The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) loves to boast about being the world’s biggest political party, and ruling the largest democracy on the planet. The truth however is that it's a part of the rabid Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has has managed to build a Hindutva empire of hate and bigotry. The present government, far from.upholding the ideals of democracy, has instead crowned this empire by removing the six-decade old ‘ban’ on government employees taking part in RSS activities through a Government Order, which removes the ban by reviewing three circulars issued in 1966, 1970 and 1980. And with this move, whatever semblance of governance that is left in this country is ready to sink.
First, let's look at what The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, clause 5, has to say on government servants taking part in politics:
No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.
It shall be the duty of every Government servant to endeavour to prevent any member of his family from taking part in, subscribing in aid of, or assisting in any other manner any movement or activity which is, or tends directly or indirectly to be, subversive of the Government as by law established and where a Government servant is unable to prevent a member of his family from taking part in, or subscribing in aid of, or assisting in any other manner, any such movement or activity, he shall make a report to that effect to the Government.
If any question arises whether a party is a political party or whether any organisation takes part in politics or whether any movement or activity falls within the scope of sub-rule (2), the decision of the Government thereon shall be final.
The RSS was initially declared an unlawful organisation in 1948 due to concerns over its activities after a member, Nathuram Godse, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Union Home Minister who imposed the ban, wrote to RSS Chief MS Golwalkar on 11 September, 1948: “Organising Hindus and helping them is one thing but going in for revenge for its sufferings on innocent and helpless men, women and children is quite another thing… All their speeches were full of communal poison. It was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus organize for their protection… As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of Gandhiji. Even an iota of the sympathy of the Government, or of the people, no more remained for the RSS. In fact, opposition grew. Opposition turned more severe, when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji’s death. Under these conditions it became inevitable for the Government to take action against the RSS…”
Subsequently, the ban was withdrawn on assurances of good behaviour. Even after this, the RSS never flew the national flag in Nagpur. In 1966, a fresh ban was introduced. As certain doubts were raised about the government’s policy with respect to the membership of and participation in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants, it was clarified that government has always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such a nature that participation in them by government servants would attract the Central Civil Services Conduct Rules. The 1970 Circular reiterated the 1966 directive and stressed disciplinary action against violators.
The 1980 Circular emphasised the need for secularism among government servants and reiterated previous orders against communal organizations.
Since the present government is communal and anti-secular, it has now interpreted Rule 5 (3) in favour of RSS and has allowed government servants to take part in its activity.
The question is whether such an interpretation is tenable and legal. The answer is no; in fact, it is unconstitutional.
The truth is that the BJP, which is ruling the country and many states, is the political wing of the RSS. Its gargantuan size and octopus-like tentacles can be seen from the graph below.
This leviathan has reached every nook and cranny of the government and the state and is the greatest predator of the established institutions and instruments of democratic governance within and outside the Constitution.
In 1977, soon after the formation of Janata Party government, dual membership of the government and the RSS became an existential issue for the government, eventually leading to its fall. The Janata Party was formed by an amalgamation of several political parties opposed to the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, and one of the parties in this merger was the Jan Sangh — the predecessor of the BJP.
In 1977, soon after the formation of the Janata government, Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), the architect of that government, said this: “RSS identifies the Indian nation with Hindu Rashtra. Such identification is pregnant with national disintegration, because members of other communities can never accept the position of second-class citizens. Such a situation, therefore, has in it the seeds of perpetual conflict and ultimate disruption. RSS should ‘give up the concept of Hindu Rashtra and adopt in its place Indian nationhood, which is a secular concept and embraces all communities living in India.’ RSS should disband itself and merge with the youth and cultural organisations of the Janata Party and admit Muslims, Christians and members of other communities. RSS should give up the concept of Hindu Rashtra and adopt in its place that of Indian nationhood, which is a secular concept and embraces all communities living in India.”
In 2005 as BJP was celebrating its silver jubilee, its president LK Advani openly admitted that the party would not have been born in 1980 had the Janata Party not raised the issue of dual membership in the manner they did. "The Janata Party parliamentary board put forward the excuse of our dual membership as they thought that they would not be able to progress if we stayed with them," Advani said after releasing a book on 25 years of BJP.
According to him, the rationale behind the birth of BJP lies in the fact that they opposed a ban on members’ ties with the RSS, which was sought to be imposed by Janata Party leaders. RSS sahasarkaryavah, Madandas Devi, who presided over the function, put it more bluntly when he said: "BJP stands on the backdrop of Jan Sangh and Jan Sangh stood on the backdrop of RSS."
Without doubt, RSS is a political entity and is now part and parcel of the governance system. Instead of disbanding it as suggested by JP himself, it has been made to grow colossal and like the carnivorous Madagascar Tree is sucking out and draining all democratic institutions that are fast losing their strength and vibrancy. The way RSS operates, the membership of this communal organisation could soon become an essential qualification for entry into government service. As it is, several senior functionaries in government including Governors are actively participating in RSS activities including holding of Shakas.
There are also reports of an RSS-backed IAS institute that has been quietly grooming ‘nationalist’ civil servants since 1986. The report further says: “At a time when minority institutes like Jamia and Zakat Foundation are in the middle of a row over the rising number of Muslims cracking the Civil Services Examination, an RSS-backed coaching institute, Samkalp Foundation, has claimed a 61 per cent success rate in this year’s exam. Of the 759 candidates picked by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to enter the civil services this year (2020), as many as 466 had undertaken Samkalp’s Interview Guidance Program (IGP), the foundation claims.”
Even in the famed IAS Academy at Mussoorie where civil servants are trained one could see the shades of RSS Shaka!
Now by formally merging the government servants, which include civil servants belonging to All India Services, with this entity, whatever semblance of governance is left will also sink.
MG Devasahayam is an economist and a former Army and Indian Administrative Service officer.
Views expressed are the author's own.