M. S. Golwalkar
upscaled by an AI process. . (March 2024) |
Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar | |
---|---|
2nd Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | |
In office 21 June 1940 – 5 June 1973 | |
Preceded by | K. B. Hedgewar |
Succeeded by | Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras |
Personal details | |
Born | Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar 19 February 1906 LL.B. |
Alma mater | |
Occupation |
|
Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar (19 February 1906 – 5 June 1973), popularly known as Guruji, was the second
He was the first person to put forward the concept of a cultural nation called
Early life
Golwalkar was born to Sadashivrao and Lakshmibai Golwalkar in a Marathi Karhade Brahmin[8] family at Ramtek, near Nagpur in Maharashtra. His family was prosperous and supported him in his studies and activities. Sadashivrao, a former clerk in the Posts and Telegraphs Department, became a teacher in the Central Provinces and Berar and ended his career as headmaster of a high school. Golwalkar was the only surviving son of nine children. Since his father was frequently transferred around the country, he attended a number of schools. Golwalkar studied science and was apt and apolitical as a student. As an adolescent, he developed a deep interest in religion and spiritual meditation.[9][10][11][12]
Golwalkar enrolled in
Golwalkar went to
Although Golwalkar attended meetings and was esteemed by its members, there is no indication that Golwalkar took a keen interest in the organisation. In 1931, Hedgewar visited Benares and was drawn to the ascetic Golwalkar.[9] After returning to Nagpur, Hedgewar exerted greater influence on Golwalkar. According to RSS sources, Hedgewar encouraged him to pursue a law degree because it would give him the reputation required of an RSS leader. In 1934, Hedgewar made him secretary (karyavah) of the main Nagpur branch. After he began practising law, Hedgewar tasked him with the management of the Akola Officers' Training Camp.[13][17]
In October 1936, Golwalkar abandoned his law practice and RSS work for the Sargachi
On 13 January 1937, Golwalkar reportedly received his diksha, but left the ashram soon afterwards.[18] He returned to Nagpur in a state of depression and indecision to seek Hedgewar's advice after his guru died in 1937, and Hedgewar convinced him that his obligation to society could best be fulfilled by working for the RSS.[19]
RSS leadership
After Golwalkar rejoined the RSS, Hedgewar apparently began grooming him for leadership and he was placed in charge of the All-India Officers' Training Camp from 1937 to 1939. Golwalkar's abilities (managing complex details of the large camp, public speaking, reading and writing) were appreciated. In 1938, he was asked to translate
In 1939, at a
Golwalkar's choice was said to have stunned the RSS volunteers as Hedgewar had passed over several senior activists. Golwalkar's background, training, and interests made him an unlikely successor, and
As RSS' leader for more than 30 years, Golwalkar made it one of the strongest religious-political organisations in India; its membership expanded from 100,000 to over one million, and it branched out into the political, social, religious, educational and labour fields through 50
The RSS expanded into Jammu and Kashmir in 1940, when Balraj Madhok was sent as a pracharak to Jammu with Prem Nath Dogra as director. A shakha was founded in Srinagar in 1944, and Golwalkar visited the city in 1946.[26][27][28]
Reorientation
Golwalkar's religiosity and apparent disinterest in politics convinced some RSS members that the organization was no longer relevant to the nationalist struggle. It remained separate from the freedom movement, and connections with the Hindu Mahasabha were severed. The RSS membership in the Marathi-speaking districts of Bombay became disillusioned and the Bombay sanghchalak, K. B. Limaye, resigned. Several swayamsevaks defected and formed the
However, Golwalkar moved quickly to consolidate his position. He created a network of prant pracharaks (provincial organisers), who would report to him rather than to the sanghchalaks. Golwalkar recruited local Congress leaders to preside over RSS functions, demonstrating the organisation's independence from the Hindu Mahasabha. The RSS continued to expand during the Second World War, especially in North India and present-day Pakistan. Many new members were religious, small-scale entrepreneurs interested in consolidating their caste positions with the RSS' Hindu symbols.[29]
Organisation policy during the war years was influenced by potential threats to Hinduism, with the RSS expected to be prepared to defend Hindu interests in the event of a possible Japanese invasion. It also expected a renewed Hindu-Muslim struggle after the war. Golwalkar did not want to give the British colonial government an excuse to ban the RSS. He complied with all governmental instructions, disbanding the RSS military department and avoiding the
In addition to pragmatism, Golwalkar appeared ideologically opposed to an anti-British struggle; the RSS pledged to defend India's freedom by defending religion and culture, and there was "no mention of the departure of the British".[34][35][36]
He called the conflation of anti-Britishism with patriotism and nationalism a 'Reactionary View', which would have disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle.[37][38] Golwalkar acknowledged that his attitude confused people (including many swayamsevaks in the RSS), leading them to distrust the Sangh.[39][40]
At the peak of the freedom struggle Golwalkar had famously uttered
"Hindus, don't waste your energy fighting the British. Save your energy to fight our internal enemies that are Muslims, Christians, and Communists."[41][42][43]
Ban and arrest
When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, there was widespread apprehension that the RSS was involved.[44] Golwalkar and 20,000 swayamsevaks were arrested on 4 February, and the RSS was banned for "promoting violence and subversion".[45] Godse said that he acted on his own initiative, and no official connection between the RSS and Gandhi's assassination has ever been made. However, Nathuram Godse's brother Gopal Godse—also accused in the assassination plot—said that Nathuram never left the RSS, and his statement was designed to protect the RSS and Golwalkar (who were in deep trouble after the assassination).[46] Golwalkar was released on 5 August, after the six-month statutory limit expired.[44]
The RSS ban continued, and Golwalkar tried to negotiate with
Although Patel asked the RSS to join the Congress, Golwalkar disapproved. Patel then demanded, as a precondition, that the RSS adopt a written constitution. Golwalkar responded by beginning a
Writings and ideology
Golwalkar is known to have propagated Dharmic teachings. A book based on extracts of his writings, titled Guruji: Vision and Mission, includes a chapter titled "Hindu—the Son of this Motherland", which claims that '
Some of Golwalkar's ideas differed with those from the RSS. For example, in his book We or Our Nationhood Defined, published in 1939, he compares the creation of a Hindu culture propagating the concept of acceptance of a shared Hindu heritage.[52]
Golwalkar always believed that
According to Ramachandra Guha's book Makers of Modern India, Golwalkar saw Muslims, Christians and communists as the biggest threats to the creation of a Hindu state. Golwalkar has been "criticized" for "similarities in ideas" with those of the Nazis, particularly by Hindutva adversaries and critics alike.[55] For instance, Golwalkar's book We, or Our Nationhood Defined, published in 1939, includes the following quote:
"To keep up the purity of the nation and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of Semitic races – the Jews. National 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 Hindustan to learn and profit by.”[56]
However, Golwalkar "cooperated" with the British in
Golwalkar believed that people following
The non-Hindu peoples in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture — in one 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 preferential treatment—not even citizen's rights.[60][61]
Legacy
The Central Government's motion to rename the second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology after Golwalkar led to controversy in Kerala.[62][63]
Shashi Tharoor, in a series of tweets, asked whether the centre should "memorialize a bigoted Hitler-admirer who in a 1966 speech to VHP asserted the supremacy of religion over science".[64] Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposed this move and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sent a letter to Centre requesting it to reconsider its decision to name the second campus of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), coming up in Thiruvananthapuram, after M. S. Golwalkar.[65][66]
See also
- Indigenous Aryans
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
References
Citations
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, p. 39.
- JSTOR j.ctt7s2fq. Archived from the originalon 12 August 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ Ramchandra Guha (26 November 2006). "The guru of hate". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, p. 52-58.
- ^ Noorani, The RSS and the BJP 2000, p. 18-23.
- ^ "Narendra Modi on Guruji Golwalkar, translated by Aakar Patel – Part 1". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ Bunch of Thoughts (PDF). The Hindu Centre. 1960. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ISBN 9780670999507.
- ^ a b c d e Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 41.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, p. 46.
- ^ a b V. Sundaram (9 January 2006). "Salutations to Golwalkar - I". News Today. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ^ Sharma, J., 2007. Terrifying Vision: MS Golwalkar, the RSS, and India. Penguin Books India.
- ^ a b c Andersen 1972a, p. 594.
- ^ Sheshadri, H. V., Shri Guruji - Biography Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, golwalkarguruji.org.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, p. 40.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, pp. 65–66.
- ^ a b Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 42.
- ^ Swami Bhaskarananda (2004). "Life in Indian Monasteries". Viveka Press. pp. 16–19.
- ^ D. R. Goyal, RSS 1979, p. 78.
- ^ a b Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 43.
- ^ D. R. Goyal, RSS (1979, pp. 80–81): According to Keer"s report, "Golwalkar... said that the book We which was read by the RSS was the abridgement done by him (Golwalkar) of the work Rashtra Mimansa of Babarao Savarkar. He added that he had translated Babarao Savarkar's book into Hindi and handed it over to a certain man. He said that it was most befitting on his part to acknowledge publicly the debt of gratitude."
- ^ Jha, Devendra K (31 July 2021). "Guruji's Lie The RSS and MS Golwalkar's undeniable links to Nazism". No. August 2021. The Caravan. The Caravan. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
After I went through Rashtramimansa, I found that all the critical formulations mentioned in We belonged solely to Golwalkar—especially its project of promoting a Hindu culture along the lines of Nazi antisemitism and its prescription of total assimilation or ethnic cleansing to deal with the problem of minorities in India.
- ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, pp. 41–43.
- ^ D. R. Goyal, RSS 1979, pp. 78–82.
- ^ D. R. Goyal, RSS 1979, pp. 82–84.
- ^ Chitkara, RSS National Upsurge 2004, p. 263.
- ^ Mahesh Sharma, Shri Guruji Golwalkar 2006, p. 44.
- ^ Tapan Bose (1 September 2014). "Modi's Kashmir Policy". Kashmir Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, pp. 44–45.
- ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 44.
- ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2.
- ^ Bipan Chandra, Communalism 2008, p. 140.
- ^ "History Shows How Patriotic the RSS Really Is". Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ a b M.S. Golwalkar (1974). Shri Guruji Samagra Darshan, Volume 4. Bharatiya Vichar Sadhana.
- ISBN 978-81-7495-236-3.
- ISBN 978-81-321-0206-9.
- ISBN 978-0-86311-383-3.
- ISBN 0-8122-1585-0.
- ISBN 978-81-7495-236-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7619-3338-0.
- ^ "Why Is Anand Teltumbde So Dangerous for the Narendra Modi Government?". The Wire. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "BJP's brand of patriotism". Deccan Herald. 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- PMC 8150632.
- ^ a b c Andersen 1972c, p. 675.
- ^ D. R. Goyal, RSS 1979, pp. 201–202.
- ^ "The BJP and Nathuram Godse". Frontline. 8 February 2013. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ "RSS to abandon politics" (PDF). The Hindu. 24 May 1949. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement 1996, p. 88-89.
- JSTOR 3023941.
- ^ Noorani, The RSS and the BJP 2000, p. 43.
- ^ Bal, Hartosh Singh. "How the RSS is infiltrating India's intellectual spaces". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
- ^ Bal, Hartosh Singh. "How MS Golwalkar's virulent ideology underpins Modi's India". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "No love for Ambedkar". The Indian Express. 23 April 2016. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "RSS's standardised Hinduism – Part 4". Times of India Blog. 22 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ISBN 978-8-184-75289-2.
- ^ Golwalkar, M. S. (1939). We, or Our Nationhood Defined. Nagpur: Bharat Publications. pp. 87–88.
- ^ Shamsul Islam (2006). Golwalkar's We or our nationhood defined: a critique. Pharos Media & Pub. p. 30.
- ^ Quraiza, Jai Banu (January 2004). Hindu Pro-Zionism and Philo-Semitism (PDF) (Report). p. 84. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ Salam, Ziya Us (19 December 2019). "CAB: Rooted in Hindutva ideology". Frontline. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-93-80607-04-7. Archivedfrom the original on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ Noorani, A. G. (17 December 2017). "For the RSS, 'culture' means Hindu culture". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Golwalkar's name for RGCB to shift narrative: Pinarayi". 12 December 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ Unnithan, P. S. Gopikrishnan (5 December 2020). "Shashi Tharoor slams Centre for renaming 2nd RGCB campus after RSS ideologue with 'bigoted Hitler-admirer' jibe". India Today. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "In letter to Centre, Kerala CM opposes move to name new Centre for Biotechnology campus after Golwalkar". The Indian Express. 6 December 2020. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Golwalkar's name for new RGCB campus: Pinarayi Vijayan writes to Harsh Vardhan". 5 December 2020. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
Sources
- JSTOR 4361126.
- JSTOR 4361149.
- JSTOR 4361179
- JSTOR 4361197.
- Andersen, Walter K.; Damle, Shridhar D. (1987) [Originally published by Westview Press], The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications
- ISBN 978-8124114162
- Chitkara, M. G. (2004), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: National Upsurge, APH Publishing, ISBN 8176484652
- ISBN 978-81-250-1546-8
- ISBN 0836405668
- ISBN 9780330396110
- ISBN 978-1850653011
- ISBN 978-81-87496-13-7
- Sharma, Mahesh (2006), Shri Guruji Golwalkar, New Delhi: Diamond Pocket Books, ISBN 8128812459
- 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
- "RSS Declared Unlawful: GOI communique of February 4, 1948 (extracted from Goyal, 1979, pp. 201–202)". Dilip Simeon's blog. Retrieved 11 October 2014.