There is zero regulation when it comes to the RSS: Vinay K Sreenivasa

Karnataka Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge wrote a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on October 4 [which he shared on his X handle on October 12] demanding a ban on RSS activities in government schools and public places in the State. Do you endorse Kharge’s demand?

I absolutely agree with Priyank Kharge. He did not ask for a ban on the RSS but demanded that they not be allowed to use government and public facilities. There is nothing wrong with this because the RSS’s principles are against the Constitution of India. This is an organisation that actively promotes hatred and works against the constitutional principle of fraternity and equality. This is an organisation which refused to hoist the Indian flag till a couple of decades ago. Its founders stated that Christians and Muslims should be second-class citizens of this country. Why then should such an organisation work with young minds, use public schools for their activities? They claim to be a nationalistic organisation with lakhs of members, but what is their contribution to the development of the country?

Kharge also highlighted that the RSS is not registered as an organisation. Since the Modi government came to power, it has impeded the functioning of NGOs and attempted to regulate them strictly, but there is zero regulation when it comes to the RSS. How do you take the membership of this unregistered organisation? And what are its goals? Why is it being allowed to get away, and why are governments across the country allowing it to use public spaces for its activities? I am glad that Kharge made this demand, and I hope that Karnataka implements a rule banning RSS events in government schools.

Kharge’s letter made its way to the public domain on October 12, on the day when the RSS was conducting several rallies across Bengaluru to mark its centenary. As a member of the Campaign for the Right to Protest, you have been demanding that the Bengaluru Police and the State government permit protest rallies and marches across the city and not just in Freedom Park. What did you think of the police permission granted to the RSS for its events across Bengaluru?

Many of us were shocked when we saw that the Bengaluru Police gave protection to the RSS to conduct a march in several parts of Bengaluru on October 12, that too with lathis. This revealed the double standards of the police because no other civil society organisation is allowed to hold any rallies in the city. No rallies have been permitted on May Day over the past three years.

The regulations governing protests and rallies in place now are twofold: The first is the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Processions Order (Bengaluru City) Order 2009, which regulates protest marches. According to this, protests could be held anywhere, and rallies could be undertaken after applying to the police authorities. That process was working fine till 2021, when anganwadi workers undertook a massive rally. Following this, a judge of the Karnataka High Court wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court stating that the protest affected the movement of traffic, which was a violation of citizens’ rights. That letter was treated as a suo moto petition, and in the interim order of that petition, the High Court said that protests should be restricted to Freedom Park.

During that hearing, the Bengaluru Police withdrew the 2009 licensing order and brought in a new order called the Licensing and Regulation of Protests, Demonstrations and Protest Marches (Bengaluru City) Order, 2021. The High Court then disposed of the matter. When a matter is disposed of, the interim order no longer applies, but even after this, protests remain confined to Freedom Park as the requisite permission is not given by the Commissioner of Police. Protest marches are allowed as per Sec 3 (ii) of the 2021 order but police do not permit any protest marches.

In this scenario, how did the police allow the RSS to take out such huge rallies across the city? Was the RSS rally a protest march or a procession? Under which regulation was this allowed: the 2021 order or the 2009 order? Whatever it is, if the RSS is given permission to conduct marches, why isn’t anyone else allowed? How are lathis allowed in a public march? If someone else also asks for permission to march with lathis, will the police give permission? Whenever we have asked the government to revoke the order restricting protests only to Freedom Park, the problem of traffic is cited. Wasn’t traffic affected by the RSS march?

I spoke to a senior police official on Sunday [October 12] and asked him how the RSS procession was permitted. He responded that permission was given in the same way that permissions were granted for Ganesha and Eid Milad processions. What does this mean: Is this a religious procession by the RSS? Are they then a religious organisation? Let the RSS state that emphatically. Was the permission granted in writing? Did the RSS apply for permission? There are many questions about which there is no clarity from the police.

Priyank Kharge has stated that he is being barraged by a slew of abusive messages and phone calls targeting him and his family after his letter’s contents became public. What do you have to say about this?

I gave a media byte to a Kannada news channel on the RSS march in Bengaluru, and the response to that and the response that Kharge has received after he wrote his letter are similar. When I looked at the comments section of my byte on YouTube, there were many vulgar comments about me and my family. Kharge also shared some of the comments that he received which show how he and his family are being abused.

These responses corroborate Kharge’s point, which is that the RSS is only involved in spreading hatred. There is no logic to these responses, which are steeped in vicious hostility. In all this hullabaloo, we cannot forget the recent incident where a senior lawyer hurled a shoe at Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai. The perpetrator justified his action by accusing the CJI of insulting Sanatan Dharma and did not regret his deed. That is precisely the attitude of the RSS, its members, and supporters. They are abusive and will not back down. Talking about the political responses from the BJP, B.Y. Vijayendra (the Karnataka president of the BJP) asked Kharge whether he will make a similar demand about Muslim bhayotpadane (terrorism), which means that he is acknowledging that the RSS is an extremist organisation.

Priyank Kharge is known as someone who consistently targets the RSS because of its ideology. In this, he does not seem to find a lot of support from his Cabinet colleagues. Looking at news reports, only three Ministers have staunchly backed Kharge’s demand to ban RSS activities in government schools and public places apart from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who stated that he would review the demand. What do you have to say about the lack of vocal support for Kharge from the Congress in Karnataka?

Before Independence, several members of the Indian National Congress were also members of the Hindu Mahasabha. So, the Congress comes from that tradition where a strand within its membership has been sympathetic to the Hindu Mahasabha, and it follows that some of them are sympathetic to the RSS. In fact, the attitude of the incumbent Home Minister of Karnataka [G. Parameshwara] makes people question if he is soft towards the RSS. Over the past two and a half years, the Campaign for the Right to Protest has been urging the State government to withdraw the regressive rule restricting protests only to Freedom Park in Bengaluru, but there has been no response. On the contrary, Parameshwara is quick to act when the Hindu Right wing applies pressure, but there is little action on the Hindu Right wing itself.

Fact checkers disproved Right wing allegations that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised on February 27, 2024, in Vidhana Soudha. Despite this, the police filed an FIR and arrested three persons. We were restricted when we were distributing pamphlets highlighting the atrocities in Gaza; there was a small book-reading circle in Cubbon Park where Gauri Lankesh’s book was being read, but the police disrupted the event and chased these people away.

Is civil society in Karnataka standing by Kharge as he faces these attacks from the supporters of the RSS?

Yes, many of us are supporting Kharge. Many people have issued statements in solidarity with him and are appreciating his boldness and defiance in the face of the attacks against him. Whoever believes in equality is standing with Kharge. This is a fight between those who believe in hierarchy and those who believe in equality. And we are firmly on the side of equality, which is why we are against the RSS.