RSS had better intelligence gathering 98 years ago

Mumbai: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which was born in Nagpur in 1925, had a better intelligence gathering network in the city 98 years ago. At least this is what the official biography of its founder Dr K B Hedgewar, which is available on the official website of the organization, suggests.

The biography written by N H Palkar and bears a foreword from the second Sarsanghchalak of the organization M S Golwalkar, has an entire chapter dedicated to the 1927 Muslim riots in Nagpur. It was due to the way RSS handled the Muslim aggression, the organization could quickly spread across the central province and today's Vidarbha region, the book boasts.

The chapter titled "Nagpur Ka Danga" (Riot in Nagpur) narrates in very detail how the communal tension was brewing up in Nagpur since the 1920 Congress session in the city and how the incidents of Muslim aggression had increased ahead of the formation of the RSS in 1925 and how Hedgewar used to call it 'Muslim aggression' instead of 'Hindu-Muslim riots'. The chapter also cites editorial content of some of the then popular newspapers in the city while narrating the buildup.

The chapter also narrates how Muslims were planning to take advantage of caste divisions among Hindus and how Dr Hedgewar's efforts to unite Hindus defeated the purpose. At the same time the chapter also narrates how the intelligence gathering network of the RSS helped its leaders understand the aggressive plans of Muslims in the city. It also explains how Dr Hedgewar prioritised organizing Hindus to ensure that the community doesn't fall prey to such aggressions from outside and urged Hindus to overcome the feeling that they are 'alone'.

The then members of the RSS gathered information on how and when the Muslim goons would attack the Hindu areas of the city. Based on the information Anna Sohoni, the then head of physical training of the RSS trained cadres in defence as well as attack.

On September 4, 1927 on the auspicious occasion of Mahalakshmi poojan, the Muslims had planned a procession post noon. Most of the Hindus from the region enjoy ciesta post heavy lunch on that day. Also, the idols of Mahalakshmi are decorated with gold ornaments. There were plans to loot the ornaments also, states the book. However, the Muslim goons who had planned an attack on the Hindu locality in Mahal area of the city were taken by surprise when their aggression met with equally strong and quick retaliation.

Incidentally, the incidents of violence and arson on Sunday were reported from the same areas that were attacked 98 years ago.