Rehan Fazal, Senior Journalist of BBC
One day prior to his passing away, the first Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar handed over a chit of paper to Mr Golwalkar, the content of which was “Before you hand over my body to the doctors, I would like to convey you that you would be in sole responsibility of leading the Sangh.”
13 days after mourning when this will of Hedgewar was made public in the meeting of the senior officials of RSS at Nagpur on 3rd July, 1940, all the persons present there were in shock.
Walter Anderson and Shridhar Damle, who have authored the most authentic books on RSS” write in their book ‘The Brotherhood in Saffron, “The RSS leaders expected that Hedgewar would elect some experienced and senior person as his successor.”
“In those days, Appaji Joshi was considered as the right hand of Hedgewar. All the persons hoped that he would be the successor of Dr Sahab but it did not happen.”
In many circles thereafter it was reasoned that as Guru Golwalkar had good standing in English, it was one of reasons leading to the appointment of Guru Golwalkar as his successor by Hedgewar.
A little public material is available about the private life of Golwalkar born on 19th February, 1906 in Ramtek,
He has opened up about his private life in his letter to his friend Babu Rau Telang 1929, “I am an angry boy of an angry father and pure blood flows in my vein.” Guruji informs his friend Telang further how he started enjoying cigarette during illness and how he used his hands in Nagpur riots.
Dr Jyotirmaya Sharma, Professor of Political Science in the University of Hyderabad, who wrote a book on the second Chief of RSS “MS Golwalkar, the RSS and India” observes, “A number of persons had used their hands in Nagpur riots. If you agree with their ideology, you would say that they were ‘Non Gandhian Revolutionaries. If you do not believe in their belief system, you would consider them as rioters. The fact is that Savarkar also had pelted stones to a mosque when he was only nine years of age. In ideology, such things are not so important. The most significant point to consider is that they had low opinion of politics.”
“There is a verse in Mahabharat, which he and many Chiefs thereafter recited and openly cited in public speaking that the politics is the religion of whores. They advised the members of Sangh to keep away from politics. However, the subsequent Chiefs did not shy away from controlling the politics by remote control.”
He is still regarded as the greatest symbol of spiritual succession of Swami Vivekananda in Sangh Circles.
The president of Indira Gandhi Center of Arts and the Senior Journalist Ram Bahadur Rai got a number of opportunities to meet with him. He recollects, “Once I had written a letter criticizing him. Guruji used to respond to correspondences. When he was on tour, which was termed as pravas in parlance of RSS, he responded to correspondences after coming back to the Headquarter.” “There would be a room of Sarsanghchalak upstairs in Nagpur. Dr Abaji Thatte was his secretary, who was a medical doctor by profession. I had seen Guruji for the first time in 1968, when the president of Jansangh, Deendayal Upadhyay was killed. Guruji was in Allahabad. He came directly to the place in Mughalsarai where the body of Deendayal Upadhyay was kept for postmortem. I saw all the persons there were weeping and moaning but he was unshaken.”
The most controversial stand of the tenure of Guru Golwalkar was to keep the Sangh away completely from the Quit India Movement of 1942. The Sangh is under scanner even today on this decision of his, but there his own reasoning behind this decision.
The author of the famous publication ‘RSS Icons of Indian Right, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay observes, “I would like to remind you that in 1930-31 also, when Gandhi Ji launched Noncooperation Movement after Dandi March, Hedgewar had not given the permission to the RSS to partake in this as well.”
“He had stated that if the volunteers wanted, they could participate in that movement in private capacity. He himself had resigned from the post of Sarsanghchalak before participating in Jungle Satyagarh and he had appointed Parajpe as the acting Sarsanghchalak in his place.”
“The decision of Golwalkar not to participate in Quit India Movement was inspired by this decision. Opposing colonialism was not the main objective of the RSS. He wanted to strengthen the Hindu community so that they could revenge upon Muslims for insult they meted out on Hindu community.”
“He believed that if they anger the British for any reason, their objective of centralizing the Hindu would be adversely affected and the British would be their enemy and their campaign to bring the Hindu against the Muslims would be at risk.”
The very existence of the RSS was at stake when the Sangh was banned after Gandhi was assassinated. Golwalkar was in Chennai when he got the news of the assassination of Gandhi.
CP Bhishikar writes in the biography of Golwalkar, “There was tea cup in the hands of Golwalkar when someone informed him about the assassination of Gandhi. Golwalkar was silent for a long time after putting down the cup.”
“Then he uttered an utterance, ‘How unfortunate is this country!, Then he cancelled his further tours and returned to Nagpur after sending telegram of condolence to Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel.”
The Nagpur police arrested Guru Golwalkar for the charge of murder conspiracy of Gandhi in the midnight of 1st February, 1948. Going towards police jeep, he had told his supporters, “The cloud of doubt would be soon cleared and we would come out without any conviction.” In the meantime, one of his assistants, Bhaiyaji Dani sent telegram to every Shakha of the RSS, “Guruji arrested. Keep quite on any cost.”
Six months later, ban was lifted from the RSS and Golwalkar was released but it badly affected the RSS because Nathuram Godse was the member of the RSS in the past.
Jyotirmaya Sharma tells, “Godse had left the RSS and he was trying to establish some coordination between the Government and Golwalkar. The difficulty was that Savarkar was ready to become the leader of the Hindu after the third decade.”
“Golwalkar was of the opinion that if the entire country is Hindu, how you can represent the Hindu. Secondly, it was the opinion of Savarkar that nothing is possible without politics. On the contrary as long as Golwalkar was in command, the Sangh was of the opinion that their members would not spoil their hands by politics.”
Golwalkar after coming out of the jail took up the responsibility to extend the base of the organization of the Sangh.
Ram Bahadur Rai observes, “The period of ban was the question of do or die for the Sangh indeed. The environment was very harsh for the Sangh at the time. The majority of the Congress, Samajwadi and Communist believed that Gandhi Ji was assassinated because of the Sangh.”
“Therefore, numerous attacks were made on the offices of the Sangh. One incident is connected to Guruji as well. There was dominating apprehension of attacks at the place where he lived prior to arrest. The people requested him to leave the place hiding himself at another place.”
“However, he said that he would not flee and he was arrested before attacks could happen. Sardar Patel also realized that the Sangh was not involved in assassination of Gandhi. He tried to convince Nehru and the ban was lifted from the Sangh in July, 1949. During this time, Guruji led the Sangh very courageously.”
Golwalkar was heavily criticized for his opposition to the Muslims, so what was the fundamental reason behind the Muslim opposition by Golwalkar? In answer to this question Jyotirmay replied, “One of many reasons is that they are different from us. Islam was not born in India. This soil belongs only to us. Golwalkar believed in the principle of motherland, fatherland and holy land expounded by Savarkar.”
Golwalkar would say that he does not have any objection even if the Muslims perform the Friday Prayer or built mosques provided that they must believe that they are the products of the Hindu Civilization. He states also that they must make their surname Hindu though they have their first name of a Muslim.
There is the evidence that Golwalkar had tried to plan and incite communal riots in the western Uttar Pradesh. Rajeshwar Dayal, who has been the Foreign Secretary to India and the Indian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, writes in his autobiography, “When the communal tension was on its peak, the experienced and the qualified Sub Inspector General of Police of the western range, BBL Jetly brought two trunks of steel very secretly to me.”
“There was undeniable evidence for inciting the communion mania in the western districts of the State. There were exact blue prints in those trunks of every city and village of those regions in which the Muslims settlements and the ways of reaching to them had been marked”
“I exerted pressure to immediately arrest the main accused Golwalkar but the Chief Minister Govind Vallabh Pant decided to put up the matter before the cabinet. In the meantime, Golwalkar was secretly informed and he disappeared from the region.”
However, this very Golwalkar plays important role in accession of Kashmir to India and he goes to Srinagar to meet Maharaja Hari Singh at the instance of Sardar Patel.
The famous journalist Sandeep Bomzai writes in one of his write-ups, ‘Disequilibrium: When Golwalkar rescued Hari Singh’ “At the instance of Sardar Patel and on interference of the Prime Minister Meharchand Mahajan, Golwalkar went to Srinagar and he met with Maharaja Hari Singh on 18th October, 1947.”
“State Pracharak of the Punjab Madhavrao Mule has written that Maharaja told Golwalkar that, ‘My state is fully dependent on Pakistan. All roads from Kashmir pass Rawalpindi and Sialkot. My airport is Lahore, how can I maintain relations with India.’”
Golwalkar said to him, “You are a Hindi King, after you make accession to Pakistan, your Hindu subject shall suffer enormous calmatives. It is true that you do not have any rail, road or air link to India but they can be constructed. Only it would be better in your interest and that of Jammu and Kashmir that you should make accession of your state to India.”
Nehru was so impressed with the role played by the RSS in the civil administration in war with China that he allowed one of its units to take part in the Republican day parade of 1963 with full uniform and band.
Golwalkar was one of the privileged persons in the 1965 war, with whom the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri had consulted. Atal Bihari Bajpayee was so impressed with him that he would always sit on the ground not sitting on chair in his presence.
On the other hand, the most critics of Golwalkar regard him in the role of the Divider. The Author and Historian Ram Chandra Guha thinks of him as the Messiah of Hatred.
The famous author Khushwant Singh has recalled his meeting with Guru Golwalkar in one of his essays, “When I reached the house of Guru Golwalkar, it seemed to me Puja was in progress inside. There were slippers in order at the gate. The fragrance of incense sticks smelt and the utensils were tinkling inside. About a dozen people wearing stark white Kurta and Dhoti were sitting in a small room. Among them was Guru Golwalkar a slim person aged about 65 years.”
“Lovely white beard hanging from the shin and black hairs falling to the shoulders, he seemed to me to be the Indian edition of Ho Xi Minh at first sight. As soon as I bowed to touch his feet, he caught both my hands by his feeble hands.”
“After tea cup, I asked him why he was so vehement opponent of Muslims, Golwalkar replied, ‘The Muslims have to forget first of all that they had ever ruled India. Secondly they must stop considering foreign Muslim countries as their birth place and thirdly they must have to join the mainstream of India.’”
Although Golwalkar was a knowing person, it was famous about him that he did not read newspapers.
It is said that the source of the Sangh Ideology is Savarkar but Golwalkar has developed it.
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay states, “Golwalkar was somehow a closed mind. In the very start of his life, a sort of completeness had entered in his ideology. It seemed to him that he did not require reading anything further.”
“However, any person who has any intellectual target, he should always raise question as to whether what he says is ultimate reality. It never came to the mind of Golwalkar. On the other hand, his successor Bala Saheb Devras reconsidered his stand and he changed the same when needed.”
The most significant contribution of Golwalkar was to make the Sangh continuous bringing it out of all controversies.
Ram Bahadur Rai says, “The storms the Sangh has faced those days would have ruined it if Guruji would not have been there. Guruji concentrated on rescue and relief works more in the partition of India in 1947. A period of depression has come indeed in the life of the Sangh, which we notice.” It is the year of 1952. It seemed to a number of persons of the Sangh that Jansangh either would form government in the states like Punjab or Delhi or it would emerge as the main opposition party, however, when the result was declared, only two members won and came to the Parliament and the persons who hoped their future in Jansangh is bright became highly disappointed.”
“Many persons became hopeless in those days and left the Sangh. Only Guruji led the Sangh with commitment at that time. The biggest achievement of Guruji is to ensure the continuance of the Sangh until 1973.”
Indira Gandhi never met Golwalkar. Like her father, she also opposed him always, however when he died, she had said paying respect to him that he had a particular place in the national politics because of his personality and ideology, although many among us were not his supporters.
(Note: It is the translation of the original piece written by Rehan Fazal for BBC Hindi)
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