By Prof Shamsul Islam
RSS as a North Indian Brahmanical Terrorist Organization
Those who believe that RSS wants cleansing of Muslims and Christians only know half of the reality. Its project of Hindu nation demands sub-human existence for Sudras (Dalits) and Hindu women. In fact, RSS wanted this Constitution to be replaced by Manusmriti or Manu Code (laws of Manu) that is notorious for its derogatory and inhuman references to Sudras, Untouchables and women. The Constituent Assembly of India finalized the Constitution of India on November 26, 1949, RSS was not happy. Its organ, Organiser in an editorial on November 30, 1949, complained:
“But in our Constitution there is no mention of the unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”
By demanding promulgation of Manu Code in the Independent India RSS was simply following its mentor, philosopher and guide VD Savarkar who declared:
“Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worship-able after Vedas for our Hindu Nation and which from ancient times has become the basis of our culture-customs, thought and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Even today the rules which are followed by crores of Hindus in their lives and practice are based on Manusmriti. Today Manusmriti is Hindu Law.[i]
What kind of civilization the RSS and Hindutva camp want to build by enforcing the laws of Manu, can be known by having a glimpse of the laws prescribed by Manu for the lower castes/Untouchables and women. Some of these dehumanizing and degenerate laws, which are presented here, are self-explanatory.
A Selection of Laws of Manu Denigrating Dalits/Untouchables
- For the sake of the prosperity of the worlds (the divine one) caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed from his mouth, his arm, his thighs and his feet. (I/31)
- One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudras, to serve meekly even these (other) three castes. (I/91)
- Once-born man (a Sudra), who insults a twice-born man with gross invective, shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of low origin. (VIII/270)
- If he mentions the names and castes (jati) of the (twice-born) with contumely, an iron nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth. (VIII/271)
5- If he arrogantly teaches Brahmanas their duty, the king shall cause hot oil to be poured into his mouth and into his ears. (VIII/272)
- He who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off. (VIII/280)
- A low-caste man who tries to place himself on the same seat with a man of a high caste, shall be branded on his hip and be banished, or (the king) shall cause his buttock to be gashed. (VIII/281)
As per the Manu Code if Sudras are to be given most stringent punishments for even petty violations/actions, the same Code of Manu is very lenient towards Brahmins. Shloka 380 in Chapter VIII bestowing profound love on Brahmins decrees:
“Let him never slay a Brahmana, though he have committed all (possible) crimes; let him banish such an (offender), leaving all his property (to him) and (his body) unhurt.”
A Selection of Laws of Manu Demeaning Hindu women
- Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one’s control. (IX/2)
- Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence. (IX/3)
- Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), ‘(It is enough that) he is a man,’ they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly. (IX/14)
- Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this (world). (IX/15)
- (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct. (IX/17)
The reproduced parts of Manu Code above need no further elaboration and commentary. They are too glaringly venomous, fascist and degenerated against Untouchables who are referred to as Sudras by Manu. Perhaps this was the reason that the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche who contributed immensely to the growth of totalitarian ideas in Europe in the 20th century, fell in love with this work.
It is to be noted here that a copy of Manusmriti was burnt as a protest in the presence of Dr. BR Ambedkar during historic Mahad agitation in December, 1927. In fact, the Brahmanism as basis of RSS world-view is the original Fascism in the history of human civilization.[ii]
RSS Hatred for Dark-Skinned South Indians
Another important Fascist-Nazi trait of the RSS is hatred for ‘dark-skinned’ or non-Aryan people. It was not long ago that a senior RSS ideologue, Tarun Vijay, the former editor of the RSS Hindi organ, Panchajanya, ex-member of the Indian Parliament who apart from being in-charge of the RSS project of spreading Hindutva politics in Tamil Nadu also headed the ‘India-Africa Parliamentary Friendship Group’ reaffirmed it. Talking to a global news network while denying that Africans nationals were attacked in India due to Racism, he could not hide the reality that he was a die-hard Racist. According to him:
“If we were racist, why would (we) have the entire south (India) which is completely… you know Tamil (s), you (know people from) Kerala, you know Karnataka and people from Andhra. Why do we live with them? We have black people around us.”[iii]
He was candid in sharing his belief learnt at the RSS intellectual forums that White Indians from North of the country were living with “the black people around us” who inhabited in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra. Tarun’s statement reemphasized the racist understanding of RSS about India; North Indians are White (Aryans) whereas South Indians are Black (Dravidians) thus belonging to two different races. The message from him was that Aryans of the North were doing a favour to Black South Indians by allowing the latter to stay with the former.
Golwalkar on human Crossbreeding in Kerala: Denigrating Kerala Hindus specially women
RSS which claims to be the largest world organization of Hindus is, in fact, working over-time to establish North Indian Brahmanical hegemony over the Hindu society. The RSS brand of Brahmanism excludes South Indian Hindus including Brahmins. In its world-view North Indian Brahmins are superior lot of the rest
And RSS does it brazenly. Golwalkar was invited to address the students of the School of Social Science of Gujarat University on December 17, 1960. In this address, while underlying his firm belief in the Race Theory, he touched upon the issue of cross-breeding of human beings in the Indian society in history. He said:
“Today experiments in cross-breeding are made only on animals. But the courage to make such experiments on human beings is not shown even by the so-called modern scientist of today. If some human cross-breeding is seen today it is the result not of scientific experiments but of carnal lust. Now let us see the experiments our ancestors made in this sphere. In an effort to better the human species through cross-breeding the Namboodri Brahamanas of the North were settled in Kerala[iv] and a rule was laid down that the eldest son of a Namboodri family could marry only the daughter of Vaishya, Kashtriya or Shudra communities of Kerala. Another still more courageous rule was that the first off-spring of a married woman of any class must be fathered by a Namboodri Brahman and then she could beget children by her husband. Today this experiment will be called adultery but it was not so, as it was limited to the first child.”[v]
The above statement of Golwalkar was highly worrying in many respects. Firstly, it proved that Golwalkar believed that even in the Hindu society India had a superior Race or breed and also an inferior Race which needed to be improved through cross-breeding. Secondly, a more worrying aspect was his belief that Brahmans of the North (India) and specially Namboodri Brahamans, belonged to a superior Race. Due to this quality, Namboodri Brahamanas were sent from the North to Kerala to improve the breed of inferior Hindus there. Interestingly, this was being argued by a person who claimed to uphold the honour and unity of the Hindus world over. Thirdly, Golwalkar as a male chauvinist believed that a Namboodri Brahman male belonging to a superior Race from the North only could improve the inferior human Race from South. For him wombs of Kerala’s Hindu women enjoyed no sanctity and were simply objects of improving breed through intercourse with Namboodri Brahamanas who in no way were related to them. Thus, Golwalkar was, in fact, confirming the allegation that in the past male dominated high Caste society forced newly-wedded women of other castes to pass their first nights by sleeping with superior Caste males.
Shockingly, Golwalkar expressed these Racist, anti-women and anti-egalitarian views not in the presence of some uneducated or anti-social elements but before a noble gathering of gentry consisting of the faculty and students of a prime university in Gujarat. In fact, Golwalkar was welcomed by Dr. B. R. Shenoy, Director of the School while he arrived at the auditorium. The press reports make it clear that there was no murmur of protest against such fascist and ridiculous ideas. It shows the degree of respectability which high caste oratory enjoyed in Gujarat and explains why Hindutva could make inroads in this region.
It is also surprising that despite holding such ideas which openly denigrated women and society of Kerala and defending the institution of Casteism, RSS has been able to create pockets of influence in Kerala. There is no denying the fact that after Gujarat and Orissa, it is Kerala where we find RSS well-entrenched.
The above statement of Golwalkar was highly worrying in many respects. Firstly, it proved that Golwalkar believed that even in the Hindu society India had a superior Race or breed and also an inferior Race which needed to be improved through cross-breeding. Secondly, a more worrying aspect was his belief that Brahmans of the North (India) and specially Namboodri Brahamans, belonged to a superior Race. Due to this quality, Namboodri Brahamanas were sent from the North to Kerala to improve the breed of inferior Hindus there. Interestingly, this was being argued by a person who claimed to uphold the honour and unity of the Hindus world over. Thirdly, Golwalkar as a male chauvinist believed that a Namboodri Brahman male belonging to a superior Race from the North only could improve the inferior human Race from South. For him wombs of Kerala’s Hindu women enjoyed no sanctity and were simply objects of improving breed through intercourse with Namboodri Brahamanas who in no way were related to them. Thus, Golwalkar was, in fact, confirming the allegation that in the past male dominated high Caste society forced newly-wedded women of other castes to pass their first nights by sleeping with superior Caste males.
Shockingly, Golwalkar expressed these Racist, anti-women and anti-egalitarian views not in the presence of some uneducated or anti-social elements but before a noble gathering of gentry consisting of the faculty and students of a prime university in Gujarat. In fact, Golwalkar was welcomed by Dr. B. R. Shenoy, Director of the School while he arrived at the auditorium. The press reports make it clear that there was no murmur of protest against such fascist and ridiculous ideas. It shows the degree of respectability which high caste oratory enjoyed in Gujarat and explains why Hindutva could make inroads in this region.
It is also surprising that despite holding such ideas which openly denigrated women and society of Kerala and defending the institution of Casteism, RSS has been able to create pockets of influence in Kerala. There is no denying the fact that after Gujarat and Orissa, it is Kerala where we find RSS well-entrenched.
[i] Savarkar, V.D., ‘Women in Manusmriti’ in Savarkar Samagar (collection of Savarkar’s writings in Hindi) volume IV, Prabhat, Delhi, 2000, p. 416.
[ii] The above selection of Manu’s Codes is from F. Max Muller, Laws of Manu (Delhi: LP Publications, 1996; first published in 1886). The bracket after each code incorporates number of chapter/number of code according to the above edition.
[iii] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/if-we-were-racists-we-wouldnt-be-living-with-south-indians-bjps-tarun-vijay/articleshow/58065423.cms?from=mdr
[iv] The issue of the origin of the Namboodri Brahmins is debatable.
[v] M. S. Golwalkar cited in Organizer, January 2, 1961.