A few years back when I was still a schoolboy I had a life-changing conversation with my shakha karyavah ( president of RSS’ shakha). Being frustrated with the existing education system I as a small child went on to take up this issue in RSS’ shakha itself. I was complaining about every bit which I could, from attendance policy to rigorous memorization which was propagated by the teachers was simply ridiculous( as I thought). Sweating out after shouting at the loudest pitch I was off to wear my sleepers. I was just about to leave the sangh sthan(where shakha is held) when I was stopped by my karyavah ji , He in his polite and minimum pitch asked me to spend my energy in giving a solution to the problem rather than just complaining about it. he then continued saying that what makes a swyam sevak different than rest is this very attitude of solving the problem not merely criticising it. This advice of his struck me.
J&K , as we all know is no more famous for her scenery but is criticised by rest of the country proportionally with the weight of stone pelted. The whole country is doing what I as a small child did years before i.e mere criticism. When everyone is busy criticising, RSS has different plans. RSS is planning to hold its annual meeting in Kashmir valley. The valley which is injured by bullets and stones, by terrorism and militancy.
Actually, this is not a sudden move made by RSS just for photo ops. Remember RSS never believes in photo ops, it just concentrates on real work that is needed on the ground. It all began way back in 2002 when RSS’ muslim wing , Muslim Rashtra Manch, was formed under the leadership of Indresh ji(RSS pracharak). MRM has been successful in getting many muslims on board, especially women. He has successfully harmonised the idea of Islam with idea of India. He has been successful in telling muslim women the synchronisation between Quran and vande matram which resulted in muslim women teaching their children about vande matram. RSS was successful at beating the fanatics with their own weapon. The poison they(fanatics) inculcated in maddarrasas was neutralised by the muslim women itself. Indresh ji not only stays with muslim family when he goes to Kashmir but is also a part of their family now. I won’t be wrong in saying that what RSS sowed way before in 2002 , it’s time to eat up its fruit. RSS acknowledged the fact that situation in kashmir is grim and worked towards it. As Rabindranath Tagore said, accept failure without acknowledging defeat. RSS also accepted the failure but never gave up. It is the work of MRM on which RSS is cashing on.
Though RSS is being covered much more nowadays but it is not the first time RSS has taken this route. Way back in 1960s when the then sarsanghchalak, Guru Ji Golwalkar went for a two day stay in west Bengal, he was welcomed by the communists and the maoists with black flags and stones were also pelted on his carcade. This disturbed Guru ji but instead of loosing hope he advised the swaymsevaks to carry on with RSS’ work more actively in the area where he was attacked. Finally the truth prevailed and when Guru ji came back to that area after few years he was welcomed with garland of flowers, people there apoloised and touched his feet. Guru ji came out of his car and went down walking with the common mass.
In fact if you study the social life of any charismatic leader of our country , they never ever stayed in their own palace and criticised others in black and white. Take for example Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan, He went to Chambal to talk to the dacoits and came back with the dacoits accepting him as the fatherly figure. Dacoits gave up the violence. similarly, Lok Nayak also went to nagaland and gained their trust which resulted in their agreement to be with India.
Therefore RSS’ meeting in Kashmir can be termed as a step forward in right direction. It won’t just give a stern message to the separatists but would also imbibe the idea of india in the valley. On one hand it would strengthen the hands of MRM, on the other hand it would help cut the hands of hurriyats. Because for hurriyats it is only they who can hold meetings in Delhi, RSS showed that it’s our soil and we can also hold meetings in Kashmir.I sincerely believe every leader in this country must hold their national party meeting in Kashmir once in every few years. Let the world see that there are more things in Kashmir than hurriyats and stone pelters. let Kashmir be in news for good reasons not just for wrong reasons after all it’s our own land. RSS doesn’t believe in gaining rather concentrates on growing. Gaining makes you violent but growing helps make inroads in the hearts and minds of people. All of us must come out of our narrow brackets and appreciate RSS’ efforts towards building Kashmir which will again be known for its scenery. And let me add at last , let us act not just speak because action speaks louder than criticism(words).
