Sangh Parivar calls Rahul Gandhi liar for terming BJP-RSS 'anti-Dalit', says it will never oppose reservation

With Assembly elections just around the corner in Karnataka, and the country preparing for the big Lok Sabha election next year, the political parties are busy invoking the ’electorally important’ Dalit vote bank to meet their political goals. And in this pursuit, the latest accusation was levelled by the Congress party on RSS and BJP for holding a ‘anti-Dalit’ mindset. However, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated body Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have taken strong exception to the Congress party’s stand and asked its chief Rahul Gandhi to furnish proof to substantiate his claim that ‘both RSS and BJP are anti-Dalit’. Both the RSS and the VHP have underlined in the past that ‘reservation should continue’. [caption id=“attachment_3967927” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Rahul targeted BJP-RSS for having an “anti-Dalit mindset” during an election rally in Karnataka on Sunday. He said that as per the ‘fascist ideology’ of these outfits, Dalits should continue to remain on the bottom rung of society. The Congress president also questioned the ‘silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’ on the rising incidents of atrocities against Dalits in the country. However, the RSS, which does not see itself as a political body, has not only condemned Rahul’s statement, but it also tried to underline the fact that it has adopted the position of BR Ambedkar. “Both the RSS and the VHP are of the opinion that the reservation should continue. The Constitution has served us well; there’s no requirement of an overhaul,” Sah-Prant Sanghchalak of RSS, Delhi, Alok Kumar told Firstpost. Kumar is also the new working president of VHP. Rahul had also put up a 2.38 minute-long video on Twitter using hashtag #AnswerMaadiModi (Answer us Modi) aalong with this caption: “In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it’s openly propagated by senior RSS/ BJP leaders is revealed.”

Central to the RSS/ BJP fascist ideology, is that Dalits & Adivasis must continue to exist at the bottom rung of society.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it’s openly propagated by senior RSS/ BJP leaders is revealed. #AnswerMaadiModi pic.twitter.com/gX2NwL0q27 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 6, 2018

Reacting sharply to Rahul’s video, the Sangh has hit back at the Congress chief stating that his allegation are ‘absolutely baseless and false.’ It has accused the Congress president of indulging in ’low level politics’. “Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi, by taking recourse to lies, have been trying unsuccessfully to confuse the society. Rahul Gandhi, in his official Facebook page, has posted lies about me and RSS Sarsangchalak Mohanrao Bhagwat that we want to abolish the reservation given to the SCs and STs in the Constitution. This is absolutely baseless and false without any official reference or source,” said RSS joint general secretary (Sah-Sarkaryavah), Manmohan Vaidya in his statement. “The official stand of RSS is that the reservation provided by the Constitution to SCs and STs should continue, and this has been established from time to time in our Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha…Rahul Gandhi and Congress must furnish proof to substantiate their claim and source,” he added. RSS and Ambedkar’s ideological view The Sangh has also maintained that it has adopted the line given by BR Ambedkar, which propagates reformation within Hindu society, besides unity and integrity of nation. Organiser and Panchajanya — English and Hindi weeklies published by RSS’ publication wing Bharat Prakashan — brought out special issues to this effect on the 125th birth centenary of BR Ambedkar in 2016. Through this special issue (17 April 2016), the RSS magazines tried to present various aspects of Ambedkar, his contribution to Indian polity and society, his vision for Dalit community at large, and about his ideology. “Dr Ambedkar is erroneously projected as a divisive figure by certain vested interests but recognition of his contribution will finally prove to be a unifier for Bharat. He was a national icon with multi-dimensional personality. Besides drafting our Constitution, on one hand he had a clear vision on economic planning and on the other, he worked for the emancipation of women and marginalised section of the society. Our objective behind bringing out the special issue was to question why should he be projected as the leader of only one community?” Praful Ketkar, editor, Organiser told Firstpost. “Rahul Gandhi instead of fighting an electoral battle politically, has taken recourse to maligning RSS through rumours, false perceptions and hate statements. Earlier, Congress levelled allegations against the RSS over Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, and now it has been replaced by ‘anti-dalit’ narrative, which is very unfortunate. Today the credibility of Congress has become questionable due to such kind of statements. Today, while the RSS has reached every corner of the country, the Congress has shrunk,” added Ketkar.