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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

‘Bharat Ratna to Savarkar will increase its prestige’

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday threw his full weight behind the long-standing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna on Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, asserting that the Hindutva ideologue’s inclusion would enhance the dignity of the country’s highest civilian honour. Bhagwat, who explained the genesis and growth of the RSS over past 100 years in two lectures at the Nehru Centre here on Saturday and Sunday, replied to several...

‘Bharat Ratna to Savarkar will increase its prestige’

Mumbai: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghachalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday threw his full weight behind the long-standing demand to confer the Bharat Ratna on Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, asserting that the Hindutva ideologue’s inclusion would enhance the dignity of the country’s highest civilian honour. Bhagwat, who explained the genesis and growth of the RSS over past 100 years in two lectures at the Nehru Centre here on Saturday and Sunday, replied to several questions. While replying to one of the questions, he remarked, “If Swatantraveer Savarkar is given the Bharat Ratna, the prestige of the Bharat Ratna itself will increase.” He was asked, why there has been a delay in conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar, in reply to which, Bhagwat said, “I am not part of that committee. But if I meet someone, I will ask. Even without that honour, he rules the hearts of millions of people.” he added. Social Divisions Bhagwat replied to questions that were clubbed in 14 different groups ranging from national security to environment, social harmony, youth, arts and sports. Whenever the questions suggested or expressed expectations that the RSS should do certain things, Bhagwat stressed on the involvement of the society and initiative from the society in resolving the problems. While addressing the critical issue of Uniform Civil Code, Bhagwat stated that the UCC should be framed by taking everyone into confidence and must not lead to social divisions. In the same way while replying to the question related to illegal migrants in the country, Bhagwat urged people to “detect and report” the “illegal infiltrators” to the police. He also urged people not to give them any employment and to be more “vigilant.” Backing SIR He highlighted that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has already revealed the “foreigners” living in the country. “The government has a lot to do regarding infiltration. They have to detect and deport. This wasn’t happening until now, but it has started little by little, and it will gradually increase. When the census or the SIR is conducted, many people come to light who are not citizens of this country; they are automatically excluded from the process,” he said. “But we can do one thing: we can work on detection. Their language gives them away. We should detect them and report them to the appropriate authorities. We should inform the police that we suspect these people are foreigners, and they should investigate and keep an eye on them, and we will also keep an eye on them. We will not give employment to any foreigner. If someone is from our country, we will give them employment, but not to foreigners. You should be a little more vigilant and aware,” he added. SC Chief Emphasising the inclusivity of the Sangh, he said that anyone can become ‘Sarsanghchalak’ (RSS chief), including the SC and STs, as the decision is solely dependent on the work that any individual put for the organisation. “Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra or Brahmin does not qualify for the Sarsanghchalak position (RSS Chief), a Hindu will become the one who works and is best available. A Hindu will become, and that can also be an SC or ST. Anyone can become it depends on the work. Today, if you see, all classes have representation in the Sangh. The decision is taken on the basis of one who works and is best available,” he said. He pointed out that when the RSS was founded, its work began in a Brahmin-dominated community and hence, most of its founders were Brahmins, which led to the organisation being labelled as a Brahmin outfit at the time. People always look for an organisation that has representatives from their community, he said. “If I were to choose a chief, I would go by the ‘best available candidate’ criterion. When I was appointed RSS chief, there were many best candidates, but they were not available. I was the one who could be relieved from duties and appointed,” he said. He said that to belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe communities is not a disqualification, and neither is being a Brahmin a qualification to become the RSS chief. Ready to step down if Sangh asks for Dr. Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the Sangh had asked him to continue working despite his age, while stressing that he would step down from the post whenever the organisation directs him to do so. “There is no election to the post of RSS chief. Regional and divisional heads appoint the chief. Generally, it is said that after turning 75, one should work without holding any post,” Bhagwat said. “I have completed 75 years and informed the RSS, but the organisation asked me to continue working. Whenever the RSS asks me to step down, I will do so, but retirement from work will never happen,” he said.

Medal Muddle

In any half-decent country, Rahi Sarnobat would be hailed as a national treasure. But in India, she is treated like a supplicant. Sarnobat, the first Indian woman to win a World Cup gold in shooting and a decorated Asian Games champion, has not received a rupee in salary from the Maharashtra government in eight years. The reason is as absurd as it is outrageous: she has not completed a mandatory revenue-service training course for the post of Deputy Collector - a position she earned as a reward for her sporting achievements.

 

Sarnobat has spent the better part of her adult life hauling India’s flag to the top of international podiums. It is a travesty that she has been forced to choose between a rigid training schedule and the even more inflexible whims of government administrators. That this choice has cost Sarnobat her income and her dignity, is a national disgrace.

 

Maharashtra’s General Administration Department insists that until she completes her training, she cannot be paid. This, despite the fact that the government possesses the discretion to grant her an exemption. Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, to his credit, had deferred Sarnobat’s training requirement until after the 2022 Olympics.

 

Yet, when the grace period expired, so too did the government’s compassion. Sarnobat’s sporting commitments left her unable to finish the course. When her family approached the revenue minister four years ago, they were met with perfunctory replies and procedural rigmarole. Requests to consider exemptions as given to elite athletes in Punjab and Haryana have been deflected with Kafkaesque absurdity.

 

Maharashtra’s officials demand ‘official orders’ from these states as precedent, as though it were Sarnobat’s job to run a comparative study in bureaucratic law. Without an income certificate, Sarnobat cannot even get a home loan. Her career is being stifled not by injury or competition, but by a cold-blooded clerical caste that would rather see medals gather dust than lift a finger to honour the promises they once made.

 

The episode reveals more than just one woman’s bureaucratic nightmare. It is emblematic of India’s toxic disregard for its athletes. While politicians fall over themselves to tweet congratulatory messages after every medal haul, they disappear just as quickly when asked to deliver something of actual value.

 

Maharashtra, and particularly Kolhapur, had once nurtured its sporting sons and daughters with pride. Rulers like Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj celebrated their wrestlers with royal processions and patronage. Today, the baton has passed not to visionaries but to venal paper-pushers whose only talent is finding new ways to stall.

 

Athletes do not ask for much. A decent job. A timely salary. In return, they give their bodies, years of their youth and the rarest form of patriotism: excellence under pressure on the world stage. Rahi Sarnobat has done all of this, and more. The least Maharashtra can do is pay her what she is owed and ensure that no athlete is ever punished again for serving the nation with distinction.

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