46laws it cites, a very efficient archival source in
itself. About RSS’s multiple identities, all care-
fully constructed through deceptive legal action
across a long drawn out period, he says,
“It (RSS) claimed before the Bombay High Court
that it was a ‘charitable institution under Section
10(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961’ and before
the Charity Commissioner that the ‘RSS is not a
charitable trust but a political institution under
Section 12(13) of the Bombay Public Trusts Act,
1950’. To the public at large, it pretended to be a
‘cultural’ body. While the tax proceedings were
on, it amended its constitution in order to avoid
tax liability. However, it suppressed the fact from
the Charity Commissioner and was less than
candid to the tax authorities” (pp. 416).
He then, in the same chapter, goes on to cite sev-
eral legal documents and dissects the organiza-
tion’s constitution and the multiple amendments
it has been subjected to over the years. It is con-
cluded by arguing that the RSS today stands as
the richest organization in the country, its do-
nations (Guru Dakshina), worth lakhs, forming
the lion’s share of its funds. This too functions in
deep ambiguity. The donations are not contrib-
uted to a particular person, for the Guru is not
an individual* but the “symbol of purity, sacri-
fice and valour” (From Organiser, 11 December
2016; as quoted by Noorani; pp. 424)
The 2002 Pogrom and Modi’s Image
A study of RSS without the mention of its latest
poster boy and the country’s Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi would be incomplete. Noorani seems
to recognize this too, for one of the concluding
chapters, interestingly enough, highlights how
the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom has had a defining in-
fluence on Modi’s career as well as his general
image as a dutiful RSS karyavahak (worker). The
chapter numbered 17 and titled ‘How Modi Prof-
ited by a Pogrom’, through thorough archival re-
search as well as active ground work through
persona interviews, lays down in fine detail those
significant aspects of the massacre that prove his
case, that the state, with Modi as Chief Minister,
was not only allowed it to happen, but in fact had
participated actively in it - with the help of all its
machinery, including the police and bureaucracy.
Rather than affect their political lives negatively,
the pogrom, according to Noorani, encouraged
leaders like Advani or Vajpayee to push the RSS’s
agenda more aggressively than before, as also
helped Modi emerge a ‘mightier’ figure in In-
dian politics. The carnage episode was a license
to RSS’s followers to spew communal politics as
well as defend Modi more openly unlike in 1992
post the Babri Masjid attack, argues Noorani.
“Far from repenting, the RSS and its front the
VHP became aggressive in Modi’s defence. There
were at least formal regrets after the demolition
of the Babri Masjid in 1992. The pogrom of 2002,
a decade later encouraged the Nero to shower
insults at Muslims, L. K. Advani to defend him
ardently, Vajpayee to denounce Muslims, and the
RSS and VHP to hurl warnings at Muslims”.
It is noteworthy that this 547-pages long lucidly
written masterpiece ends with 16 elaborate sec-
tions of appendices (pp. 430-534), providing
more crucial archival and legal evidence ena-
bling further scrutiny on the subject. The work
therefore, is also a must for all those interested in
modern Indian politics in general as well as the
history of communalism in India in particular.The RSS
A Menace to India
A. G. NooraniLeftWord Books New Delhi, 2019
547 pages
mayday.leftword.comStudent Struggle | June - July 2019