NEW DELHI: As the war of words between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan escalates, the former’s meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has sparked another round of row. While the Governor defended the meeting by flaunting his long association with RSS, ruling CPI(M) and Congress termed it as ‘improper and overstepping Governor’s constitutional authority.
The row has also put the spotlight once again on the veracity of RSS’ claims that it participated in the 1963 Republic Day Parade. To substantiate his argument, Khan said that then PM Jawaharlal Nehru invited RSS to participate in the parade, as he was impressed by the work of its volunteers during the Indo-China war in 1962. However, an RTI filed by India Today magazine in 2018, offers no credence to the claims of the Sangh. Responding to the RTI, Defence Ministry said, “It is informed that records relating to the composition of the Republic Day parade 1963 are not available.”
Countering the RTI report, senior RSS leader J Nandakumar told this newspaper that RSS participation in the parade was a well-documented one and it was published by the newspaper Hindustan at that time. The photographs of the volunteers were also published, he added.
“RTI gives information based on available documents in archives. Even Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s documents are not available. This proof also might have been destroyed, though I am not sure about it. The ruling dispensation, during that time, might have chosen not to preserve some inconvenient truths,” said Nandakumar, adding that the meeting between the Governor and Bhagwat has been blown out of proportion. “Bhagwat is the head of the largest voluntary organisation. If an RSS member can become the PM of the country, can’t the Guv visit him?” he asked.
Echoing the view, RSS publicity chief Sunil Ambekar told this daily that it’s an unwarranted controversy and the governor is free to meet anyone. “It’s a democracy and he can meet anyone,” he said. Earlier too, controversy cropped up when former President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the Sangh’s invitation to visit RSS headquarters.
Reacting to the charges, Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said that RSS is instrumental in polarising the country on communal lines and no claims can give them credibility.
“Nehru hasn’t mentioned such a thing in his autobiography,” said Moily.
RSS chief meets eminent Muslims
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has recently met with a group of eminent Muslims to discuss ways to defuse growing hostility between the two communities. The meeting took place at its headquarters in the national capital last month. Former AMU V-C Lieutenant General (Rtd) Zameer Uddin Shah, former L-G of Delhi Najeeb Jung, Former CEC SY Quraishi, Rashtriya Lok Dal national vice-president Shahid Siddiqui and industrialist Saeed Sherwani were among those who met Bhagwat. According to sources, the meeting discussed many ways to bring the two communities to close.