The American who spent three decades with the RSS

Only a few can count themselves as fortunate as Walter K Andersen who first came to India in the 60s on an exchange programme from the University of Chicago to study university politics The circumstances were such that he ended up meeting a lot of people from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS and inevitably became aware of and interested in the organisations workings Its somewhere around this time that he got direct access to the Sangh headquartered in Nagpur For a parivar which has to date worn the membersonly tag with pride and granted the privilege of admission to outsiders very grudgingly Andersen recalls being rather luckyDhwajvataran or lowering of the flat at the end of a shakha a local daily meeting of members of the SanghMy advisors at the University Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph told me if you have access make use of it They encouraged me to pursue this topic as a research subject he says Several years later much after his research he got acquainted with scholar Shridhar D Damle He was a democratic socialist even then and was drawn by the antiestablishment views of the RSS Damle was and is an Indian nationalist and Indias poor showing in the China war led him to believe that the country needed a nationalist government willing to defend Indias interest says AndersenWalter K AndersenIn Damle Andersen found a great partner to further his understanding of the Sangh which even then was a work in progress Their book The Brotherhood in Saffron in 1987 was the first step in this direction Over 30 years on Andersen and Damle have reunited for a new book RSS A View To The Inside Penguin Random House which offers a fresh look into how the Hindu volunteering organisation first founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925 has progressed to becoming one of the worlds largest nongovernment associations mdash it has an estimated 15ndash2 million regular participants in its nearly 57000 local daily meetings referred to as shakhas 14000 weekly shakhas and 7000 monthly shakhas taking place across 36293 locations nationwide as of 2016 mdash that is also very much involved in the policy process of the country That it took only three decades for a shift in the narrative in itself is commendable and worth fresh investigation says Andersen who along with his wife has spent several days at the Sanghs headquartersToday Andersen a professor of South Asia studies School of Advanced International Studies SAIS Johns Hopkins University and Damle a freelance journalist in the US have become foremost scholars of the rightwing outfit But Andersen is quick to correct the definition for the Sangh The use of the Western term right reflects a kind of orientalism and is therefore misleading On economic issues RSS is to the left of centre and on cultural to the right of centre On Muslims there is an effort to bring Muslims into what the RSS considers the national mainstream Its leaders often point to the cultural Hindu activities of the Muslim majority Indonesia as a model of what should exist in India he saysShridhar D DamleThe book also explains how Contrary to the popular notion of the RSS being antiMuslim and doggedly pushing the Hindutva ideology with the BJP Andersen and Damle talk of how the Sangh which is undoubtedly one of the most crucial power centres of the Narendra Modi government today has also experimented with bringing Muslims into their fold The Muslim Rashtriya Manch MRM which describes itself as an organisation established with the support of the RSS to bridge the gap between the Hindus and Muslims is one such effort the authors state in the book And while the RSS has never included it in its official list of affiliates the authors dont discount the possibilities of the same in the near future But if that were to happen wouldnt it be detrimental to the Sanghs interest A lot depends on how the Manch interacts with the Muslim community and what shape it takes So far RSS pracharak Indresh Kumar is shaping the MRM in a way that the Sangh does not particularly consider harmful to its interest says AndersenHaving said that Andersen reiterates that there is a need for the Sangh to be more inclusive To be frank the RSS in our view needs to better accommodate the cultural contributions of the Muslim experience in India says Andersen There is a need to take a more critical view of government policies Muslims are currently at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder One has to think about what can be done to improve their economic and educational status says Andersen adding that the MRM can play a role here and thus become more relevantBut progress is happening albeit slowly Despite facing brickbats on a host of controversial moves right from Ram Mandir to cow slaughter and Ghar Wapsi the RSS the authors say has become more outward looking Over the last two decades there has been a proliferation and growth of RSS affiliates All the affiliates operate in areas where you have necessity of government contact says Andersen For instance he explains that one affiliate of the RSS addresses issues such as support prices and import costs like transportation involved in agriculture This compels the RSS to take interest in such issues too he says adding that in doing so the Sangh is now playing a more active role in Indias policy And all said and done the Sangh family will always be the primary source from where the BJP will draw its strength The Sangh itself will try to stay out of politics but the BJP will continue to use RSS members to campaign and use its network to identify issues and potentially popular candidates This is partly because of the weak party structure of the BJP says AndersenCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates