Calcutta: Truth is stranger than fiction. And when RSS speaks truth, we can hardly believe it. Can we ever think of an RSS leader praising Islam? The very existence of RSS in India is on the basis of whipping up communal hatred against minorities.
That is why many were shocked when a senior RSS leader, that too the chief editor of the Organiser, the official organ of the RSS, K.R Malkani wrote an article in Statesman (Aug 5) on the “Attraction of Islam” to untouchables. Like M.N. Roy who has paid glorious tributes to Islam, Malkani says Islam’s sturdy egalitarianism, its militancy and socio-psychological appeal attracts a certain kind of persons not only in India but in Africa also.
He says: It is possible to argue that Islam does have a certain appeal for certain people. It is necessary to understand the nature of this appeal The founder of Islam was not only for one God; he was also for one market. Islam not only believed in the theoretical equality of Muslims, it conceded this equality in fact, as it won more territories and more tribes. However, to the extent that one Muslim does not treat another as an untouchable, Islam scores over Hinduism, socially and politically As Count Keyserling wrote in his Travel Diary of a Philosopher: The democracy of Islam explains its power of attraction, especially in India, where conversion to it implies the only possibility of escaping from caste rigidity. Keyserling added: The more | see of Islam the more am | impressed by the superiority this faith, gives to its confessors.
“This fundamentally military attitude explains all advantages of a Mussulman. But yet another attraction of the religion is its honesty about what might be described as the good things of life. But other things being the same, the Muslim seems to be able to get a bigger-if not a better- kick out of life. But Islam always had the other socio-psychological attraction which was felt by both King John of England and the Emperor Napoleon: This is not to suggest that its total appeal is necessarily greater than Hinduism’s. But it does seem to appeal more to some people. And so, you get Meenakshipurams Many Africans and some blacks even in the USA are becoming Muslims”, says Malkani.
