Bombay : The RSS and its Hindu followers have at last succeeded in starting an anti-Muslim communal riot in Maharashtra following their two-month-long “Hindu unity conferences” held in different parts of the State. Pune, Sholapur, Baramati, Pandharpur, Sangli experienced the first violence against Muslims from Feb. 14.
Ever since mass conversions of Untouchables took place in TN, RSS has been riding the waves using this golden opportunity to increase its influence in the country and we have every indication to believe that it has achieved its purpose to a great extent. The conversions helped RSS to kill two birds (dalits & Muslims) with one stone.’ And the direct result of it is the anti-Muslim frenzy culminating in largescale violence against Muslims. Indications are that many other urban centers may also explode in similar violence. One report said Pune was expriencing its first anti-Muslim riots since 1973. How could Hindus become heroes by attacking Muslim life and property ? Does “Hindu unity meet” mean spilling Muslim blood ? The police in Pune and elsewhere confirmed that violence against Muslims was the direct result of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (an arm of the RSS) taking out processions earlier on the same day spitting fire against Muslims for having allegedly converted “Harijans”. And Pune had such a notorious history of the Peshwa rule of the Brahmin orthodoxy. Godse, who killed Gandhi, belonged to Pune. The RSS top brass comprising Chitpavan Brahmins, and the cow worshipper, Vinoba Bhave, the “sarkari sant”, also belong to this particular Brahmin caste and to Pune. The RSS had earlier succeeded in turning the Hindu wrath against Muslims in Gujarat. And Ahmedabad had just recovered after a series of communal clashes. BJP, the political arm of the RSS, is trying to replace the ruling Cong. I of Indira Gandhi by becoming the centrist party via its new slogan of “Gandhian socialism”. To become a centrist party it needs the votes of the dalits and other low caste shudras. And in this country it is possible to unite the Hindus by showing them an enemy, the Muslim & Christian. The RSS was able to bag its prized catch in Maharshtra, namely Anna Saheb Patil, who is a hero among the poorer sections of the Marathas, the ruling caste of Maharashtra. Marathas form nearly one fourth to one-third of the total population. Patil is the president of the all-India Maratha Mahasangh. The RSS succeeded in bringing him under its influence through the anti-dalit feeling that is riding high among the Marathas. It was Anna Saheb who had threatened to launch a Gujarat type anti-dalit agitation in Maharashtra also on the issue of reservations. ” He had then addressed a series of meetings in Bombay and elsewhere and the lumpen proletariat among the Marathas were won over by his speeches. On Jan. 23-24 last, Anna saheb addressed a huge meeting of Marathas at Sholapur and saffron flags of the RSS were displayed at the meeting. Gail Omvedt, a noted social scientist and trusted friend of the dalits, writing in the Economic & Political Weekly (Feb. 6) says that the Sholapur meeting succeeded in creating “an atmosphere of terror against the minorities and other low Castes.” She also says that the Maratha Mahajan is adopting a clear anti-Muslim emotionalism and with even greater anti dalit agitation.” Ban on conversions, common civil code and scrapping of reservations are the main demands of the Mahajan. The Maratha tradition is being used against the minorities and dalits. The RSS has found a very useful leader in Anna Saheb. The other important leader who is also serving the. RSS interests is Bal Thakrey, the Shiv Sena leader of Bombay who in a recent interview to Sunday Observer, spit fire against the Muslims and dalits. RSS is thus building up its base and conversions of dalits to Islam has helped it like anything. Once Indira Gandhi is out of the scene, they know that her ruling Cong. I party would be dead and RSS should be ready to take up the central position and gradually replace it. Current preparations to win over all dominant caste groups in each and every State of India is a step in that direction. The dominant caste groups also form the single largest population. Being the landed entry, they are not only affluent but had been the ruling community until the Untouchable-Muslim-Backward Class combination experimented by Indira Gandhi dispalced it from political power. This had made every dominant community angry with these three groups. And the RSS through its numerous front organizations had succeeded in harnessing this anger to its advantage. The anti-Brahmin movement once led by these dominant castes is dead and gone. Today, the very same groups have joined the Brahmins in attacking the castes lower below. What a wonderful strategy. Arun Sadhu, special correspondent ‘in a dispatch published in the Statesman (Feb. 20, 82) under the headline, “Genesis of the Pune Riots,”refers-to this dreadful communal scenario. The participation of the Maratha youth in the Pune, Sholapur, Pandharpur riots lends a new dimension to the situation. The RSS meetings held under the auspices of “Hindu unity meet” received tremendous response. Maratha youths, formed into “bhajan samaj” were in the forefront of the attack on Muslims. In every town of Maharashtra, the Maratha youths are joining RSS-sponsored organisations in a very big way, he says. The propoganda against Muslims is that they celebrated India’s defeat in the world hockey cup. In Pune, Miraj. Sangli rich Arabs were moving with Indian girls pouring Arab money into Indian Muslims hands ,. An air mining developement is the participation of Congress I leaders in such RSS meetings, he says. The Pune riot “started when a group in the Hindu procession started raising slogan near a place of worship. The import of the provocative slogan was that those who desired to live in India should sing Vande Mataram.”
