MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, accusing him of merely echoing the BJP government’s narrative instead of holding the Centre accountable for the erosion of the Constitution, Parliament, and the judiciary, as well as the growing public unrest across the country.
In its mouthpiece, Saamana, the Thackeray camp editorial said, “The RSS chief fears that public anger witnessed in the neighbouring countries will erupt in India too. Because in the last ten years, Modi-Shah gave false promises to the people. They stoked religious riots and handed the country to crony capitalists. It was Bhagwat's duty to make a strong statement on this robbery and guide the nation. Instead, he has joined the chorus of cowards and mercenaries playing the tunes of the government."
It sarcastically asked, “Bhagwat, you too?” -- suggesting that even the Sarsanghchalak has chosen to hail the BJP’s rule rather than question constitutional institutions' growing unrest and weakening autonomy.
The editorial argued that it is necessary to examine “what kind of nationalism and Hindutva is in the DNA of the RSS when it stands behind a government under whose watch the Constitution, Parliament, judiciary, and even the country’s cultural unity are under threat.”
Warning that public unrest and mass movements are democratic rights which rulers cannot suppress, the Thackeray camp said, “Change is possible only through democratic means, but what happens when constitutional bodies themselves begin praising a dictator’s rule?”
Thackeray camp referred to the violent outbreaks of public anger in neighboring Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and, more recently, in Nepal that led to a change of government. Forces that encourage such disturbances are active in our country as well as around the world.
“The RSS chief commented that street protests are not appropriate. Is the guidance given by Bhagwat true, or is it the politics of the BJP that constantly incites violence and fuels hatred between Hindus and Muslims?" it questioned.
The Saamana piece further alleged, “The Modi-Shah rule is nothing but the fulfillment of the RSS’s dream -- to replace a tolerant Hindu ethos with a fanatical, rotten-minded Hindu Rashtra. In essence, the RSS wants a Hindu version of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s rule, a Hindu Pakistan, where freedom, democracy, and Parliament are sacrificed.”