The RSS, the chief promoter of Hindutva thought, which is intrinsically intertwined with hate for the religious minorities, has always felt a need for even deemed endorsement by individuals of high standing. To this end, its proponents have sometimes misleadingly invoked Mahatma Gandhi, who had an abhorrence of communalist thought. And now it has invited former President Pranab Mukherjee — who has accepted the invite — to deliver the valedictory address at a major function in its calendar, making the Congress Party uncomfortable.
The RSS’ genuine big moment was when it bagged Jayaprakash Narayan. When JP was fighting the Emergency, he had shocked many when he said: “If the RSS is fascist, I too am fascist!” For years after, the Hindutva outfit wore that as a badge of honour. It even began to place JP’s photo alongside Deendayal Upadhyay at public forums.
But the goodwill generated by JP’s remark evaporated after the Janata Party — into which BJP’s precursor Jan Sangh had merged itself — split (when in power!) on the so-called “dual membership” issue, with its leading lights pointing fingers at the RSS. The Jan Sangh-RSS again found itself politically isolated, a “political untouchable”, to use an expression common those days. The situation was repaired when Prime Minister V.P. Singh’s government needed the BJP’s “outside support”.
After that the BJP-RSS didn’t look back, having found a firm foothold through the Ayodhya movement. Today it is in government on its own steam. And yet, it has looked outside of itself for popular approval through the invitation to the former President.
Is this because the RSS knows in its gut — politically it is a very astute outfit — that PM Narendra Modi’s government has become increasingly unpopular, and the going will be tough as its opponents are trying to come together to challenge it in the next Lok Sabha election?
More important than whether Mr Mukherjee should have accepted the RSS invitation is what he is going to say in his address to the Hindutva body. It will be a delicate moment for the former President. He must observe the protocols of courtesy expected of a guest, but deliver his message without compromising on the truth and his own personal credo, since on becoming President he had ceased to belong to the Congress, his old party.
Decades before India’s independence, Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini tried to ensnare Jawaharlal Nehru to Rome through solicitous invitations. The Indian freedom fighter did not fall for the bait. He had no desire to confer legitimacy. He drew the line at fascists. So did arch-imperialist Winston Churchill. When Franco of Spain died, the British statesman spoke of the dead fascist as “the most unmourned corpse in Europe”.
But eventually, in public life, everything is a matter of context. Let us not pre-judge the former President before his speech.
