Page 112 - EW April 2023

Books

MacMahon Line in the semantics. India’s defence
north-east imposed upon budget at Rs.5.9 lakh crore I COULD NOT BE HINDU: THE
Tibet (over which India in 2023-24 is 5x of the STORY OF A DALIT IN THE RSS
had accepted Chinese Centre’s education outlay. Bhanwar Meghwanshi
suzerainity in 1950) by the Government schools are in NAVAYANA PUBLISHING
British in 1914 in exchange a shambles and 48 percent Rs.399
for India accepting a of India’s children under Pages 240
Chinese drawn bound- age five are under-nour-
ary in Aksai Chin. Under ished, in danger of stunt-
pressure from vociferous ing and brain damage.
opposition parties in Par- Instead of getting on with hypnotism, leading to The author shares
liament, Nehru rejected the task of quintupling rivalry, riots and toxic pa- his experience with
the proposal and persisted annual outlays for public triotism. He enlightens his the RSS and the
with “his talks but no education and health, readers about the situation reasons why he quit
negotiations” policy. India has emerged as the of Dalits in the RSS and this organisation, the
In October 1962 when world’s largest importer of across the country. ideological mentor of
Indian troops occupied guns and armaments. According to the the BJP, which rules
Chinese claimed terri- All right-thinking author, the RSS wel- at the Centre
tory beyond the Thagla citizens need to read this comes youth of different
Ridge in the north-east, comprehensively re- backgrounds and ensures
the Chinese attacked with searched book to under- superficial equality like Annihilation of Caste,
full force. Within three stand how many opportu- wearing the same uniform and writes: “Ambedkar’s
weeks the border war in nities Nehru and his heirs or addressing each other writings sowed the seed
the north-east was all over missed to turn swords into with the suffix ji and bhai- of progressive thinking in
with the troops of the In- Smartboards. sahab after the first name. me. A Dalit perspective
dian Army in full retreat. DILIP THAKORE However, this equality is helped me understand
Having taken the vital cosmetic. A brainchild of my personal, individual
town of Tawang and with Hedgewar, the RSS aims struggle against the sangh
the whole of Arunachal Epiphany of a at creating a ‘Hindu Rash- as a collective struggle for
and the plains of Assam tra’ where Muslims, OBCs, identity, social justice and
nese declared a unilateral Dalit SCs and STs are used as dignity”.
open before them, the Chi-
Meghwanshi elaborates
tropes to fight against each
cease fire and retreated other in the guise of defus- on the emotional and
north of Tawang. HIS IS AN autobiog- ing Brahmanism, the moot affective state of mind of
Unsurprisingly, Indira raphy in which the agenda being protecting Dalits, tribals and to some
Nehru-Gandhi didn’t ap- Tauthor shares his social hierarchies, i.e, extent OBCs, who have
preciate this Chinese mag- experiences with the Rash- uplifting the ethos of the historically been segregat-
nanimity. She and a string triya Swayamsevak Sangh existing caste system. ed, humiliated, ostracised
of Nehru-Gandhis who (RSS) and the reasons he Meghwanshi’s testimo- and exploited. He notes
succeeded her as prime quit this organisation, the ny affirms the degrading that momentary socialisa-
minister persisted with ideological mentor of the caste-based exploitation tion within the shakhas,
Nehru’s “talk not negoti- BJP which rules at the perpetrated by the RSS. interaction of the sway-
ate” line. While this is ex- Centre and several states He joined the RSS at a amsevaks with pracha-
plicable, one wonders why of the Indian Union. tender age, where patrio- raks, as well as addressing
the BJP government ruling Similar to Gan- tism is evoked through each one with respect,
at the Centre since 2014 dhi’s experiments with exercises, hymns, an- appreciation of local-level
has continued with this truth, where he identi- thems, learning weapons activities, and most impor-
Nehruvian policy. Mean- fies modernisation and usage in the name of tantly, welcoming Dalits
while all our neighbouring westernisation as culprits self-protection, distorting to voluntarily Sanskri-
countries including Nepal, of the degeneration of In- cultural history and always tise themselves thereby
Myanmar, Pakistan and dian civilisation, Bhanwar projecting Muslims as the eliminating their original
Russia have negotiated Meghwanshi highlights national enemy. However, identity and emulating
and settled boundaries the hypocrisy and knouts he also read Ambedkar’s Brahmins, made them
with China. of Brahmanism as the original writings like visualise a better life.
Nor is this a matter of denominators of mass Riddles in Hinduism; Meghwanshi refers

112 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2023