A study in contrast - The Observer

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The events which followed the mid-air collision of Saudi
and Kazhak flights resulting in the horrifying death of
351 passengers, provided a test for both the government
and the public. The wreckage of the planes fell near
Charkhi Dadri village of Bhiwani, about 60 km away from
Delhi. Everybody was caught unawares: the administration
was at a loss as to how to grapple with the situation.
The police was strictly keeping vigil on the belongings
of the deceased. Helpless and grieved relatives were
Pouring in hundreds. The task of retrieving the bodies
from the debris was stupendous. One organisation which
geared up to meet the task was the RSS.

Those who saw them working had praised for their yeoman
service. The premier agency PTI flashed the news that the
RSS was the first "to voluntarily offer its service to
the district administration. Much before the army ar-
rived, hundreds of cadres of the allegedly communal
outfits swarmed the wreckage site at Kheri Sanwal vil-
lage, assisting the local police in salvaging the muti-
lated bodies of the victims from the debris.

"I am indeed grateful to these organisations and the
local residents for the invaluable service they are
rendering," acknowledged the Union civil aviation min-
ister C M Ibrahim outside the camp. set up by the RSS at
the General Hospital here. The Sangh volunteers under the
banner of Vimman Durghatana Peedit Sahayata Samiti
(relief committee for those affected by the plane
mishap), were not only helping in the task of loading and
unloading of the dead bodies Into the trucks, but were
also helping the relatives of the dead in identification.

"They are doing a much better job than the local adminis-
tration," observed the former Union minister P J Kurien,
who was at the hospital to help the relatives of some
victims belonging to his constituency in Kerala.

A number of representative$ Of Muslim organisations who
visited the place, as most of the victims were Muslims,
too had praised the volunteers. The point to be stressed
is that of spontaneity of preparedness. Only good souls
can come forward In a situation like this, and that is
the spirit the RSS inculcates.

Time and again, this truth has been confirmed during the
partition days, at the time of Chinese Invasion, Indo-Pak
wars, earthquakes, flood, drought, and other calamities.

At the time of partition, the RSS played the major role
in saving the lives of millions of Hindus, and bringing
them into truncated India. Even In normal times, the
social service of RSS is done on a day-to-day basis
through thousands of centres of Seva Bharati. One can
imagine the magnitude of its service by the fact that in
Delhi alone there are over 500 centres of Seva Bharati.

This is the reality of the RSS movement. But what is the

image It has? The image is almost contrary to this. A
myth has been created mainly by Leftist politicians and
pseudo-secular brigades of penpushers, that the RSS and
its peripheral organisations are fiends. And therefore,
they should be jettisoned at any cost and by whatever
method, constitutional or unconstitutional. A label of
fascism has been stamped on them.

Look at the politics of the Left Front in general and the
CPI(M) in particular. One can see a streak of Stalinism
in the CPI(M)'s attitude. Fascism and communism are the
two sides of the same coin. Now, It is a well-known fact
that both Hitler and Stalin indulged in and perfected the
technique of mass killing and prevarication of truths.

With the withering away of the Soviet Union, a number of
myths woven around Soviet Union exploded. Their counter-
part in India, the CPI(M), mouths vaulting ideals of
democracy. In democracy, violence has no,place, and yet
the CPI(M) practise the cult blatantly at the micro-
level, wherever, it can.

I shall cite just me example of the state of Kerala where
they have been occasionally In power. In early 1996, the
LDF government under the leadership of the CPI(M) again
came to power, and since then 13 prominent Sangh Parivar
workers have been killed. Their fault? Only that they
belonged to the Sangh Parivar, and progressively they
were surging ahead. In Kerala, the SFI, the students'
wing of the CPI(M), is the most powerful student organi-
sation, followed by the KSU of the Congress. In the last
few years, the scenario has changed. The ABVP is emerg-
ing as the second-most powerful student organisation in
the southern part of Kerala.

This year, the ABVP won elections to a number of college
and school unions. The CPI(M) applied physical force to
scuttle the victory, and killed three winners of the
ABVP. This is not an isolated example. Right from 1969,
prominent workers of the Sangh Parivar are being killed
by CPI(M) activists. In all, 108 murders of rising Sangh
Parivar leaders speak volumes for the 'democratic' com-
mitment of the CPI(M).

The approach of the CPI(M) affiliated bodies is the same
everywhere. Take the recent case of JNU. The BJP presi-
dent L K Advani was invited by the Spanish department to
release a. book, against the background of the ABVP
victory in the JNUSU election. Advani's visit was someth-
ing unbearable for the pink democrats and ardent believ-
ers in open debate. Such is the level of their intoler-
ance.

A Leftist pamphlet says. Advani "has stained his hands
with the blood of innumerable numbers of Innocent people
during his so-called Rath Yatra". Advani had challenged
a number of times in the Parliament to cite even one
example of communal violence during his whole course of
Rath Yatra. The comrades should at least give the name
of one person who was killed during the Rath Yatra. They
should cite at least one statement of Advani which is not
secular by their own standards. They have often referred
to hawala cases. In a surcharged atmosphere such as
this, hundreds of charges can be levelled against anyone
without a grain of truth in them. The case is still
pending in the court. The CBI had to concede that Adva-
ni's name was not there in the Jain diary.

The door of JNU was closed for Advani by the Leftist
students. What does it signify? It signifies intoler-
ance, undemocratic temperament, arrogance and dogmatism.

The way they behaved in the meeting of the union also
speaks volumes for their fascist traits. They beat up
ABVP members In the meeting itself. This attitude is not
confined to the student or the state level. Look at the
way the CPI and CPI(M) are behaving In the UF government,
one within and the other from outside. Gradually, fas-
cist trends are emerging out of the actions of the UP
government. Despite the fact that the BJP Is the single
largest party, and there has been a tradition of minority
governments, the UF under the guidance of the CPI and
CPI(M) is on a truculent path as far as the BJP Is con-
cerned, stymieing it by violating the Constitution it-
self. The Allahabad High Court has given a split judg-
ment. For the first time, the Presidential proclamation
has been declared invalid. But the fascist trend is
undisturbed.

• Previous message: A M Rosenthal (in The New York Times) : "Who says Israel is suffering?"

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