For Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Guruji Golwalkar was “a respected personality for thinking Muslims, a brave revolutionary, a statesman, a saint, and an uncompromising revolutionary.” Media One, which often brands almost every organisation except its ideological fountainhead Jamaat-e-Islami Hind as “Sangh-Parivar,” should now answer a simple question: How will it describe its own parent organisation from now on?
In Indian political history, the political observers and writers have bestowed the title “statesman” only to a handful of figures. Even among the many Prime Ministers India has had, political analysts generally attribute this title only to leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi.
How many of us know that when Guruji M. S. Golwalkar attained Samadhi, it was Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind that described him as a statesman? More over, it stated that Guruji was respected by intellectually honest ‘Thinking Muslims’. The then Jamaat-e-Islami leadership saw and praised Guruji as an uncompromising revolutionary and a sincere nationalist who stood for the unity of the nation!
Jamaat-e-Islami’s mouthpiece published a series of articles praising Guruji, following his death. For the propagandists of a Malayalam channel Media One, a sister concern of Jamaat-e-Islami’s national English weekly Radiance, which is notorious for its frequent anti-national rants, these are important historical documents worth reading.
A report published in the Organizer weekly dated June 23, 1973, quotes Radiance Weekly and presents Jamaat-e-Islami’s views exactly as they were, under the title: “Muslim Weekly on Guruji.”
“‘RADIANCE’, a weekly of the Board of Islamic Publication, Delhi, in an editorial titled “GOLWALKAR AND MUSLIMS” says in its issue of June 17:
Whatever may be our difference with the RSS – uniform civil code, and they are by no means insignificant – one can not ignore certain sterling qualities of its late Sarsanghchalak, Shri M. S. Golwalkar. He was one of those Hindu leaders who are incapable of hiding their real thoughts and feelings. They must say what they feel, however unpleasant their pronouncements may be to their audience.”
Jamaat-e-Islami titled its condolence article on Guruji’s death as “SAD EVENT FOR ALL”.
The article stated that Golwalkar’s death was not just a loss for his followers, but also a sorrowful event even for those who did not agree with him.
“The death of such a person is not only a sad event for his followers but even for those also who genuinely disagreed with him. Why? Because it makes it more difficult to reach a commonly acceptable solution to our communal problems, in the light of a free and frank discussion. The bane of Indian political life has been the dominance of those leaders who are never tired of talking with their tongue in cheek.”
According to the journal, his passing made it more difficult to reach socially acceptable solutions through open and sincere dialogue. It observed that such transparent and principled communication had been one of his defining qualities.
Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, who passed away on June 5 in Nagpur, was described as one of the greatest Hindu nationalist leaders India had produced.
“Another note in the same issue of Radiance says: Shri Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, who passed away in Nagpur on June 5, was one of the greatest Hindu nationalist leaders India has ever produced.”
The article stated that many viewed him as a saintly and idealistic personality who wanted a Hindu nation that stood at the peak of progress and knowledge.
“Reverentially called ‘Guruji’, the RSS Chief had endeared himself by his austere way of living, coupled with his ardent zeal for the renaissance of Hinduism. His saintly figure, burning with the desire to see Hindu nation as one of the most advanced and enlightened ones was a source of inspiration for many.
Though he scrupulously avoided to meddle with open politics, or to be called a politician, he was more a politician or rather a statesman than a religious leader. He was a forthright and steadfast revolutionary who never compromised his ideology. He stuck to his guns under very adverse circumstances, especially when his organisation was banned after the assassination of the Mahatma.”
Guruji as a Writer
Jamaat-e-Islami said, Guruji, in his books like the Bunch of Thoughts, expressed “his passion for the glory of his community is manifest. In these works he appears to be deeply concerned about the decline of Hindu values, culture, faith and heritage.”
The article further admits that it was not his ideology, but his courage, strong convictions, sincerity and lack of hypocrisy that earned him a certain respect even among thoughtful sections of the Muslim community.
“Though it would appear paradoxical, yet the fact remains that he was respected among thinking Muslims – not because of his philosophy, but because of his courage of conviction, pure honesty, free from hypocrisy.”
Interestingly, Jamaat-e-Islami also praised his stance on issues like the Uniform Civil Code without any ambiguity. They underlined that Guruji was always an admirable personality for intellectually honest ‘Thinking Muslims’.
Given this, how can Jamaat-e-Islami today justify not questioning or correcting the anti-RSS campaign carried out by its own media wing Media One’s Dawa journalists?
And when Media One stamps everyone else with the label “Sangh-Parivar,” how will it now label its own parent organisation, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, which once praised Guruji Golwalkar as “a respected personality, a statesman, a saint, an idealist, an uncompromising revolutionary and what not…”
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