M. S. Golwalkar

M. S. Golwalkar
Born	19 February 1906 Ramtek, Maharashtra, India
Died	5 June 1973 (aged 67) Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Former chief of RSS

Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (19 February 1906 – 5 June 1973), also known as Shri Guruji, was the second Sarsanghchalak (Supreme Leader) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Golwalkar is the author of two controversial books--Bunch of Thoughts, and We, or Our Nationhood Defined.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written a biographical profile of Golwalkar in his book "Jyotipunj"; Modi considers Golwalkar to be one of his inspirations.

Early life

Golwalkar was born on 19 February 1906 at Ramtek near Nagpur, Maharashtra. He was the only surviving son of the nine children born to his parents Sadashivrao and Lakshmibai. As a school teacher, his father was frequently transferred around the country, and Golwalkar enrolled in schools in several different locations.

After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in the sciences from the Hislop College in Nagpur in 1926, he joined Benaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi for his Master's degree in science. During this period, he came under the influence of Madan Mohan Malaviya, a nationalist leader and the founder of the University. After completing his degree in 1928, he went to Madras to pursue his doctorate in Marine Life but was unable to complete it for financial reasons. Later, he served at BHU as a professor for three years, teaching zoology. It was here that he earned from his students the affectionate sobriquet of 'Guruji', owing to his beard, long hair and simple robe, a practice that was continued in a reverential manner among his RSS followers in later days. After his teaching tenure, Golwalkar returned to Nagpur and by 1935 had obtained an LL.B. Degree.

In Nagpur, Golwalkar came into contact with the Ramakrishna Mission. He left for the Saragachi Ashram in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, seeking to renounce the world and become a sanyasi. At the ashram, he became a disciple of Swami Akhandananda, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna and gurubandhu of Vivekananda. On 13 January 1937, he was initiated into the order and eventually, received his 'diksha' but his guru refused to permit him to become a sanyasi and directed him to continue his social service. He returned to Nagpur after his guru died in 1937.

Indian Independence Movement

Main article: Indian Freedom Movement

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had a tradition of keeping aloof from the anti-British Indian independence movement since its founding by K.B. Hedgewar in 1925. M.S. Golwalkar became the Sarsanghchalak(head) of the RSS in 1940, and under him, this policy was further crystallized. Golwalkar was always more vocal and forthright about the RSS' non-involvement in the anti-British Indian freedom struggle. In a speech delivered by him at Indore in 1960, Golwalkar said

"Many people worked with the inspiration to free the country by throwing the British out... We should remember that in our pledge we have talked of the freedom of the country through defending religion and culture.These is no mention of departure of the British in that."

Golwalkar even lamented on the anti-British nationalism of pre-independence India. In his book titled "We or our Nationhood Defined" , he criticized the vigorous anti-British character of the Indian freedom movement. In Golwalkar's own words,

"Anti-Britishism was equated with patriotism and nationalism. This reactionary view has had disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle, its leaders and the common people."

Quit India Movement

Main article: Quit India Movement

In keeping with this philosophy espoused by Golwalkar, which had no anti-British or anti-imperialist content, the RSS completely abstained from joining in the Quit India Movement as well. The Bombay government(British) appreciated the RSS as such, by noting that,

"the Sangh has scrupulously kept itself within the law, and in particular, has refrained from taking part in the disturbances that broke out in August 1942".

The British Government stated that the RSS was not at all supporting any civil disobedience against them, and as such their other political activities(even if objectionable) can be overlooked. Further, the British also asserted that at Sangh meetings organized during the times of anti-British movements started and fought by the Indian National Congress,

"speakers urged the Sangh members to keep aloof from the congress movement and these instructions were generally observed" .

As such, the British government did not crack down on the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha at all. Post the Quit India movement too, Golwalkar did not want to give the British any excuse to ban the RSS, and he was willing to follow any British order to that end. When the British Government banned military drills and use of uniforms in non-official organisations, Golwalkar complied and terminated the RSS military department on April 29, 1943. To this effect, Golwalkar distributed a circular to senior RSS figures, the wordings of which revealed his apprehensions about a possible British ban on the RSS. The circular went thus:

"We discontinued practices included in the Government's early orders on military drills and uniforms...to keep our work clearly within bounds of law, as every law abiding institution would...Hoping that circumstances would ease early, we had in a sense only suspended that part of our training. Now, however, we decide to stop it altogether and abolish the department without waiting for the time to change"

Golwalkar later openly admitted to the fact that the RSS did not participate in the Quit India Movement. However, such a dubious attitude during the Indian freedom movement also led to the Sangh being viewed with distrust and anger, both by the general Indian public, as well as certain members of the organization itself. In Golwalkar’s own words:

“In 1942 also, there was a strong sentiment in the hearts of many. At that time too, the routine work of the Sangh continued. Sangh decided not to do anything directly. ‘Sangh is the organization of inactive people, their talks have no substance’ was the opinion uttered not only by outsiders but also our own swayamsevaks”

Leadership of RSS

While Golwalkar was lecturing at BHU, Bhaiyaji Dani, a student at BHU and a close associate of RSS Sarsanghachalak K. B. Hedgewar, founded an RSS shakha in Varanasi. Inspired by the ideology and methodology of the RSS, Golwalkar joined the RSS and eventually, following a meeting with Hedgewar, went to the RSS' "Officers Training Camp" in Nagpur.

Hedgewar was deeply impressed by Golwalkar and, after his return from the Ramakrishna Mission, persuaded him to take a more active role in the RSS. About his new role, Golwalkar said: "Like spirituality, organization of the Nation has also been my inclination from early days. I believe that I would be in a better position to achieve it successfully being a part of the Sangh." He rose rapidly through the ranks of the organization, and was appointed General Secretary of the RSS in 1939. Golwalkar succeeded Hedgewar as the RSS Sarsanghachalak when the latter died in 1940.

In his role as the Sarsanghachalak, Golwalkar began a series of countrywide tours for interacting with the Sangh workers and propagating the RSS ideology. Under his leadership, Sangh activities grew and shakhas were established all over the country. He was the force behind the formation of the network of numerous socio-cultural organisations in the entire country, popularly referred to as the Sangh Parivar. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh (political party), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (trade union), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (students union), Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (Tribal welfare) and many other organizations were started by Swayamsevaks who forayed into various fields of public life.

RSS expanded into Kashmir and Jammu starting in 1940, when Balraj Madhok was sent as a pracharak to Jammu, with Prem Nath Dogra being the sanghchalak (Director). A shakha was started in Srinagar in 1944 and Golwalkar himself visited Srinagar in 1946. On 18 October 1947, he met the Maharaja Hari Singh upon the request of Vallabhbhai Patel, India's Home Minister, to persuade the Maharaja to accede to India. He was accompanied by Vasantrao Oak, the RSS pracharak for Delhi, and Narendrajit Singh, the RSS sanghchalak for United Provinces. It is believed that the Maharaja agreed to the proposal but the formal accession was signed only on the 26 October, after the invasion by raiders from Pakistan.

Plan of Pogrom of Muslims

In his book A Life of Our Times, Rajeshwar Dayal, who was the Chief Secretary to the United Provinces Government in 1947-1948, comments on the official discovery of Golwalkar's plan to carry out a pogrom of Muslims. According to Dayal:

I must record an episode of a very grave nature when the procrastination and indecision of the U.P. Cabinet led to dire consequences. When communal tension was still at fever-pitch, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police of the Western Range, a very seasoned and capable officer, B.B.L. Jaitley, arrived at my house in great secrecy. He was accompanied by two of his officers who brought with them two large steel trunks securely locked. When the trunks were opened, they revealed incontrovertible evidence of a dastardly conspiracy to create a communal holocaust throughout the western districts of the province. The trunks were crammed with blueprints of great accuracy and professionalism of every town and village in that vast area, prominently marking out the Muslim localities and habitations. There were also detailed instructions regarding access to the various locations, and other matters which amply revealed their sinister purport. Greatly alarmed by these revelations, I immediately took the police party to the Premier's house. There, in a closed room, Jaitley gave a full report of his discovery, backed by all the evidence contained in the steel trunks. Timely raids conducted on the premises of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh) had brought the massive conspiracy to light. The whole plot had been concerted under the direction and supervision of the Supremo of the organization[Golwalkar] himself. Both Jaitley and I pressed for the immediate arrest of the prime accused, Shri Golwalkar, who was still in the area.

Dayal goes on to state that the Chief Minister, Pant, did not agree to an immediate arrest of Golwalkar, as he and Jaitley had hoped for, but instead called for a discussion of the issue by the Cabinet. Comments Dayal:

At the Cabinet meeting there was the usual procrastination and much irrelevant talk. The fact that the police had unearthed a conspiracy which would have set the whole province in flames and that the officers concerned deserved warm commendation hardly seemed to figure in the discussion.

Finally, it was decided to draft a letter to Golwalkar, demanding an explanation in lieu of the evidence against him. Dayal states that he drafted this letter himself, and two police officers were sent off to deliver the letter immediately. However, the letter could not be delivered because:

Golwalkar, however, had been tipped off and he was nowhere to be found in the area. He was tracked down southwards but he managed to elude the couriers in pursuit. This infructuous chase continued from place to place and weeks passed. Came January 30, 1948, when the Mahatma, that supreme apostle of peace, fell to a bullet fired by an RSS fanatic. The whole tragic episode left me sick at the heart.

RSS ban and arrest

When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, there was widespread apprehension that the organization was involved in the plot, despite Golwalkar's condemnation of the murderers. Golwalkar himself was arrested on 4 February, along with 20,000 swayamsevaks, and the RSS was banned on charges of promoting "violence" and "subversion." Godse declared that he acted on his own initiative and no connection between the RSS and the Gandhi's assassination has ever been made officially. However, Nathuram Godse's brother Gopal Godse—who was also an accused in the Gandhi assassination—has asserted that Nathuram never left the RSS and his statement of having left the RSS was designed to protect the RSS and Golwalkar who were "in a lot of trouble" after the Gandhi assassination. Golwalkar was released on 5 August after the expiry of the six month statutory period.

The ban on the RSS however continued, and Golwalkar tried to negotiate with the then Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel about lifting the ban. The mass arrests, violence against its members and the ban by an independent Indian government of what was understood to be a patriotic organization was a great shock to the RSS members.

Patel asked the RSS to join the Congress, but this was not to Golwalkar's liking. Patel then demanded, as an absolute pre-condition, that the RSS adopt a written constitution. Golwalkar responded by launching a satyagraha on 9 December 1948. Golwalkar was arrested once again, along with 60,000 RSS volunteers. The RSS leaders Eknath Ranade, Bhaiyaji Dani and Balasaheb Deoras suspended the satyagraha in January 1949 and, in collaboration with Liberal leader T. R. Venkatarama Sastri, wrote a constitution for the RSS that was to Patel's satisfaction. The ban was subsequently lifted on 11 July 1949.

Political views and reception

• Golwalkar lamented on the anti-British nationalism of pre-independence India. In his book titled "We or our Nationhood Defined" , he criticized the vigorous anti-British character of the Indian freedom movement. In Golwalkar's own words,

  "Anti-Britishism was equated with patriotism and nationalism. This reactionary view has had disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle, its leaders and the common people."

• Critics have accused Golwalkar of being a fascist, pointing to his extreme right-wing views expressed in the 1939 book, We, Our Nationhood Defined. In it, Golwalkar writes:

  "To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the semitic Races - the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by." "Ever since that evil day, when Moslems first landed in Hindustan, right up to the present moment, the Hindu Nation has been gallantly fighting on to take on these despoilers. The Race Spirit has been awakening."

• According to Christopher Jaffrelot, despite the use of the term "race," Golwalkar's main purpose was not racial homogeneity, but cultural unity. However, Jaffrelot also makes reference to Golwalkar's racism. According to Jaffrelot, Golwalkar's viewed a national language—like Sanskrit—to be an expression of the race spirit; the german parallel would be volksgeist according to Jaffrelot. Jaffrelot characterizes Golwalkar's racism as a form of socio-cultural domination rather than being based on notions of racial purity. According to Jaffrelot, the "racial factor" was—to Golwalkar—the most important indgredient for a nation, and in this respect Golwakar claimed inspiration from Hitler's ideology. According to Jaffrelot, Golwalkar applied this nationalist ethnic reasoning to Indian muslims who Golwalkar felt were a "foreign body" embedded in and destabilizing Hindu society. The minorities were meant to be "assimilated" through the removal of their signs of adherence to particular communities. This is evidently an asymmetric relationship: whereas the Hindu symbols are "national," those of the religious minorities are communal or "foreign." The Indian nation of Golwalkar and other RSS leaders is a "hierarchy dominated by the Hindus."

• According to Koenraad Elst, a proponent of controversial fringe theories, Golwalkar was not an anti-semite as he admired Jews and supported the establishment of a Jewish state of Israel.

• Golwalkar was vehemently opposed to the concept of a secular Indian state. In We, or Our Nation defined (1938), he stated:-

The non-Hindu people of Hindustan must either adopt Hindu culture and language, must learn and respect and hold in reverence the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but of those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture ... In a word they must cease to be foreigners, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment—not even citizens' rights.

• William Dalrymple says Golwalkar "broke with conventional views" on numerous issues in multiple senses, including the mainstream view about Indo Aryan migration. Golwalkar believed that the Aryan ancestors of the Hindus were indigenous to India in contrast to India’s Muslims, who invaded India and still looked to Mecca as the center of their faith.

• According to Rohan Oberoi, both of Golwalkar's books "Bunch of Thoughts" and "We, or Our Nationhood Defined" are egregious for the racist views they espouse. According to Oberoi, in "Bunch of Thoughts", Golwalkar opines that Muslims and Christians in India are unpatriotic, but Golwalkar's hatred is not confined to Indian Muslims or Christians. According to Oberoi, Golwalkar describes the Chinese using the following language:"They eat rats, pigs, dogs, serpents, cockroaches, and everything. Such men cannot be expected to have human qualities." In "We", writes Oberoi, Golwalkar showers praise on the egregious Nazi campaign against Jews and Gypsies which took place in the 1930s in Germany explaining that this was "a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by." "There are only two courses open to these foreign elements," Golwalkar explains—according to Oberoi--, "either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and quit the country at the sweet will of the national race."

• According to Ramachandra Guha, Golwalkar had written: in this land Hindus have been the owners, Parsis and Jews the guests, and Muslims and Christians the dacoits. Guha calls Golwalkar the "guru of Hate."

References

Sources

• Andersen, Walter (25 March 1972). "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, III: Participation in Politics". Economic and Political Weekly. 7 (13): 673+675+677–682. JSTOR 4361179. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Chitkara, M. G. (2004). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: National Upsurge. APH Publishing. ISBN 8176484652. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Goyal, Des Raj (1979). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Delhi: Radha Krishna Prakashan. ISBN 0836405668. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Guha, Ramachandra (2008). India after Gandhi : the history of the world's largest democracy (1. publ. ed.). London: Pan. ISBN 9780330396110. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jaffrelot, Christophe (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1850653011. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sharma, Mahesh (2006). Shri Guruji Golwalkar. New Delhi: Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 8128812459. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Citations

Further reading

• Raje, C.P. Bhishikar ; translated into English by Sudhakar (1999). Shri Guruji : pioneer of a new era (1st ed.). Bangalore: Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana. ISBN 81-86595-16-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Islam, Shamsul (2006). Golwalkar's We or our nationhood defined : a critique (1st ed.). New Delhi: Pharos Media & Pub. ISBN 8172210302.

External links

• golwalkarguruji.org
• Was Guru Golwalkar a Nazi? by Koenraad Elst
• "RSS Declared Unlawful: GOI communique of February 4, 1948 (extracted from Goyal, 1979, pp. 201-202)". Dilip Simeon's blog. Retrieved 11 October 2014.