TN laps up Tamil version of Devanur Mahadeva's Kannada book on RSS

The Tamil Nadu government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) seem  to be  engaged in a cat-and-mouse game.

At first, the Tamil Nadu government objected to an RSS rally, originally planned to be held on October 2, citing security reasons. But, with the intervention of the Madras High Court, the RSS got permission to organise the rally on November 6. However, the organisation has decided to go for an appeal against the string of conditions in the court’s order and has postponed the event.

Amidst all this drama, the Tamil translation of the extremely popular Kannada book, RSS: Aala Mattu Agala (The Depth and Breadth of the RSS), penned by one of Karnataka’s foremost writers, Devanur Mahadeva, is making waves in the state. The Tamil version has been translated by Kanagaraj Balasubramaniam and called RSS-in Aazhamum Agalamum. It has been brought out by Bharathi Puthakalayam, the publishing arm of the CPM.

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When the book, which quotes from the writings of Gowalkar, Savarkar and Hedgewar, who had shaped the Hindu right wing ideology, was released in Kannada in June this year, it  courted controversy and was slammed by BJP leaders and the RSS.

K Nagarajan, publisher of Bharathi Puthakalayam, told The Federal: “In Tamil Nadu, we have published such books before but such subjects were probably new in Karnataka. So, it became instantly popular there. It is possible that the proposed RSS rally in Tamil Nadu has increased its sales here.”

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The soul of RSS

What did Mahadeva say in this five-chapter book that fuelled the anger of right-wingers? In the first chapter, the writer discusses the soul of the RSS and where it lies. Taking a few excerpts from the works of Golwalkar, such as his We or our Nationhood Defined and Savarkar’s Women in Manusmuruthi, Mahadeva tries to show that the organisation’s soul lies in the thoughts expressed by these two men. They hail Hitler, and extol books like Manusmuruthi and Purusha Suktam, where Golwalkar says one could find the word ‘Hindu’. And, above all, they negate the Constitution, federalism and state rights, says the writer.

Mahadeva emphasises in his book that even Brahmins won’t accept the arguments of Golwalkar and Savarkar today. “Golwalkar has titled his book as Bunch of thoughts. In the Kannada translation, it reads as Sindhana Ganga. If one reads it, he or she won’t find thoughts but dangerous beliefs,” writes the Kannada author in his book.

The face of RSS

While drawing parallels between the dictatorship of Hitler and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Mahadeva says in the second chapter that Indira’s dictatorship was an administrative one.

“During the Emergency, the judiciary, executive, media and other autonomous institutions operated albeit facing some problems. But in Modi’s rule, they have come to a standstill,” he says. He adds that Golwalker was a pioneer in spreading fake messages and withdrawing it later, citing Golwalkar’s ‘Race Theory’, where the RSS leader referred to the cross-breeding between the Namboodiri Brahmins of the north with Kerala Hindus.

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Further, he talks about the umbilical cord between the RSS and organisations like the Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. “When these organisations indulge in any violent activities, the RSS washes its hands of them, saying they do not have any relationship with them. This is their practice,” writes Mahadeva.

Hidden agendas of RSS

In the third chapter, Mahadeva discusses current problems. Though the GST may superficially look like it is associated with the economy, it is actually a ‘Gurudakshana’ given by the BJP government at the Centre to its Guru Golwalkar to disrupt the federalist structure, he says.

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data has showed that more than 2 crore women lost their jobs between 2017 and 2022. “Did that happen naturally or is it a hidden agenda of the RSS to keep women inside their homes?” asks Mahadeva.

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In the fourth chapter, Mahadeva discusses Karnataka’s ordinance on the religious freedom bill and EWS quota. In the final chapter, he focusses on how while the RSS and its other extended organisations are marching forward with unity, the secular organisations, movements and political parties are fighting among themselves as to who should be at the forefront to oppose these communal forces.

“This will further strengthen the RSS and it will only pull the nation behind by many years,” says Mahadeva.

A Sahitya Akademi award winner

Mahadeva, who won the Sahitya Akademi award for his work Kusuma Baale, is a household name in Karnataka. But he is a little-known writer in Tamil Nadu. This is his first work to be translated into Tamil and he seems to have picked up a considerable fan following here, too.

Interestingly, Mahadeva gave the book’s publishing rights to six different publications without expecting any royalty, a gesture which is seen as rare among Indian language writers. He decided to do this in order to reach a wider audience.

The Kannada book had sold more than 10 lakh copies by October. The 40-page Tamil translation, published in September, has already gone in for a second edition (one edition amounts to 1,000 copies) and the book is flying off the shelves in the state.