RAJESH SINGH
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has learnt it the hard way that, as part of election rhetoric, it’s easier to blame an organisation for a killing than to substantiate the accusation legally. Dragged to the court for alleging that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, he did a flip-flop this week, claiming in the Supreme Court that he had not held the RSS responsible for the crime.
Just for the record, the Congress leader had during the course of an election speech in March 2014 in Maharashtra, reportedly blamed the RSS for the assassination. When the matter reached a lower court, his counsel approached the Supreme Court against the criminal defamation case filed. His lawyers even challenged Sections 499 and 500 that dealt with criminal defamation. The court subsequently upheld the validity of these Sections, in the course of also dealing with other similar petitions.
The Congress leader’s capitulation came in the backdrop of an earlier hearing in the apex court in July, during which the Bench asked him to substantiate his charge or apologise for his comment. The court had observed, “You can’t make collective denunciation of an organisation.” His legal team, led by Kapil Sibal, realised that proving the accusation in a court of law was next to impossible, because there simply did not exist any material to pass legal muster. An apology would have been politically disastrous. A middle ground was, thus, discovered. Sibal contended that his client had not blamed the RSS, but held certain people associated with the RSS for the crime. In doing so, Rahul Gandhi hopes to escape the accusation and still not apologise.
Just for the record, the Congress leader had during the course of an election speech in March 2014 in Maharashtra, reportedly blamed the RSS for the assassination. When the matter reached a lower court, his counsel approached the Supreme Court against the criminal defamation case filed. His lawyers even challenged Sections 499 and 500 that dealt with criminal defamation. The court subsequently upheld the validity of these Sections, in the course of also dealing with other similar petitions.
Regardless of what the court decides on the Rahul Gandhi matter, even the contention (that not the RSS but members associated with the RSS were responsible), is problematic. From all available accounts, the assassin, Nathuram Godse, had quit the RSS in the thirties, well before he killed the Mahatma. It is said that he had been disillusioned by the ‘soft’ approach of the organisation towards the plight of Hindus and the role of Mahatma Gandhi in ‘Muslim appeasement’. To now argue that, because Godse had been an RSS member once upon a time, the RSS cannot escape blame, is to stretch the point to fit a pre-conceived notion. By this logic, the Congress as a party, and not just a few of its members, can be accused of the genocide of Sikhs in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Critics of the RSS point to the fact that the RSS was banned after the tragic incident, with Union Minister of Home Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the helm. But it is also true that the ban was lifted during his tenure as Home Minister after no evidence was found to link the RSS with the murder. Moreover, Sardar Patel had written to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that it was not appropriate to hold the organisation guilty for the incident. He said, among other things, “The RSS have other sins and crimes to answer for, but not this one.”
On its part, the RSS has consistently denied any association with the crime. More recently, organisation ideologue Manmohan Vaidya categorically said, “I am against honouring and giving respect to Nathuram Godse. He was a murderer.” His comment came in the backdrop of the Hindu Mahasabha eulogising Godse and calling the RSS a “traitor” to the so-called Hindu cause.
Interestingly, Godse was also a Hindu Mahasabha member. But even there he was considered somewhat of a misfit due to his extremist views. Remember that the Hindu Mahasabha then was a different organisation, with the likes of Damodar Vinayak ‘Veer’ Savarkar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee as it most prominent leaders. It must not be forgotten that Mahatma Gandhi had himself congratulated Mookerjee for assuming leadership of the Hindu Mahasabha, saying that the Hindus of the country needed someone of his calibre to lead them. Indeed, Mookerjee went on to join Nehru’s Cabinet despite his Hindu Mahasabha credentials — it is widely believed that Mahatma Gandhi played a role in getting him inducted.
Following Rahul Gandhi’s U-turn, it was amusing to see a Congress spokesperson on a television news channel still clinging to the accusation against the RSS. Among other things, he quoted a remark from Nathuram Godse’s brother, Gopal Godse, who too was convicted of the crime but escaped capital punishment. Gopal Godse had said, “All the brothers were in the RSS. Nathuram said in his statement that he had left the RSS. He said it because MS Golwalkar and the RSS were in a lot of trouble. But he did not leave the RSS.”
So, do we believe in Gopal Godse or the findings of the investigation agencies which gave a clean chit to the RSS — an organisation which went on to even participate at a Republic Day event?
(The writer is editorial director of nationalistonline.com, English)