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See RSS, Think Al Queda!
By Subhash Gatade 22 August, 2005
Countercurrents.org

The RSS may call itself a cultural organisation,
but an established US think tank has virtually
equated it with Al Queda and some other outfits,
terming them "new religious movements (NRMs)
that have also emerged as sources of violence". ..

The report titled "Exploring Religious Conflicts"
says "NRMs can be found in Hinduism (the RSS),
Israel ( Gush Emunim), Christianity ( the US
based identity movement) and Islam, including Al
Queda, a global network with a transcendent
vision that draws support in the defence of
Islam"...
For the RSS, the adverse comment comes close
on the heels of the Virginia based Terrorism
Research Centre (TRC) declaring it a terrorist
organisation and lumping it with a number of
Jihadi and secessionist outfits.( Report by S.
Rajagopalan, Hindustan Times, delhi, dated 11 th
August 2005)

I

The recent report on 'religious conflicts' by the US
think tank RAND Corporation has definitely
brought a fresh spate of bad news for the
beleagured RSS which is passing through one of
its worst crisis since its inception. Ruthlessly
tearing apart its well cultivated and projected
image that it is a 'cultural organisation' the said
report virtually equates it with Al Queda and some
other outfits, terming them "new religious
movements (NRMs) that have also emerged as
sources of violence".

Labelling the RSS as "an ultra Hindu nationalist
movement" it clearly states that the RSS
espouses a "strong and militant religious
philosophy based on exclusivity and hate",
blames it for violence directed at Muslims and
Christians and reiterates that it remains a threat
to the idea of India as a secular state.

For the RSS, the report has been so devastating
that despite a section of the media going public
with the inferences of the study and its critics
raising the temperatures further, none of the
media savvy spokespersons of the Parivar have
dared to comment on it. It appears that the
Sangh bosses have preferred to adopt the much
tested maun vrata a vow of silence over this.
Looking at the genesis of this study which has
emanated from a conservative think tank which is
very close to the US establishment , the maun
vratam seems to be the best option before them.

Gone are the days when the RSS and its men,
which are part of the plethora of organisations
which it has built, were patting themselves on
their backs for effecting a paradigm shift in its
relation vis-a-vis the USA. Now forget paradigm
shift, within a span of a few months this is the
third time in a row that the Parivar and its men
have received rebukes either at the hands of the
US establishment itself or through those
institutions/peoples who are working closely with
it. It was only last September that the Virginia
based 'Terrorism Research Centre' a leading think
tank specialising in terrorism studies with due
help from the US government, declared RSS as a
terrorist organisation and lumped it with a
number of Jihadi and secessionist outfits. The first
quarter of this year witnessed the denial of visa to
Narendra Modi, the poster boy of the Sangh
Parivar which rather stopped him from going to
US for luring Non resident Gujaratis to invest in
the state. And now comes the RAND study which
tells us to have a relook at the commonalities
between RSS and Al Qaeda and the danger they
like many of their ilk present before humanity.

II

Formally the RAND Corporation may call itself a
'..nonprofit institution that helps improve policy
and decision making through research and
analysis' but nobody can deny the umbilical chord
which unites it with the US establishment. A
product of the cold war competition with USSR
and founded in the period of Mccarthysim in US
polity when intellectual witch hunt was at its
peak, the institution has down the years carved
out a niche for itself as a very reliable
conservative 'thinktank' for the US establishment.
May it be the Korean war or for that matter the
Vietnam (mis)adventure of the USA or the
present preoccupation of the Bush led
establishment towards 'war against terror' RAND's
policy recommendations have been reflective to
service to power and in the most recent period
has turned its attention to bring about “a
reformation in the Muslim world.”

A mere perusal of the present study 'Exploring
Religious Conflicts' makes it clear that it is
basically a summary of the workshops hosted by
the RAND National Security Research Division
with due financial help from the CIA. The
introduction makes it clear that it has been
undertaken to 'assess religious motivations in
international politics, what may cause violence
with religious roots and how states have sought to
take advantage or contain religious violence.'
Looking at the mess in which the US finds itself
today especially in middle east, a mess of its own
making, the present study suggests some ways
out. There is no denying the fact that the bulk of
the 84 page report brought out by RAND is mainly
focussed on this present preoccupation of the US
establishment namely the 'war against terror' or
Islamic extremism.

Interestingly although funded directly by the CIA,
the conclusions of the study are at variance with
the way the Bushes, Cheneys or the Rumsfields
have viewed the unfolding situation before them.
The world very well knows how the neo cons have
reformulated rules of US engagement in world
politics and have discovered the rule of
'preemptive strike' supposedly to contain the
'rogue states'. The present study frankly states
that the use of military force to combat cosmic
war could be counter productive. It cautions the
US from even aspiring to the military destruction
of the opponent, even in the long run. It advises
the U.S. policymakers to try to adjust their mental
map of relations with the Islamic world from one
based on a historic sense of “conflict” to thinking
of relationships along a continuum that
encompasses a wide range of issues.

It is worth noting that while the present report
suggests restraint, two of the earlier reports
brought out by RAND very much resonate with
the neo cons thinking. The report issued in March
2004 entitled "Civil Democratic Islam : Partners,
Resources and Strategies" written by some Cheryl
Benard recommended a civil war among the
various parts of the Muslim community with a
hope that the end result will be that those who
support the US world view would prevail through
its help. The 600 pages report issued in December
2004 entitled “ US strategy in the Muslim World
after 9/11 suggests that Sunni, Shiite and Arab,
non-Arab divides should be exploited to promote
the US policy objectives in the Muslim world.

Ofcourse to put the things in proper perspective
the study under discussion namely 'Exploring
Religious Conflicts' also discusses similar
'potential new religious movements (NRMs), even
violent ones, apart from those spawned by
Islamic radicalism.' and notes that if Islam has its
Al Qaeda, Christianity has US based identity
movement, Jews have Gush Emunim and
Hinduism has its RSS ( Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh). According to the study ".Sometimes
referred to as cults, NRMs have two defining
characteristics – a high degree of tension between
the group and its surrounding society and a high
degree of control exercised by leaders over their
members. There is a discernible proliferation of
NRMs across the global landscape. While they
have gotten most attention in the richer
countries, they are found everywhere, including
countries of the Third World and the Middle East."

Coming to the RSS the ultra Hindu nationalist
movement it says it "..[e]spouses a strong and
militant religious philosophy based on exclusivity
and hate. After the assassination of Gandhi in
1948, the movement was banned for a few years
by the Indian government because of its acts of
violence and terrorism and its exhortation to
followers to resort to terrorist methods in the
promulgation of its religious ideas. In the 1990s,
under the government led by the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), its role and influence in India grew
and continues to grow even today. During the
BJP’s tenure in political office....the RSS
continued to gain momentum and was engaged in
violence, particularly against what it viewed to be
threats against the Hindu state, namely Muslims
and Christians. .."

III

For layperson it may appear incomprehensible
this sudden 'dawning of wisdom' upon the
western world especially the USA vis-a-vis RSS. It
may appear puzzling to them that why till date
sharing the vision of 'anti communism' as a glue
the US and its think tanks have suddenly woken
up to the danger the RSS presents to India's
secular state.

The reasons are not far to seek. But before
delineating the possible reasons one needs to
note that these changes in the evaluation of the
RSS vis-a-vis US establishment are of a short
term nature. Strategically speaking the USA has
always looked towards the RSS as a force which
can counterbalance the communist forces in the
unlikely event that the democratic experiment
fails in India prompting greater intervention by
the reds in the polity. One can remember the
early 50s study of the Communist Movement in
India done by Overstreet and Windmiller which
was done at the behest of the CIA where they had
even put forward this hypothesis and had
underlined that RSS would act as a bulwark
against the Communist movement.

- The need for tactical or short term changes in
the evaluation of the RSS has arisen because of
the Iraq-Afghanistan imbroglio where the USA
finds itself in a mess of its own making. As the
present study makes it clear that the "..[U]S
foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly its
strong and unswerving support of Israel and its
current war against terrorism and “Islam,” have
made the United States an object of hate. ..the
United States is perceived as evil and out to
destroy Islam; it therefore must be fought in
order to defend the faith."

One route open before the US regime it to shed
its 'anti Islam' image is to make friends with
moderate Islamic regimes may it be Pervez
Musharraf led Pakistan or Hosni Mubarak led
Egypt. The second option before it is by
distancing itself from groups, organisations which
cherish ideological hatred towards Islam or detest
Muslims as a community. Definitely the RSS
which wears its anti minority image on its sleeve
and has no qualms in rationalising pogroms of
Muslims or breaking of mosques serves the
purpose well.

There is no doubt that a major factor which has
prompted the USA to undertake this reevaluation
is the recent changes in the Indian polity namely
the exit of a government led by the Sangh Parivar
diehards. And despite a long history of support
provided by the Sangh Supremos namely the
Golwalkars and the Deorases in times of cold war
and despite the fact that Vajpayee-Advani led
regime had unilaterally offered it support when
US launched its 'war against terror' The US
government and its affiliated institutions lost no
time in recalibrating their evaluation of the RSS.
If Virginia based TRC ( Terrorism Research
Centre) called RSS as a 'terrorist organisation' (
September 2004) and lumped it together with 31
other jihadi and secessionist organisations like the
Hizbul Mujahideen and the Jaish-e-Mohammad
operating in India , the US government itself
denied a visa to the poster boy of Sangh Parivar
Narendra Modi when he wanted to meet the Non
resident Gujaratis to appeal to them that invest in
Gujarat. And the latest dressing down has come
at the hands of RAND report which has equated it
with the likes of Al Qaeda. Indeed for a self
proclaimed cultural organisation, this hatrick of
sorts of a different kind within a span of mere ten
months, must be a world record.

The public opinion inside the US or for that matter
other western countries also created its own
pressure on the respective governments. We are
aware that apart from the international level
human rights organisations visiting Gujarat in
2002 to seek more details, many a teams from
western countries themselves visited Gujarat
state when the world at large became aware of
the pogrom undertaken by the nazi loving Parivar
people. People also knew how the ascendance of
BJP at the centre has also seen unleashing of
attacks against the Christians all over India. The
tragic burning of Graham Steins and his two sons
by criminals owing allegiance to the Hindutva
ideology had been witnessed by the world.

Many a business delegations also visited the
'model laboratory of Hindutva' namely Gujarat to
ascertain the safety of their invested capital. It
was clear that a state which could attract enough
capital because of its infrastructure and related
facilities suddenly saw drying up fresh
investments after the carnage 2002.

Ofcourse the important role played by the civil
society organisations inside USA especially the
role of the secular diaspora from south asia in
influencing the public opinion cannot be denied.
The important role played by them in highlighting
the Gujarat genocide which officially saw killings
of mainly 2,000 Muslims organised with due
connivance of the BJP led state machinery or the
way they led a massive campaign inside USA
where they exposed how by utilising the US
Corporate Philanthropy the Sangh people have
been channelising millions of dollars to Hate
groups in India also created an impact. (Times of
India, Nov 22, 2002).The Project Saffron Dollar
launched by intellectuals, students and other
professionals compelled many a respectable US
companies to even stop funding the innocuous
looking funding arm of the Sangh linked IDRF
(India Development and Relief Fund)

The secular activists also demonstrated the
sameness of the Hindutva inspired groups in USA
with the other fanatic groups as far as modus
operandi is concerned. They showed how a very
popular Hindutva web site'Hindunity.org' (
www.hindunity.org) engages itself in venomous
propaganda against minorities and has even
prepared a 'hit list' of individuals, organisations
which are opposed to the anti human agenda of
the Parivar. They also brought to the notice of the
authorities the close connection between the
Hindutva groups and Zionist groups and how they
have been coordinating their activites. When the
Hindutva.org website was compelled to
discontinue its operations by the service provider
because of its venomous postings, a zionist group
came forward to host it. Although in his famous
book 'We and Our Nationhood Defined' the RSS
supremo Golwalkar has supported Hitler for his
experiments in ethnic cleansing by targetting the
Jews his followers were found to be enjoying the
good company of the Zionists without any
reservation. The only common thing which
connected these groups is their common hatred
towards Islam.

IV

Prof Ram Puniyani had written an article 'Is RSS
A Terrorist Organisation' (Countercurrents.org
2 June 2005 ) immediately after the Terrorism
Research Centre's categorisation about the RSS
that it is a 'terrorist organisation' made headlines.
In this article he explained the indoctrination
work of RSS which goes on twin tracks, namely
physical and bauddik (mental) one.

He explained :" It is the latter which motivates its
progeny to incite people to take up arms and kill
the ‘other’, the ‘enemy’ in the ruthless fashion.
The anatomy of a riot, violence, is very interesting
and complex both at the same time. How the
average dalit, adivasi, worker with empty stomach
and non existent future is mobilized as the foot
soldier of RSS agenda, is something social
scientists have to explain. RSS pracharak may be
at the same time sitting and giving a quiet
discourse on Hindu values, Hindu rashtra while
RSS ideology will grip the section of population to
unleash violence, to kill the innocents. It does
achieve the political goal of consolidation of
section of Hindus behind RSS; it does make them
come back to power or strengthen its power. The
definition with which we began was killing of
innocents for power or political agenda is
terrorism. And that’s precisely what RSS work
does. "

Contrasting between the Ladens or the AK 47
wielding terrorists and the RSS volunteers he
rightly says that he may appear to be apostle of
quietness. According to him to get the minorities
beaten and killed without taking up the arms
oneself this is the wiliest and cleverest part of the
RSS operation. And he righly concludes "The
violence is leased out by clever social and
psychological manipulation. In that sense AK 47
may miss the target but a mind poisoned and
initiated by Hate ideology propagated by RSS will
come out as violence some time or the other, here
or there, it’s just a question of time. Culture, the
cloak of this organization is the most subtly
disguised cover for the terrorist goals of this
organization."

See RSS, Think Al
Queda!

By Subhash Gatade

22 August, 2005
Countercurrents.org

The RSS may call itself a cultural organisation,
but an established US think tank has virtually
equated it with Al Queda and some other outfits,
terming them "new religious movements (NRMs)
that have also emerged as sources of violence". ..

The report titled "Exploring Religious Conflicts"
says "NRMs can be found in Hinduism (the RSS),
Israel ( Gush Emunim), Christianity ( the US
based identity movement) and Islam, including Al
Queda, a global network with a transcendent
vision that draws support in the defence of
Islam"...
For the RSS, the adverse comment comes close
on the heels of the Virginia based Terrorism
Research Centre (TRC) declaring it a terrorist
organisation and lumping it with a number of
Jihadi and secessionist outfits.( Report by S.
Rajagopalan, Hindustan Times, delhi, dated 11 th
August 2005)

I

The recent report on 'religious conflicts' by the US
think tank RAND Corporation has definitely
brought a fresh spate of bad news for the
beleagured RSS which is passing through one of
its worst crisis since its inception. Ruthlessly
tearing apart its well cultivated and projected
image that it is a 'cultural organisation' the said
report virtually equates it with Al Queda and some
other outfits, terming them "new religious
movements (NRMs) that have also emerged as
sources of violence".

Labelling the RSS as "an ultra Hindu nationalist
movement" it clearly states that the RSS
espouses a "strong and militant religious
philosophy based on exclusivity and hate",
blames it for violence directed at Muslims and
Christians and reiterates that it remains a threat
to the idea of India as a secular state.

For the RSS, the report has been so devastating
that despite a section of the media going public
with the inferences of the study and its critics
raising the temperatures further, none of the
media savvy spokespersons of the Parivar have
dared to comment on it. It appears that the
Sangh bosses have preferred to adopt the much
tested maun vrata a vow of silence over this.
Looking at the genesis of this study which has
emanated from a conservative think tank which is
very close to the US establishment , the maun
vratam seems to be the best option before them.

Gone are the days when the RSS and its men,
which are part of the plethora of organisations
which it has built, were patting themselves on
their backs for effecting a paradigm shift in its
relation vis-a-vis the USA. Now forget paradigm
shift, within a span of a few months this is the
third time in a row that the Parivar and its men
have received rebukes either at the hands of the
US establishment itself or through those
institutions/peoples who are working closely with
it. It was only last September that the Virginia
based 'Terrorism Research Centre' a leading think
tank specialising in terrorism studies with due
help from the US government, declared RSS as a terror organization.