What the Opposition can learn from RSS when it comes to 'national interest'

The RSS passed several resolutions on Pakistan and has consistently demanded strong action from successive governments to deal with its anti-India activities.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) recently lauded the Centre and the armed forces for successfully conducting ‘Operation Sindoor’. A few days later, Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat mentioned in his speech in Jaipur on 17 May that the “world listens to the language of love only when you have power.” And India has demonstrated its power through ‘Operation Sindoor’.

The RSS’s policy on Pakistan has been quite clear and consistent since India’s independence and partition. It has passed several resolutions that demonstrate its leadership’s foresight and vision, as it spelled out and suggested how successive Congress governments should deal with Pakistan.

Incidentally, the RSS also backed Indira Gandhi in the run-up to the India–Pakistan war in 1971. The opposition parties, especially the Congress, can learn from the RSS how to place national interest above ideological differences. The Congress leadership and other parties trying to target the Modi government to score political points over ‘Operation Sindoor’ should read the texts of these two important resolutions from 1971.

Resolutions with Foresight

The RSS had cautioned as early as 1960 that appeasement towards Pakistan—particularly the Indus Water Treaty—would cost India dearly.

Its top decision-making body, the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (executive body), stated in a 1960 resolution:

“For some time, various agreements have been entered into with Pakistan under the pretext of improving Bharat–Pakistan relations. Appeasement is discernible in all these agreements, involving many illegal concessions to Pakistan at the expense of our country’s just interests. Agreements such as the Indus Water Treaty, division of available waters, interim commitments, and financial arrangements are going to prove an extremely costly bargain for us. The Government, through these agreements, has also ignored the inevitable requirements of our developmental projects. It has also, by giving its silent consent to the construction of the Mangla Dam in Pak-occupied Kashmir, shown its mental preparedness to give up its claim over that strategic area.”

The resolution displayed exceptional foresight, further stating:

“Our relation with Pakistan in all spheres should be determined on a realistic basis, keeping in mind the historical perspective of the demand for and formation of Pakistan, as well as the mentality and ambitions of her rulers. Pacts made on the basis of reactionary and fanciful theories and with a defeatist mentality will not fetch goodwill from Pakistan. On the contrary, they will further endanger our country both internally and externally. As a consequence of this policy of repeated appeasement, serious doubts about the Government’s ability to protect national interests are bound to arise in people’s minds and severely affect their morale and self-confidence.”

The RSS urged the then Central Government to bring about a change in its Pakistan policy and adopt an “honourable and resolute policy”.

In a 1964 resolution passed by the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, another decision-making body of the RSS, the organisation clearly stated: “Pakistan has aggressed and occupied large tracts of Indian territory. All this encroachment and infringement of India’s sovereignty can never be brooked with equanimity. Questions of defence of our borders, protection of Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan, and securing peace within against the machinations of Pakistani agents, are all interrelated issues.”

In another resolution passed in 1968, the RSS criticised Pakistan for making illegitimate claims on India’s eastern border and again warned of its attempts to create unrest in the country. It urged the then Central Government, led by Indira Gandhi, to take a strong stand on this issue.

1971 Resolutions

The RSS passed two significant resolutions on Pakistan in 1971. In the first, the RSS backed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s stand on handling Pakistan. The resolution stated: “The call given by the Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi, to the people to sink their petty political differences, rise above party interests, and unitedly face the imminent challenge, is most timely and fitting.”

The RSS urged: “...the people to maintain internal peace and order, and co-operate wholeheartedly with the Government as well as the armed forces in the event of aggression by Pakistan.”

It made its position clear:“All Swayamsevaks (volunteers) of the Sangh will, as in the past, remain in the vanguard of the people’s efforts in the cause of the nation’s defence.”

In a second resolution passed that year, the RSS again supported the Indira Gandhi-led Government, urging her to intervene on behalf of East Pakistan refugees who were victims of genocide by the Pakistan Army. The resolution stated: “It would be inconsistent with the declared ideals and values, and the sense of national self-respect and interest of Bharat, to remain a passive spectator to the suppression of democratic rights and the unabashed massacre of humanity in Bangladesh. It would be idle to expect the refugees to return until the atrocities being perpetrated on the people of Bangladesh are stopped and conditions created for their honourable existence.”

To achieve this goal, the RSS urged the Central Government: “...to take strong and immediate measures in keeping with its basic stand and the assurances given to the people from time to time, and in consonance with national sentiments and self-respect.”

The resolution assured the Government: “The people will wholeheartedly support any such action. It is true that when the Government resorts to such action, the people also will have to make supreme sacrifices.”

The RSS called upon: “...the people to rise to the occasion when such a call comes.”

Even after 1971, the RSS passed several resolutions on Pakistan and has consistently demanded strong action from successive governments to deal with its anti-India activities. These resolutions and actions reflect the RSS’s long-term vision of protecting national interests.

Earlier RSSFACTS columns can be read here.