical cradle. This makes them more receptive to the universalistic understanding of Hindu tradition as expounded by Goel’s mentor Ram Swarup and by some globe-trotting Gurus.

Most post-Sangh centres of Hindu activism avoid overdoing their quarrel with the Sangh. It just happens to be there, to be very large, and to attract the loyalty of numerous well-meaning fellow-Hindus. Also, its effectiveness in the many local centres of activity is highly dependent upon the individual qualities of the local Sangh workers. So, inter-Hindu infighting among activists is largely avoided. One prozaic reason is that criticism has never had a noticeable effect on the Sangh leadership, another is the common-sense realization that darkness is best fought not by decrying it but by lighting a lamp of your own. Extrapolating from present trends, the future is probably that alternative centres of Hindu activism will grow and prove successful in their respective fields of activity, and that the Sangh will transform itself and correct its course under the impact of their example.

By Dr Koenraad Elst

 

Comments

  1. perfect article. everything changes with time, now its rss time to change or became history.

  2. I do not agree with your views about Sangh but I appreciate your detailed analysis on Hindu activities. Thank you for such a nice article.

    Sangh from its inception has always had a goal to make Hindus aware of their existance, long cultural history and its importance in leading a healthy life. Its main goal has been to unite masses of hindus and build their character that follows our cultural values. And then these masses should decide what and how they should contribute to this multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious world of human beings.

    So even if I am a RSS swayamsevak I am free to take up any other activity. I can be part of any other organisation political, social, NGO etc. and will follow the activities suitable for that organisation. But the Sanskars from RSS will help me create a character of that organisation that will follow our great cultural values and ethos. I will have limitations to my organisation to implement all the ‘Hindu ways’ of working for example BJP had to roll back on article 370 and such core issues under a compulsion of Coalition governance but still I will not contribute to deculturalisation of my organisation. That is also something very important.

    There is lot to write about RSS and the topics raised in your article but we have time limitations. So again thank you your article that helped us brain storm about ourselves as RSS followers and how we can continue with our goals.

    Nitin
    Europe

  3. Nitin, I think you miss the point of the whole article..All what you are saying is good but majority Hindus are not hindus because of the Sangh but are hindus because of hinduism long even before the sangh come into existence and will remain so even after the Sangh goes out of existence.This what this article is pointing to that the hindu world is beyond the Sangh and thats why other hindus are coming into the open for the hindu cause.In a majority hindu country by now the RSS/BJP should have made a dent but it seems so far they haven’t and this has to be something that has to be looked into..Along with getting rid of those colonial western khaki shorts they need to develop an ideology that is in line with the hindu ethos.

  4. “The numerous RSS self-praise brochures boast about mass campaigns with millions marching, but these have rarely translated into the realization of their stated goals. Thus, the anti-cow-slaughter campaign of the late 1960s achieved nothing, and the Ayodhya campaign in spite of its unprecedented magnitude has not realized the construction of the projected temple even twenty years later.”

    That actually says it all..80 years later they haven’t really achieved much apart from living under the illusion of self glory..

  5. While Koenraad Elst has some valid points, he seems to totally dismiss the value of sangh. Also, some parts of the article are plain wrong.

    The fight for Amarnath absolutely had sangh participation. In fact, the convenor of Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, Leela Karan Sharma is a swayamsevak. Brigadier Suchet Singh is Sanghachalak of Jammu or some part of it.

    Also, the anti-intellectual prejudice argument is a bit over-stated. Sangh’s role is to run shakha. Part of running shakha is having good discussions, lectures, etc. Some shakhas do a good job in that while others need some more work. It is not enough just to be an intellectual genius. One must also be willing to do “sampark” ie visiting homes, spending time with families, telling stories to kids, conducting games for kids, etc. Inculcating good sanskaars is a time consuming process. As a result, there are those swayamsevaks/sevikas who need to be coaxed to read more while some others do it naturally. Not everyone can be good at everything.

    Last but not least, people who just sit there and complain that sangh has achieved nothing are either frustrated or lacking intellectual honesty. Who were the saviors of the refugees who came from Pakistani Punjab & Sindh in 1947? Who built an air strip in Poonch and Srinagar for the air force? Who primarily runs over 100,000 sewa projects in different parts of Bharat including the Northeastern region? Regarding cow slaughter, BJP ruled states have banned cow slaughter so saying that it achieved nothing is simply not true.

    One may choose to work via sangh shakha or some other way. Either is fine. But to each his own rather than criticizing someone else’s preferred methods of contributing to society.

    Deficiencies in sangh must be addressed but that can only be addressed by running more effective shakhas and not by dismissing the time tested methodology.

  6. India has been Macaulayfied, Nehrufied and Gandhified. Hinduism has been delegitimized,
    Demonized and demoralized by these three anti-Hindu forces.

    What this means is that Hindus have been thoroughly deracinated, and these deracinated Hindus have no sense of their heritage or their ancient religious identity. They don’t even understand what makes them a stronger society/nation or a weaker one. The media, academia, judiciary, political parties — all are full of brainwashed Indians who have been trained to be ashamed of  themselves, and even hate themselves. 

    In such a population, anything the RSS does is wasted on these brainwashed morons. Not that the RSS always comes up with scintillating brainwaves, but unless Hindus win back legitimacy for themselves in their own eyes, anything the RSS does will be ineffectual. 

  7. Balu just giving bedtime stories as talks at shakas doesnt mean they are intellectually stimulating the audience ..The RSS with its size and its years of experience cant even do a mass movement like Anna Harzre has done single handily has done.Facts have to be faced that RSS has hardly made a dent in hindu society.They take more pride that Nehru had asked them to do a march during some republic day in the 40s or 50s even though he was anti hindu.The RSS is a sinking ship which has hit its iceberg years ago..

  8. @Balu..u said it.
    @Arjun & other Hindu “activists”,
    uI request all said “activists” to log off for a while & come out of airconditioned area of activism, plse come to kerala and see the ground reality here where u will find(only in kerala) all enemies of rss standing with full power. U will get here full mighty jihadis, same standard commies and the castiest stupid Hindus in the form of NSS & SNDP etc etc . Now look for anything related to Hinduism here be it temples & its festivals or Hindu festivals especially janmashtami. Now search for rss’ role and be excited. Get informed abt Balagokulam and its work.

  9. .//The RSS with its size and its years of
    experience cant even do a mass movement like Anna
    Harzre has done single handily has done//.
    -by Arjun..
    hey dear, learn abt emergency days and the role played by rss, those days were without internet and present day news channels..
    let me ask u one counter q ? Show me one organisation in India which could carry such a agitation like Anna’s..
    let the fool in u sleep…

  10. @admin of chakranews,
    show the courage to publish the comment as it is submitted…
    your unwanted editing made my comment weird… Shame on u…

  11. Jayesh if you read this article properly then you will see that you are actually proving it to be true.What you dont seem to get is that with over million men in oversized colonial khaki shorts in a country with nearly 800 million Hindus the RSS has not taken over the country or even made a dent in hindu society.Thats the reality of situation .In other countries or even in India’s past it only took a few thousand people to change things forever which the RSS with nearly million people cant even get the BJP in power all over the country ..

  12. 6 months back the RSS done a sit in protest against being portrayed as saffron terrorists but since then they have been accused even more of being saffron terrorists.Maybe sitting in the front room eating pakoras should be stopped and real action like the Anna hazre movement on the ground needs to be done.And while at it the RSS seriously needs to get rid of those oversized colonial khaki shorts and wear something indian instead

  13. @arjun, iam copy pasting a worthy comment from somewhere else..:
    Maybe, just maybe, the Sangh is the social
    response to british and congress behavior?
    Kind of like our own little scout movement.From the time
    of social awakening on India’s east coast and
    Bengal to the current day, it was practically
    impossible for people to organize politically
    under the banner of their civilizational
    theme. Something that was accorded to all
    other groups by the british and upper caste
    educated elite but denied with vehemence to
    this one group. Why?
    Even in India of today, there is no other fora
    for politically minded people to meet under a
    civilizational banner except for the Sangh.

  14. Something that was accorded to all
    other groups by the british and upper caste
    educated elite but denied with vehemence to
    this one group. Why?
    Even in India of today, there is no other fora
    for politically minded people to meet under a
    civilizational banner except for the Sangh.
    At a very crude and basic level, the Sangh is
    all about getting people to organize, to say
    ‘hello’ to each other and to recognize a
    shared relationship. To cross the caste
    boundaries and organize as members of
    civilizational grouping different from the
    aggressive monotheistic ideologies. It is
    about a set of people organizing to have a
    shared memory and hopefully not go the
    Egyptian, Mayan or Babylonian way.

  15. A person, just one person noticed that it was
    next to impossible for people of dharma to
    organize to do anything…forget taking care
    of each other in a riot. These people did not
    dine with each other, some of them would
    not touch the other. Seriously, how many
    places excluding dharmasalas & certain
    temples had people dining together in India
    of that time? How did the common dining
    work in congress meeting then? Ever
    wonder? In those days, this one guy forced
    the issue of common dining, common drills,
    common uniform and playing together. He
    faced the wrath of upper castemen for that
    and persisted. He was forced to merge with
    congress, interesting how that is not even
    mentioned today by our seculars. He resisted
    and out of that an organization grew. This
    organization suffered and was treated as a
    paraiah from day one. Things only got worse
    since 1947. Nehru used them when he wanted
    and called them names after that. But they
    still grew.

  16. Tell me, if I am a teenager in India today and
    am interested in learning about my heritage,
    either of my state, my civilization or of my
    linguistic group…where do I go? To the state
    controlled library? To the political parties?
    to the Mathas and Devastanams which
    themselves are highly compromised by the
    elite and corrupted? to the local bhajan
    group? Do I go read the historians? The
    mainstream ones who find nothing good
    about my heritage? Do I go to the media?
    You mean the ones with the likes of dilip
    d’souza, sardesai and that corrupt woman on
    NDTV or whatever? NO, there is only one
    place for me to go. And that is the Sangh,
    with its warts and all.

  17. I agree with you about the outlandish claims,
    and have witnessed some of them myself. I
    too went through the phases of incredulity,
    disgust and have now graduated to
    understanding. I think, it is juvenile behavior.
    You see, as a set of people who started
    organizing, you will always see an attempt to
    establish a common narrative.
    Kind of like how americans established the
    one about freedom and all that crap from
    the british when in reality they wanted to get
    out of paying taxes for a war fought by the
    british on their behalf to clear the lands of
    indians (the other kind!!) in the west. Kind of
    like how a kid makes up stories about how
    big and strong his dad is in the schoolyard
    trash talk. Eventually that kid will grow up
    and shake it off. So will the Sangh. It takes
    time.

  18. Come to think of it, Sangh exists only til the
    society gets its act together and learns to
    organize. Once the greater society organizes,
    what is the need for the Sangh?
    I was asked about what caste/jati/varna I
    belonged to in many fora… in schools, in
    political parties, in professional associations,
    in so-called hindu intellectual gatherings,
    hell even in informal gatherings. However,
    not once in my life, not even goddamed once
    was I asked or enquired about this in a shaka,
    at vanvasi kalyan ashram or under any
    sangh sponsored group. I figured it would be
    a matter of time before that would come up,
    but never happened so far and I have given
    up waiting. For that, I am forever in gratitude
    to Sangh and for that I took time to respond
    to the anti-intellectual criticism.
    The intellectuals can build castles of thought
    in the air, but somebody gotta go dig ditches
    to start making this a reality

  19. And lastly dear Arjun, when it comes to shakha, that khaki shorts is the best to fit into the doings there. Yes but for the parades etc it may not be a good one to view in present time. It will be reformed…
    and will u point out a “Indian” dress to substitute it as u have claimed or opined..?
    and regarding pakoras, do u want rss to ban eating it?
    respected Elst has shown an intellectual dishonesty while talking abt Amarnath agitation. Why he failed to grasp how bjp managed to get 12 seats from jammu region after that agitation?
    why he didn’t spell a word abt visva mangala gou gram yathra 2009?
    and i just went thru Elst’s blog today and find that he never has visited Taj mahal from his own comment there. It shocked me coz i remember an old blogpost of Elst criticising PN Oak and Stephen Knapp regarding their Taj mahal research which claims it was a vedic temple..!

  20. People who are defending RSS are doing a mistake which most people do. 1. having a India centric approach. 2. mixing country problem with the problem of religion/culture. 3. living in past glories of RSS work. and they have the same emotional old way of defending RSS – eg: RSS helped n Kashmir war etc. but all those things are now past, things have become global. the fact is RSS does not appeal to most city youth and is on decline. If any organization want to bring change there are many ways like filing a court case against government to change things like government control of temple instead of having a debate on ‘saving culture’ in shakha. Hinduism cant be confined to India only not to forget, RSS is a nationalist organization not a religions one, they even have a Sikh and Muslims wing. this website is not really anti-rss, on the right top side there is a link to ekal vidyalaya which is run by RSS. moreover this article is written for Hindus and Hinduism as a priority with a non-india centric global approach.

  21. Dear Ravi Omji, so u r against the rss’ glorifying of past acts. Now tell me what is wrong in taking pride in its great acts which were commited in the past and in other words the history? Everyone do it. Same you may be criticising rss now for NOT doing any good things in their past if the picture was opposite. U or me both will be evaluated by what we have commited in our past. When Doctorji founded RSS by grouping few childrens in a small ground, many mocked at him like how u mock at it now. But what happened? I agree there are many shortcomings in Sangh which will be reformed. No one is perfect. But criticising Sangh blindly is not at all good.

  22. Ravi Omji, so why u r not asking likeminded Arjun that why Anna hazare didn’t went to court against govt etc? Hindu activism in Internet and sangh’s ground work is incomparable. It is strange to see Hindu activists outside sangh is so hostile against sangh but sangh and sanghis have no problem with hindu activists! This mentality has to be changed. Blind criticism of rss for eating pakoras, wearing khaki shorts etc are of no use and senseless. If rss tomorrow adopt jeans and t shirt as its uniform,do u think youth will flow to rss? Khaki shorts are only used to wear in shakhas and parades and not for whole time. And if u ever took part in a shaka once u will find how comfortable it is. Will u also say computer is a western/colonial thing so sanghis souldn’t use it?

  23. @ Jayesh – there is noting wrong taking pride, its just that talking about glories past does not do anything good for the common Hindu or Hinduism, this is the reason RSS dont appeal to people. priority of RSS is the sayings and vision of Guruji not the teachings of Hinduism. the India limited approach of looking at things is wrong the Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and have suffered a lot becuase the Indian Hindu didnt cared about them. at the end of the day the priority is Hinduism and the human rights of Hindus, priority is not saving RSS but Promoting Hinduism. if RSS is not able to delivery then some else would/will/should do instead of doing everything for Hindus/Hinduism via RSS platform only. if someone become Hindu its not becuase of RSS but becuase of its Hindu teachings. and a little self critical thinking is need to find what and where is wrong, this line sum up the current RSS “there comes a point when its original goal gets overshadowed by its concerns for itself”

  24. @ Jayesh – we are not talking about Hindu activism on internet or a usual talk on facebook, a lot of Hindu organization like American Hindu Foundation are working for hindu human rights, they are professional, publish many reports and do protest too. the aim is to protect the human rights of average Hindu as well as promote the teachings of Hinduism rather than just shouting ‘westernization is destroying our culture, save our culture’, ‘Hindus should have more babies’ or harming your media image by burnings card shop on valentines day.

  25. the idea of protection of human rights and teachings of hinduism is far more appealing for a average person whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated than a talk on saving a culture or past glories of rss, it is a fact of life that people need food, education along with a safe environment for their families first, a big talk of pride of past glories comes after that. that all i have to say.

  26. Let me tell u why youths aren’t flowing so much into sangh. I would like to quote a line from sangh’s prayer. Here it goes: “susheelam jagadhye nanamram bhaveth”. I hope all will understand the meaning of sanskrit word “susheelam”. Now the majority youth is not so interested in ‘susheelam’ ie abolishing smoking, boozing etc.. They r so much addicted to it. Now when the case arises witha shakha, u cannot attend shakha if u r a smoker,boozard or a drug addict,in other words u have to shed these bad habits if u want to take part in shaka. Now i am sure u wont tell to open bars in every shakas inorder to attract youth.. Second reason is u have to lead a simple living, this could be compromised to a larger extent unlike the first reason.
    now tell me how many urban youths are really interested in Hinduism,how many goes temple,how many have any clue abt Vedas and our holy books?..
    a big zero..
    think on this Mr ravi om and coy..

  27. it is a fact of life that people need food, education
    along with a safe environment for their families first,
    ^^^
    agree with u…
    so r u telling rss is against all these?
    neither u have ever attended a shaka nor u have any clue..
    rss cannot provide food for every hindus/people but other two points are well done by rss where it is present..
    yeah,tell me the glory of present Hinduism. There is enough stuff in hinduism to hate it a lot. Why we should talk of old Vedas and ideals in them now then Ravi omji?
    why shd we ignore caste system which divides Hindus raviji?
    why shd we blame practical anti-caste rss ravi ji?

  28. Jayesh that proves that you are not in touch with reality because not all youths are into booze and smoking and even if they are why are they going to be interested in wearing oversized colonial khaki shorts to march up and down streets with a broom on their back ? When the RSS cant give an exciting and stimulating alternative then why blame the youths or even the older hindus ? The RSS is the biggest failed movement in the world and thats a fact.Most hindus in india are hindus because of their own gurus/swamis or sects or groups they belong to and not because of the Sangh.If the RSS were so astute and great as you believe they are then they would be sitting in Delhi running the government.Look at Libyans with less people just went and captured control of the country..And instead you are trying to convince why oversized colonial khaki shorts are needed in shaka.What are the RSS training for the circus then maybe i could understand..

  29. It should be noted that Koenraad Elst is factually incorrect in saying that the Amarnath agitation had no active role of sangh. Leela Karan Sharma (convenor of Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti) is a swayamsevak. Brigadier Suchet Singh is sanghachalak of Jammur or some part of it.

    Also, the efforts to network with other Dharmic traditions like Maoris of New Zealand, European pagans, Mayans, Native Americans, etc may have been in Ram Swarup-ji’s mind. But Ram Swarup-ji would himself admit that it is a sangh pracharak who could put that vision into action. In fact, Mohan-ji Bhagwat and Sudarshan-ji have attended the ICCS conferences in Mumbai, Jaipur, etc. Koenraad Elst conveniently ignores that.

    Ravi-ji, I really wonder whether you feel that all the sewa projects run by swayamsevaks is just a waste of time or what. What other Hindu organization has worked in a sustained manner in the Northeaster part of India? (Vivekanada Kendra, Vanvasi kalyanashram all are sangh inspired). In Kerala, who else except Sangh can hope to fight against the communists? In spite of government opposition, sangh continues to work relentlessly. Even if you don’t come to shakha, at least you can appreciate its efforts. In the United States, one can categorically say that if not for sangh, Nepali Hindu refugees from Bhutan would be under much more pressure to convert to Christianity. If only Hindu temples and other Hindu organizations took as much interest in their well-being, things would be better. In the UK when there has been varying elements of intimidation of Hindu students by Islamic student societies (especially in the 90’s), it has been swayamsevaks/sevikas who have largely stood up to that. When the British govt allowed students to study not just Christianity but to choose which religion to study, it was sangh/VHP who brought a critical mass of scholars together to come up with an appropriate syllabus for Hindu religious studies.

    Anyway, I can keep on going but bottom line is that we need all kinds of things to be done. Sangh shakha is absolutely necessary and so too, is the work done by Koenraad Elst. Let’s work together rather than just complaining and airing dirty laundry.

  30. Yes Baluji, all have to work together and it would make any sense rather mud slinging on Sangh in juvenile manner. When sangh has no problem with any kind of Hindu “activisms” outside it those activists also should respect Sangh for its efforts and services which aren’t in any case hostile to Hinduism. I again say to Ravi om and Arjun plse study abt the case in Kerala to get a straight forward picture. Simply abusing Sangh without even having a sense of shaka proceedings, arjun is blindly criticising.
    Hey Ravi om, tell me what organisation should Hindus choose when :
    Tamil Hindus hate Hindi Hindus
    Marathi Hindus Hate Bihari Hindus
    high caste Hindus hate lower ones
    southern ones hate northern ones,and many more….?
    u will get only one RSS dear Raviji…
    sure there may be some faults with Sangh but saying it should perish and it is the biggest failed movement in world etc are out of sense…

  31. Ravi om said:Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh
    and have suffered a lot becuase the Indian Hindu
    didnt cared about them.//
    what a foolish sentence Raviji?
    do u have any idea of what Indian Hindu is?
    any way tell what Indian Hindus should do to stop sufferings of Pak & Bangla Hindus..
    Arjun, no doubt u r a great airconditioned internet Hindu activist with no ground knowledge..

  32. just because out of many thousands someone might have attended shaka dont mean that RSS were behind the Amarnath agitation .What you think other hindus are useless ? Most Hindus are out of the RSS then in so these claims that the RSS has saved hinduism is just false properganda.The rss started the anti cow slaughter movement in the 50s but since then more cows are been slaughtered and the same goes for all the other failed movements that have started..Forget nepalis in US but what has the RSS done about nepalis in nepal ? Not only is Christianity growing but maoists are in control.So all these big claims are just nonsense to convince yourselves that the RSS is some big org saving every hindu on the planet.The truth is they cant even save themselves

  33. Hey Arjun, u carry on with your propagandas abt Sangh. Nobody claimed sangh saved Hinduism etc… Arguing with u is useless as u repeat the same sentences again and again. What i have to say is, when sangh is not against any other hindu activisms why u are so much blaming sangh? This is a sad move. Sangh in no way is engaged in any anti-hindu activities that would degrade hinduism. Seeing such criticisms from those who love hinduism is making me sick.
    thanks for replys.. Namasthe….

  34. //Sangh in no way is engaged in any anti-hindu activities that would degrade hinduism.//

    Sangh have a stupid definition of the word Hindu, which is a nationalist identity not a religious one, it tells the Sikhs and Buddhists that they are also Hindu. they think of it as a attack on their identity and become hostile towards Hindus. earlier non-indian sikhs were hostile now the trend is also growing in indian sikhs. and what has sangh did for Pak, Bangla, Sri-Lanka Hindus? a Jew human rights activist go to Bangladesh and promoting the human rights of Bangladeshi Hindus but 950 million Hindus along with Sangh in India cant move their finger or even mouth, check his website bangladeshihindu.com. instead stupid sanghis talk rubbish like hindus should have more babies and beating 90 yr old horse of guruji’s golden words, it has become a cult and less or a organization.

  35. Jayesh , the funnything is you keep on proving the above article as being right everytime you comment

  36. Comments like that of Ravi’s are nothing short of propaganda.

    We have over 110 shakhas in Sri Lanka (about 45 sevika samiti shakhas and 65 sangh shakhas). A pracharak from Tamil Nadu is assigned to work there. Sewa projects are also going on. If you are genuinely interested in helping Hindus in Sri Lanka, please email me and I will connect you to the appropriate persons.

    We had shibirarthis from Bangladesh in the last Vishwa Sangh Shibir. Due to the highly sensitive situation, we can’t work openly there but there absolutely is contact with Bangladeshi Hindus. Mohan-ji Bhagwat does NOT need to reveal every little detail of what exactly is going on.

    What the Jewish lobby can do, they do since there is political will. Whereas in India, even Atal Behani Vajpayee due to the corrupt influence of Ranjan Bhattacharya and Brijesh Mishra didn’t go after Sonia Gandhi/Rahul Gandhi. Needless to say, Sangh adhikaris obviously protested in vain (u can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink).

    Anyhow, I’m glad that sangh has taught me to appreciate all different forms of activism for the benefit of Hindu society. It’s a sad state of affairs that even some well-meaning Hindus don’t care to reciprocate.

  37. Eh…ravi, u r exposed of ur lie..haha..
    this is the case of most self proclaimed Hindu activists who r ruling the internet “activism”… Rarely they come out to the ground from AC cabins to see and grasp the reality.ravi, “sangh” is not any machine to go and help all hindus allover the world as u want. Be real and use your brain to understand facts. Sangh is also a group of humans like u. Chocolate eating elite hindus care less for their fellow beings who r neglected by everyone, to say take the case of tribals etc.., sangh swayamsevaks form mostly from middle class and poor backgrounds. The selfless services they do shouldnt be ignored blatantly for silly reasons…
    arjun, i am not against any hindu activisms but when u criticise sangh with ur stupid claims its sad to see…

  38. what exposed? what wrong did i said. you are showing more passion defending RSS than human rights of Hindus and Hinduism. if RSS can loudly say that Hindus should have more babies than why cant they say we should also care of Bangla, Pak, Lankan Hindus. no one denying the work done by RSS, but RSS is more of a social work nationalist organization rather with a Hindu organization and many hindus people blindly following it like there is no other platform.

  39. what stupid claims ? are you denying the RSS doesn’t wear oversized colonial shorts ? Like i said before you have proven this article to be true because you havent been able to dispute any of the points

  40. Our society needs globe trotting Gurus (the right ones), the internet brigade and the committed RSS worker on the ground. It is a triad that needs to work in tandem. In a small village in TN, one of the modern day Gurus has helped create a self sufficient village (from a monetary standpoint) by creating a vocational training center and the opportunities to earn out of the learned vocation. On the internet, today, the momentum of dawahs and virtual soul harvesting is being pushed back. During times of stress, like natural calamities or when Abrahamics raise their blood stained hands in Marrad or in West Bengal, we do need the RSS/VHP muscle to push back. I took a very miniscule set of instances to present my point but the 3entities are doing much more than just that.

  41. @ravi, ur ignorant claim abt sri lanka. Read what balu has wrote and contact him for a change of ur false belief.
    What human rights? What the hell u knowabt casteism in Hinduism ? The points regarding that case have been mentioned in one of my previous comments. You have no clue how jihadis in kerala are trying die-hard to divide Hindus by taking dalits with them from us. And u passing gas on human rights of hindus in bangladesh and pak. Sorry i have to care much here than going far. Anyway u can do whatever on that but I am in any way is against but do support u.
    @arjun, I am sick with ppl like u more than colonial shorts.
    u have no other points to blame sangh. No one in sangh is compelling any to wear those shorts. U can be a swayamsevak without those shorts. Ur deeds only matter. Guruji golwalker only once in his entire tenure had seen in ganavesh.

  42. Brilliant!! Hindus need to come out of Sangh fixation. I have myself been a member of RSS and i deeply respect devotion but yes ideological clarity is missing and i for one was never able to understand urge to appease media and end up being more pseudo secularists than many other organizations we criticize

  43. A couple of years back there was a conference in Europe held people practicing pre christian religions. The idea behind the conference was to bring an understanding between the followers of non-Abhrahamic religions worldwide.
    Since Hinduism is the largest non-Abhrahamic religion in this world, representatives of Hinduism were invited to this event. Guess who was representing us? The VHP and RSS. Anyway, on reaching the podium the VHP leader had the following to say about Islam and Christianity.
    “Islam and Christianity have a lot in common with Hinduism and we share common ideals with them. Jesus was a great yogi and Muhammad was a saint and a teacher and that Hindus have no problems with them.”
    Needless to say the representatives of the pagan European religions were partly shocked and partly amused, since all of them were all too familiar with the history of Semitic religions and their practitioners in India. Through all the years since RSS has existed, it has failed to produce a single intellectual (not that there was a dearth of such men) who could stand on their own and produce works which would stand up and tell the real history of Hindus (even if in the Indian subcontinent alone).
    Look I am not against the RSS or what it does, they are free to do what they like and preach what they want. However they should be more careful while they make public statements which could end up harming Hindus, not just in India but globally. Instead of taking a high moral ground the “defenders” of RSS should try and dwell into the realities of our times and understand what went wrong with RSS that it couldn’t create a real impact in Hindu society (given all the problems that all Hindus have to face in India).
    It is still not too late, if RSS leaders can open their minds to see how the world is changing and adopt a new working style I am sure they could show the way to the vast masses of Hindus around the world that would lead us to a real Hindu renaissance. Useless bickering and shouting slogans in Jantar Mantar where no one is listening is not going to change anything, however changing with the times and adopting a truly global methodology will.
    Let us not forget that Hinduism survived so long because of its ability to evolve, anything that does not evolve shall ultimately perish no matter how strong it might appear at the moment. Anything less than evolution shall ultimately be to the peril of Hindus. Instead of quarreling amongst ourselves let us understand where the problem stems from and not be scared of addressing the problems as they are supposed to be.

  44. WHEN SCIENCE SUPPORTS INDIANS WHO REVEAL A CORRUPTIING COLONIAL FORCE CHANGING INDIAN HISTORY AND DISTORTING INDIAN CULTURE………..AND THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN EDUCATED IN A COLONIAL PRO WESTERN PRO CHRISIAN PRO ENGLISH INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM, WHO ARE RAISED TO DOUBT, DILUTE, UNDERMINE PRO INDIAN MOVEMENT FOR TRUTH….what happens when SCIENCE itself STATES THAT TAJ MAJAL WAS NOT BUILT BY MUSLIMS??.
    According to a new study, the designers of the 17th century Taj Mahal have employed the same unit of measurement used by the Harappan civilization of 2000 BC.
    The study by R. Balasubramaniam of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has for the first time shown that the unit of length called “angulam” – mentioned in Kautilya’s treatise “Arthasastra” dated 300 BC – has been used without a break by Indian builders for over 3,900 years until the British imposed their units in the 18th century.
    The ancient “angulam” has been found to be equal to 1.763 modern centimetres, according to Balasubramaniam, a professor of materials and metallurgical engineering. He has carried out dimensional analysis of some of India’s historical structures, built during different times, to identify the measuring units used in their engineering plans.
    He says he was surprised that “angulam” and its multiples “vitasti” (12 angulams) and “dhanus” (108 angulams) have been used as the unit of measurement right from the Harappan times till the pre-modern era when the Taj was built.
    Balasubramaniam, who last year studied the dimensions of the 1,600-year-old Delhi Iron Pillar at the Qutub Minar complex, found that “angulam” and its multiple “dhanus” were used as the basic units of length in its design.
    In a paper published in Current Science, Balasubramaniam has shown that the modular plan of the Taj Mahal complex is based on use of grids of sides measuring 60 and 90 “vitasti”.
    He says the study has established that the design and architecture of the Taj is based on traditional Indian units codified in “Arthasastra” and that “there is nothing foreign” in its design.
    “The fact that the unit of angulam of 1.763 cm could match very well the dimensions of historical monuments establishes the continuity of India’s engineering tradition through the ages for as long as 3,900 years,” says Balasubramaniam in his paper.
    “With the new knowledge we can analyse all the important ancient structures in India,” he says, and hopes the findings “will open a new chapter in the study of metrology (science of measurements)”.
    But how did the “angulam” tradition remain unbroken for so long?
    As quoted in the website of “Nature India”, Balasubramaniam believes the workers from the Harappan days were perhaps using some kind of scale “that was handed over through generations”.

    If the Taj Mahal was built by Muslim architects or engineers why would they use an indian vedic system of measurement?, the answer because it was a Hindu temple, around the world history is full of Islamic empires that have taken control of temples and edited them to fit an islamic context

  45. RSS or Rashtriya Swayamswvak Sangh had been created By Dr Hedgewar and consolidated by Guruji Golwalkar and had beenserving the cause of the Hindus and the indian State in its limited way .In its Western Avatar it has also been doing some good work styled as H.S.S. or Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh .It however cannot or does not claim any mono[poly in its field .More groups working towards welfare of the Hindu community is very welcome .People like Dr Kornad elst ,David Frawly ,Stephen Knapp have proved themselves to be more Hindu than the born and practising Hindus .The need of the hour is , for all such organizations to work in tandem for the sake of Hindu cause , since Hindus seem to be totally cornered now ,being hunted and hounded in all countries,and worst of all in India itself , the land they call their own since time immemorial .

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