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NATIONAL INTEGRATION PART 2
MOBILISING ALL-BHARAT SUPPORT
One more significant step was the Sadbhavana Yatra organised by
the VHP from 28th February to 9th March 1987. It was a valiant
initiative taken by the saints and mahants from all over the
country to build bridges of understanding between Sahajadharis and
Keshadharis in Punjab. Dharmacharyas from almost all the provinces
had joined the yatra. The 400-strong Sadbhavana Mandal covered 42
places all over Punjab. Hundreds of VHP workers followed the
saints to spread the message. All along the route, both
Keshadharis and Sahajadharis participated in acwrding a
reverential reception to the Sabdhavana Yatra members. Some of the
dharmacharyas like Shri Pejawar Mathadheesh moved about
informally, especially among Sikhs, and visited gurudwaras. They
talked to Sikh leaders, jathedars, student leaders, professors and
the so-called terrorist young men also. The reception that greeted
them at Amritsar was most touching.
Prominent among the Yatra members were the Sant Vamdev Maharaj,
Pejawar and Adamar Mathadheeshas of Karnataka, Avaidyanath of
Gorakhpur Peetha, Jagadish Singh, Prabhudutt Brahmachari, Swami
Satyamitrananda and Ashok Singhal of VHP. At the close of the
Yatra, the religious leaders were received by Prof. Darshan Singh
Ragi and leaders of the Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee inside
the Swarna Mandir. The talks took place in a very cordial
atmosphere.
Units of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, sponsored by Swayamsevaks from
among the Sikhs, are coming up all over the country to give
expression to the feelings of the silent and suppressed majority
among the Sikhs. Its first all-Bharat convention held at Nagpur on
17th March 1987 presented a beautiful blend of various shades of
enlightened Sikh opinion. Delegates were drawn from all over the
country—from Tamil Nadu to Himachal Pradesh and from Punjab to
Bengal.
Chaired by the venerable Manek Singh Soni of Chandrapur, the
inaugural session at the Dr. Hedgewar Smriti Bhavan started with
the recitation of holy Ardas. Jayawant Singh Lamba, in his
touching welcome address, said that the holding of the meet at
that venue signified the confluence of two great forces born for
the protection of Dharma - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the
newly-born Rashtriya Sikh Sangat.
Swayamsevaks all over the country have been busy over the past few
years involving both the Keshadharis and Sahajadharis in common
functions. An impressive programme of an Ekata
Dindi-Pilgrims'March for Unity—and a public function was held in
Bombay in August 1986 to mark the 636th Nirvan Divas (death
anniversary) of the great unifier, Sant Namdev. Rashtriya Ekjut
and Maharashtra-Punjab Ekata Forum had jointly sponsored the
significant programme.
Mayor Dattaji Nalavade shouldered the palanquin of Sant Namdev to
signal the start of the procession. Dulip Singh, Minister for
Social Welfare, Punjab (who had been specially deputed by the
Chief Minister S. S. Barnala for the occasion), Manmohan Singh
Bedi, former Mayor of Bombay, Ram Naik, BJP MLA, and others
accompanied the procession. Dr. Gopal Singh, Shankar Rao Chavan,
the - Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Moropant Pingle of RSS and
others spoke on the occasion.
In response to the call given in 1987 by Balasaheb Deoras, Guru
Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom day was observed in hundreds of places
all over the country—with both Sikhs and other Hindus
participating with great fervour.
The ABVP came out with an imaginative project on that occasion.
Shahid Sandesh Jyoi` Yatra starting on 25th November 1987, the
birthday of Guru Nanak, from Guru ka Mahal the birth-place of Guru
Tegh Bahadur at Amritsar, traversed through Punjab and Haryana and
came to a close on 10th December 1987 at Shisganj Gurudwara at
Delhi where Guru Tegh Bahadur's head had rolled at the hands of
Aurangzeb, in defence of Hindu Dharma. With the participation of
student leaders drawn from all over the country, the Yatra
symbolised the unified will of the youth of Bharat in the cause of
Punjab.
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TEACHING A LESSON TO TERRORISTS
The spirit of heroism imbibed by the Swayamsevaks in the Shakhas
was amply demonstrated in the incident at Ludhiana on 28th March
1986. When five terrorists arrived on scooters at the morning
Shakha, the strong and well-built Harish Katyal, the Mukhya
Shikshak, pounced upon the terrorist who was firing. While Katyal
was grappling with him, another terrorist shot Katyal in the head
and all of them fled. While Katyal died on the spot, the Mandal
Karyavaha Krishnalal, who was also ridden with bullets, died the
next day in the hospital. The Punjab Government decided to honour
Harish Katyal posthumously for his exemplary courage. At a public
meeting, the Health Minister Basant Singh Khalsa, who presided,
paid glowing tributes to Katyal.
Nor was this an isolated instance. When two terrorists armed with
pistols pounced upon a prominent Swayamsevak of TaranTaran and
tried to snatch away his scooter, he instantly jumped upon one of
them and floored him. Subjected to crushing blows, the terrorist
gave up his pistol and ran for his life following his other
colleague who had already fled. This was in February 1986.
A Swayamsevak from Pathankot was sitting in the factory of his
friend in Batala. Two terrorists arrived. They stood covering the
two with their pistols and demanded Rs. 5,000. Sensing the defiant
mood of the Swayamsevak, one of the terrorists fired. Right at
that time, the Swayamsevak, in a lightning move, hit the intruder
on his hand and the bullet sped past injuring parts of his body.
Faced with the Swayamsevak's fierce onslaught, the terrorist ran
and tried to speed away on his bicycle. The Swayamsevak raised an
alarm, chased him and caught him. Other young men also joined in
the chase. The other terrorist also was caught and both were
killed on the spot. This was on 21st October 1987.
On 25th May 1988, a letter from 'Khalistan Commando Force'
demanding Rs. 50,000 was delivered to a prominent merchant-Swayamsevak
in Taran-Taran. On the next day, the terrorist came to enquire
about the response to his letter. The Swayamsevak coolly replied
that the letter had been torn up and thrown into the wastepaper
basket. The terrorist thereupon started his threatening tactics.
Just then, the 70-year-old father of the Swayamsevak came to the
shop. As soon as he saw the terrorist, he thundered at him saying
"Well, we have been waiting for you since yesterday" and
pounced upon him. The old man's deadly punches left the young
terrorist gasping for breath. He was later handed over to the
Central Reserve Police (CRP). The whole of Taran-Taran was
thrilled and filled with the talk, "If a 70-year-old man can
humble a young man of 25, why not you and I?"
The efforts of Swayamsevaks to mobilise youth power, bazaar-wise
and mohalla-wise, to resist terrorist attacks has also begun to
yield good results. On the evening of 24th April 1988, some
terrorists swooped upon the Putalighar bazaar in Amritsar city.
They went on a shooting spree leaving one dead on the spot;
another had to be hospitalised. But unlike earlier occasions a new
kind of reaction was seen this time. There was no trace of the
usual panic. Instead, with the Swayamsevaks in the vanguard, the
people in the bazaar dashed forward, caught hold of one of the
terrorists and beat him to death. The others fled and escaped into
an orphanage. But the people gheraoed and did not allow any of
them to escape until the CRP came and arrested all the ten of
them. The incident has generated a new wave of courage and self
confidence in the area.
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IN THE SERVICE OF THE BEREAVED
The Punjab Peedita Sahayata Samiti run by Swayamsevaks has been
attending to persons wounded in terrorist violence and admitted at
the hospitals in Amritsar and some other district centres. Over
one thousand Swayamsevaks have so far offered blood in Amritsar
alone for the wounded. Besides personal attendance, providing
medicines, meals and cash for the maintenance of the patients and
their attendants has been going on for several months. Up to the
beginning of 1988, 376 families whose main earning member had
fallen to the terrorists' bullets have been given substantial
monetary assistance.
The 'adopt-a-child' scheme—Dattak Yojana—initiated by the
Samiti is intended to render educational assistance to children
orphaned in terrorist violence. The adoption extends beyond the
educational assistance; the adopting family begins corresponding
with the child, invites him/her to their home on festive occasions
and develops a parental attachment. More than the economic aspect,
such emotional nourishment by the society fortifies the child and
the mother to bear the trauma with courage. Apart from individual
and small-scale adoption programmes, bigger ones have been
organised at places like Amritsar, Abohar, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur,
Batala and Pathankot. So far, about 1,000 children, identified as
deserving urgent help, have been adopted. Identification of the
remaining families in need of help is continuing.
The poignant scenes witnessed at the 'adopt the orphaned
child" programmes provide a striking instance of how the
common people react to the terrorist carnage and respond to the
relief efforts of the Swayamsevaks. Here are some highlights of
the programme at Abohar where 101 children were adopted.
When the news spread that the widowed mothers and their children,
coming from far and near, were lodged in the local gurudwara,
thousands of men and women hastened there to offer them solace and
cheer. On the next day, when those mothers with their children
came on the stage to receive the cheque (Rs. 5,000 per mother and
Rs. 500 per child for the current year) the crowded assembly was
literally in tears. During the entire duration of the programme,
offering of new clothes for children and mothers continued,
forming a huge heap on the dais. While the local Gurudwara
Committee lovingly looked after the board and lodging of hundreds
of mothers and children and their relatives, the Durga Mandir
offered Rs.10,000 and two sets of clothes for each of the children
adopted on that day. Sikh families adopting Sahajadhari Hindu
children were as common as Sahajadhari families adopting Sikh
children.
The other centres of adoption also witnessed equally touching
scenes. At Ludhiana, the local Panj Star Club bore the entire
expenses to the tune of Rs. 51,000 for the adoption programme. At
Panchkua, the Jain Boarding offered to take in 50 boys free in
their hostel, and at Bhatinda the Sanatana Dharma Sabha took in 30
children. Well-to-do families are also volunteering to bear the
marriage expenses for the girls of bereaved families.
Such is Punjab, even to this day, standing up as one single loving
brotherhood refusing to snap its traditional bonds of blood and
history in the face of the divisive tactics and the threats of the
terrorists.
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ABROAD ALSO
The Swayamsevaks settled abroad also have not lagged behind. They
took the initiative in organising condolence meetings to mourn the
death of Indira Gandhi and to emphasise the unity of Hindus. At
Croydon, a suburb of London, a meeting was held on 2nd November
1984, under the auspices of South London Council where all Hindu
associations participated. It was presided over by Sardar
Harbhajan Singh Chatwal, President, Guru Singh Sabha. When the Rt.
Hon'ble Bernad Weatherill, Speaker of the House of Commons, was
requested to take part in the function, he came hurrying
immediately after completing his work at the House of Commons.
Sardar Chatwalji declared, "We are all Hindus", and
emphasised the traditional bonds of brotherhood between-the Sikhs
and non-Sikh Hindus. He specially urged them not to get provoked
because of the tragic event. Meetings were also arranged at
Leicester, Birmingham, Wembley and other important cities.
Everywhere, the refrain was the same — condemnation of
Khalistani terrorism and separatism, and affirmation of unity of
Sikhs and non-Sikh Hindus.
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Facing the Subversive Threat of Communists
Communism, both in its theory and practice by the various brands
of Communists, has all along proved destructive of our national
integrity and culture. However, the Communists are keenly
conscious that the rise of Hindu awareness, more than anything
else, will take the wind out of their propaganda sails.
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KERALA SCENE A POINTER
In 1978, in the 'Onam' special number of Jan Yug, a CPI organ, in
Kerala, the articles by C. Achut Menon, one-time Chief Minister of
that State, and N. E. Balaraman, state secretary of the party,
bewailed the growth of the Sangh in the thought arena also:
"The rightist reactionary forces and their thoughts like
those of the RSS are raising their heads everywhere in Kerala. And
we, the Communists, are losing our ground. The intellectuals are
fast drifting away from us. This is a most deplorable state of
affairs and sounds a danger signal for our movement."
The two Communist leaders had also named certain famous Communist
poets and thinkers like O.N.V. Kurup, the late Vayalar Rama Verma
and P. Bhaskaran as having forsaken their fold and gone out to the
Hindu camp. Their poems had in the past fascinated and drawn the
Kerala youth into Communism. Now the same poets have dedicated
their poetic genius for the singing the glory of the ancient
culture of Bharat. Rama Verma became a firm devotee of Ayyappan
and his devotional songs achieved tremendous popularity on the
silver screen. P. Bhaskaran was another gifted film-script writer
whose social plays had earlier popularised the Communist ideas
through the powerful mass media, but it was he who produced the
Adi Shankaracharya film in Malayalam, pouring out all his artistic
genius and devoted labours over it.
The present President of Tapasya (a forum founded by Swayamsevaks)
who was also the vice-president of Kerala Sahitya Academy, Akkitom
Achutan Namboodiri, was himself a poet with pronounced Marxist
leanings. He was also a close associate of E.M.S. Namboodiripad in
the social reform movement. His famous poem on 'the history of the
twentieth century' is in fact the story of his disenchantment with
the Communist theory and practice.
In this context, an article by C. Achut Menon in the journal
Career highlighting the true content of Bharatiya nationhood is
revealing. He wrote that their previously held Communist theory of
Bharat as a conglomeration of several nationalities based on
linguistic cultures was wrong. From ancient times, Bharat, he
said, has been a single nation, as evidenced by the establishment
of four Maths by Adi Shankara at the four corners of the country.
Finally, he added that at the root of this single nationality lay
'Hindutva'!
It is common knowledge that the Communists rely mainly on physical
force to eliminate their ideological adversaries. The same has
been the experience in Kerala also. The way the Sangh Swayamsevaks
have been subject to Marxist attacks all these years is too well
known to need elaboration. However, it is now acknowledged by all
that for the first time the fear of Marxist violence, which had
held all other groups to ransom, has been shattered by the heroic
resistance of the Swayamsevaks. Truly, the martyrdom of over sixty
Swayamsevaks in this struggle - many of them working in
organisations like BMS, ABVP and BJP - has not gone in vain.
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Accepting the Challenge of 'Red' Terror
The way in which the Swayamsevaks—some of them the active
workers of the ABVP and the BKS—have faced the Naxal menace in
the Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh is a thrilling saga by
itself. The student wings of the Naxalites—the Radical Students
Union (RSU) and Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU) - had
for long concentrated specially on the university campuses. The
Osmania University at Hyderabad was a hot-bed of their intrigues.
Some years ago the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh openly
lamented that the Kakatiya University at Warangal had virtually
turned into a training-camp of the Naxalites. Social welfare
hostels for SC and ST students were their other breeding-centres.
Various student hostels formed the sanctuaries for their
underground hardcore 'squad' members. During the holidays, the
students were used for spreading the Naxal ideology in the rural
areas. Full-time cadres were also drawn from the students.
The Naxal writ ran in several parts of Telengana; their firearms
silenced all opposition. The Congress, and later the local leaders
of Telugu Desham, vied with each other to please the different
Naxal groups. Any one who dared to question, let alone oppose, the
autocratic 'red rule' was either killed or maimed. In Warangal and
Karimnagar districts, one can see people with limbs cut off. None
of them are rich, oppressive landlords as often made out. Their
only sin was that they refused to obey the Naxal diktat. The press
too was silent. The local reporters could never report about Naxal
goondaism, much less their myrders and other atrocities. The chief
reporter of Udayam, a Telugu daily, once gave specific instances
of how journalists were threatened with dire consequences and
prevented from reporting. The press barons played safe when red
terror was on the rise.
The underground Naxal strike-force played a decisive role in
seeing that PDSU and RSU won the students union elections
unchallenged. Impressed by this win, the rural students would
report to their innocent village folk about the power and
popularity of the Naxals. Any student who protested against the
Naxal leaders' using the hostels for their illegal activities was
thrashed. The spineless officials too buckled under their threats.
The Naxal ideologues were often invited by the unions to address
the students. Pictures of Lenin and Mao were painted on the walls
of all such educational centres. On 15th August and 26th January,
the Indian Tricolour was pulled down and burnt, and red flags
hoisted.
It was in such terror-stricken atmosphere that ABVP came forward
to accept the challenge. Appeal to nationalism and the cultural
values, and invoking the ideals of the great nation-builders like
Swami Vivekananda, provided the mainstay for its ideological
offensive. As expected, attacks on and stabbings of the ABVP
workers by the Naxals became common. But the spirit of sacrifice
and tenacity of its workers soon attracted the non-committed
majority among the students. As the popularity of the ABVP grew,
it decided to challenge the Naxals in the union elections. In
place of the red flags and the 'red' slogans, the saffron flags
fluttered and cries of 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Lal gulami
chodkar bolo Vande Mataram' (stop cringing before Reds, start
roaring 'Vance Mataram') began rending the skies. The public were
amazed when they saw that the ABVP workers had triumphed in the
elections. Programmes like seminars on the message of Vivekananda,
lectures by scholars on Bharatiya values are now being arranged by
the student unions.
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SAGA OF MARTYRDOM
The incident on 26th January 1981, at the Kakatiya University
campus at Warangal, proved a watershed. When the Indian Tricolour
was sought to be pulled down by the Naxals, the ABVP workers
headed by Sama Jaganmohan Reddy resisted it effectively. He also
volunteered as the chief witness in the police case against the
Naxals—something unheard of before. In the court premises
itself, Naxals warned him of the fatal consequences that awaited
him. But, Reddy shot back that he cared more for upholding the
Truth and protecting the honour of the National Flag than for his
own life. And true to his words he became a martyr within hours on
the same day—having fallen to the Naxals' attack. But the impact
of his martyrdom could be felt when the students' union elections
came. The Naxalites declared that none except the PDSU and RSU
should contest. But the ABVP was already in the field. The
election contest turned out into a pitched battle between the RSU
and ABVP cadres. Newspapers reported that in the conflict, the
Naxalites received severe beating and ran for their lives.
When this news spread, the Telengana villagers were stunned. Who
are those 'saffron' boys who could thrash and put to flight the
'red-lords'? - they wondered. The police and the various political
parties too were astounded. That was the time when the CPI and
CPI(M), who had once ruled the post-Independence Telengana
politics, had lost their ground to Naxalites. Their student wings
had long ago stopped stepping into college portals or even putting
up wall-posters. In such a Naxalite stronghold, the ABVP had stood
up and established its supremacy.
The Naxalites, having failed to face the ABVP workers on their own
strength, goaded the Muslim students to join the PDSU and RSU to
'finish' the 'Hindu Threat'. They chose Jagatial in Karimnagar
District, one of their strongholds, to mount a surprise attack on
the ABVP office in August 1983. It was a bloody one-hour-long,
'no-holds-barred' encounter between just 16 ABVP workers and over
200 of the attacking group. It resulted in the death of one Muslim
Naxal; the rest fled helter-skelter.
As the news of this thrilling encounter spread, the fear of the
'barrel of the Naxal gun' ended in the surrounding rural areas
also. The village youth now felt encouraged to come forward to
form the patriotic vanguard under the leadership of Bharatiya
Kisan Sangh. The Kisan Sangh workers succeeded in nailing the lie
propagated by the Naxals that they were the champions of the poor
and the downtrodden. They exposed the tactics of the Naxals—how
they had been indulging in murders of ordinary farmers and social
workers. The ABVP brought out a well documented brochure giving
the details of the murders and atrocities perpetrated on such
persons. Gopala Reddy and Ramachandra Rao of Jagatiyal, who were
in the forefront of this movement, were fatally attacked. Jitendra
Reddy, son of the Provincial Secretary of Sangh, who successfully
resisted the Naxal menace, also fell to their bullets.
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THE RAY OF HOPE
Such glowing examples of heroism and martyrdom inspired the
village youth with the spirit of self-confidence and resistance.
For the first time, the villagers began resisting the Naxalite
tactics of fleecing the farmers for money. In one such incident in
Nancherla village of Karimnagar District, the chief Naxal
organiser Shankar was lynched to death by the villagers.
However, encouraged by the laxity of law-enforcement authorities
and with unscrupulous politicians at their back, Naxals have
continued their attacks on ABVP workers. But, proportionately, the
ABVP morale is increased. Even the villagers have begun to write
on their walls and shout 'ABVP zindabad' and 'Bharat Mata ki jai'.
At a time when neither the CPI(M) nor CPI could fight back or
mobilise the villagers when their leaders were killed or maimed,
the ABVP succeeded in leading thousands of Telengana villagers to
the State capital to demand that Naxalites be dealt with with an
iron hand. That massive demonstration on 18th December 1984 at
Hyderabad proved a turning-point and forced policy-makers to take
a fresh look at the Naxalite menace.
Over a score of Swayamsevaks, mainly ABVP activists, have lost
their lives in this grim battle. But their sacrifices have not
gone in vain. All the unions of different faculties and all hostel
committees of the Osmania University of Hyderabad have, since
1986, come under the ABVP umbrella. The college campuses are now
rid of unpatriotic slogans and writings. Hostels have been freed
from serving as hideouts for anti-national elements or as centres
for illegal conspiracies. Academic calm has returned to
educational campuses. The Naxalites, having lost those safe
hideouts and their habitual village sanctuaries, are now forced to
take refuge in dense forests. It is from there that they come out
occasionally to burn a bus or a railway station or kill or kidnap
police and government officers. However, the people also know that
the hitherto unchallenged sway of Naxals over the students and the
rural youth has been subdued to a considerable degree. The people
also know who the young men responsible for this refreshing trend
are.
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