RSS has done for India during the COVID-19 pandemic what it has been doing for decades: Selfless Sewa

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a three-week lockdown on March 24, the whole of India braced itself for what was going to be an incredibly tough battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the priorities were clear right from the word go. A day after the lockdown announcement, the RSS Sarsangchalak (Chief) Mohan Bhagwat extended an unequivocal message to his swayamsevak clan to put everything on the backburner, suspend the Sangh shakhas and dedicate itself completely to public service. 

What followed was an unflinching resolve and indomitable spirit of every single swayamsevak who took the pledge to reach out to as many disadvantaged people and families hit by the corona crisis as possible and ensure that no one had to end up sleeping empty stomach. 

The RSS committed itself in a massive way to the cause of addressing the challenges induced by the lockdown. Several volunteer and frontal organisations were set up to feed the underprivileged. Over 3.5 lakh frontline Sangh workers strived tirelessly in 67,000 different locations across the country to arrange ration for around 50 lakh families and provide food packets to over 3 crore people. The Sangh donated more than 44 lakh face masks and organised blood donation drives on a large scale. Many voluntary outfits of the RSS came forward in different parts of India to look into the matter of safety and survival of the older folk and senior citizens living on their own.

Shortly after social distancing was declared to be followed all over India, Seva Bharti - which is a frontal organisation of the RSS - started its food packing units in various cities. The volunteers pursued a relentless mission to provide food and essential rations to thousands of poor families or those with meagre financial resources. In the Okhla industrial area of south Delhi, Seva Bharti workers donated holistic ration kits to hundreds of daily wagers so that they could feed their families. 

In Mumbai, which continues to be the worst affected city in India by COVID-19, the RSS got involved in massive relief operations ever since the corona crisis erupted. Sangh volunteers launched a city-wide “Annapurna Yojana” covering 24 wards of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Under the Yojana, 17 community kitchens were established to provide freshly cooked meals to around 1.2 lakh people. Over 40,000 food packets from these kitchens were offered to the BMC alone on a daily basis, which the corporation distributed among its staff, healthcare workers and police personnel engaged in emergency services. The Jankalyan Samiti and the Keshav Srushti My Green Society - which are the service and environment wings respectively of the RSS - supplied daily food to over one and a half lac people in the city in April. 

It is incredible how the people of India in different parts of the country have reposed faith in the RSS during the COVID-19 pandemic, counting on the Sangh functionaries as the saviours who would come to their aid in the hour of crisis. One pertinent example of this is reflected by the fact that students and workers from the north-east stuck in various metro cities due to the lockdown were provided special assistance by the RSS. When over 5000 stranded north-eastern Indians approached the Sangh for help, the volunteers swiftly arranged transportation facilities for them. 

RSS’s compassion rose to greater heights when the organisation came to the rescue of the “stigmatised” sections of the society. Sangh workers reached out to the sex workers community in Delhi’s GB road who had been ostracised amid the coronavirus outbreak and left to fend for themselves with no source of income. The volunteers served ration packets and food to more than a thousand sex workers in the area.

So what makes the efforts of the RSS to stand up for the society in these critical times so admirable? There could be a multitude of reasons, depending on the nature, extent, and ambition of the relief work accomplished by the swayamsevaks, to adulate the Sangh’s benevolent service to the people of India during the pandemic. Perhaps the greatest of all reasons is that the Sangh workers reached out to the wider community of all faiths and beliefs without discrimination. It is an eye-opener for the pseudo-secular lobby that accuses the RSS of being anti anything that is not Hindu or does not fall in the realm of Hindutva, often blasting the Sangh in the foulest possible vocabulary. 

In addition to the grave current health emergency that India is pitted against, history furnishes a plethora of examples describing that the Sangh has always been at the forefront of serving the destitute and the vulnerable irrespective of their caste and religion.

The RSS has a rich legacy of committing itself to the nation’s cause whenever required. Almost a decade before the Sangh (later became known as the RSS) came into existence in 1925 in Nagpur, the city was under the grips of a menacing plague. It was at this crucial juncture that Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founding father of the Sangh, and his compatriots decided to devote themselves to serving those affected by the plague in Nagpur. In the decades that followed, philanthropy and social service in the event of an epidemic or a natural calamity, or even in normalcy, became the guiding principle of the RSS. Today the organisation runs more than 1.5 lac service and rescue operations across India. Be it the Gujarat earthquake of 2001, the 2004 Tsunami or the Uttarakhand floods of 2013 - during all of these disasters, the Swamaysevaks left no stone unturned to fulfil their duties without caring for their own safety. 

The glory of the RSS is entrenched in its legacy of rising to the occasion whenever the country is in a precarious situation. The Sangh has never claimed credit for its humanitarian work but instead has always gone about its duties without fuss. The motto of the RSS over the years has been to enlighten the society about the value of ‘solidarity’ and ‘community support’ in perilous times. And, for the Sangh, the word ‘community’ does not represent a particular religious community but the community of 1.3 billion Indians. 

What India has learnt in this testing period of the COVID-19 pandemic is that when the country is in the hands of an able leadership like that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the citizens are assured of their safety and security on all fronts. But what the country must also acknowledge is that along with our magnificent COVID warriors in the healthcare sector, the police force and other service providing institutions, there are thousands of unsung heroes in the form of the Swayamsevaks who have put themselves on the line to perform Sewa of those who have little or nothing to fall back on. 

India’s incredible COVID battle waged by Modi and the frontline warriors

The COVID-19 pandemic that started with the eruption of the coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China in December 2019 has left the world battered and bruised, engulfing around 210 countries and territories including India. 

The virus has rapidly spread across continents in the last couple of months leading to catastrophic consequences. Globally, more than 30 lac confirmed cases of the infection and over 2 lac deaths have been recorded so far.

Mayhem has broken out in some of the most affluent nations that have recorded up to six-digit confirmed cases and fatalities in thousands. The death toll in Italy recently crossed the 26,000 mark, whereas the number of casualties in Spain and France is beyond 23,000. More than 20,000 have succumbed to the infection in the UK. The global superpower the United States is the worst affected country on the planet by far. With more than 9.8 lac confirmed cases, the death toll in the US stands at a staggering 55,000 plus. Terrifyingly, it remains unclear whether the damage in these countries has reached its peak or not.

Hence, it is fair to argue that the so-called “first world” has been found wanting in its response to this global health emergency. There was an astonishing complacency on part of their leadership when the outbreak was first reported. The economy was prioritised over human life and lockdown measures were introduced very late. Unfortunately, the tragic result is apparent. 

On the other hand, we have the Indian approach that has become an example for the world to follow. India’s current tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at approximately 28,000 and a death toll of around 870 with over 8000 confirmed cases reported in Maharashtra alone and around 340 deaths, making it the worst affected state followed by Gujarat and Delhi. But despite the rise in numbers in the last 5 weeks, the situation is constantly improving at the same time. The government figures suggest that more than 6000 people have recovered already amidst a rising recovery rate that now stands at an impressive 22 per cent. The rate of doubling of cases has also gone up to about 11 days. India’s mortality rate is just a little over 3 per cent. More than 85 districts have not reported any positive cases in the last two weeks. For a country that shelters more than 1.3 billion people, these numbers are extremely encouraging. 

Countries such as Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong, which had managed to contain the virus spread initially, are witnessing the second wave of infections already. Whereas India’s COVID curve has not taken a giant leap, at the least, if not started flattening already a little over one month after the nationwide lockdown was imposed. The Union government working in tandem with the state governments and the amazing COVID warriors on the field have done a brilliant job to keep the numbers so low compared to Europe, America, and other advanced nations. 

So how has India, with its relatively limited medical and financial resources as well as an enormous population that is diverse at so many levels and spread over such a vast geographical area, managed to contain the pandemic?… the answer is simple - because of early enforcement of the lockdown, a humanitarian approach towards tackling the crisis, and most importantly a decisive and dependable central leadership under Modi. 

The Modi Effect and India’s Frontline Warriors 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been at the forefront of India’s battle against the coronavirus. Under his leadership, India’s preparations began as early as January. The PM took stock of the situation and held multiple rounds of meetings with the Health and Finance ministry officials. The significance of state-centre understanding during a pandemic was not lost on Modi. He took all State Governors and Chief Ministers onboard to ensure smooth coordination between the PMO and all concerned stakeholders. 

To stress upon the importance of avoiding gatherings of any form, Modi - like an absolute statesman - announced his abstinence from the Holi festivities when the coronavirus outbreak was in its infancy in India. When the situation escalated, he addressed the nation on March 19 2020, in which he requested the people of India to observe a voluntary ‘Janta Curfew’ on March 22. The concept of Janta Curfew, which Modi propounded like a master craftsman, will remain embedded in the literature of India’s COVID-19 fight as a pioneering effort to introduce the idea of social distancing as the most potent weapon. Modi’s strategy to hand over the power to people through Janta Curfew turned out to be a massive success. It laid the foundation for what was to inevitably come later in the form of a three-week nationwide lockdown. Modi invoked the slogan of “Resolve and Restraint” which has formed the bedrock of this battle against the invisible enemy. 

The hallmark of a great commander is his ability to keep his foot soldiers motivated and assured, which is exactly what Modi did. In his virtual interactions with pharmaceutical sector representatives, he encouraged them to manufacture COVID-19 testing kits on a war footing. The PM reached out to the medical fraternity - doctors, nurses, and technicians to boost their morale and thanked them for their selfless service. He guaranteed them that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring their safety from the disease while they treated the infected patients. Modi also addressed AYUSH practitioners. He praised them and asked them to disseminate the message of preventive practices that could help in controlling the spread of the virus. 

Economic Relief and PM CARES

The Modi government took proactive measures well in time to ensure that India was on top of its game with regard to the economic challenges posed by the pandemic. Under the authority of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman a ‘COVID-19 Economic Task Force’ was created. On March 26 2020, a financial stimulus package of INR 1.7 lac crore was announced that predominantly focused on the poorest sections of the society. The package included a three month free supply of food rations for 800 million people belonging to the underprivileged category and free cooking gas for 80 million households as well as cash transfers to 204 million destitute women under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. This holistic package demonstrates the government’s commitment to the welfare of the disadvantaged groups impacted by the corona crisis.

Setting up of the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund) was a shot in the arm for the government’s emergency response blueprint. The mitigating influence of public participation in adverse situations can be enormous and through the establishment of a public charitable trust, Modi paved the way for micro to macro-level donations. 

Moreover, in a bid to save resources - a 30 per cent cut in salaries and allowances of MPs as well as the PM and his council of ministers for one year -was announced by the Union Cabinet. This was followed by a voluntary decision by the President, Vice President, and State Governors to opt for a pay cut. The government also decided to divert the funds of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme to the improvement of medical infrastructure. 

Detraction and Fake News 

Naysayers have accused Modi of imposing a “reckless lockdown”, citing hyperbolic and unsubstantiated reasons such as economic breakdown, the migrant crisis, and what not. The Congress party, anti-Modi Muslim groups, and certain compromised media houses have stooped to the level of peddling fake news to give communal undertones to the current situation. The spin-doctors have brazenly tried to deflect attention from the success of the lockdown by spreading the canard that there is a growing sense of Islamophobia in the country and the Indian administration is cracking down on Muslims even in times like these. 

Although state Chief Ministers, by and large, have been in harmony with the central directive of a blanket lockdown barring essential services, there are aberrations in the form of Modi’s proverbial political adversaries. The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for example, recently displayed her antagonism explicitly towards the Modi government even at this critical juncture by trying to block the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) from inspecting the seven districts in the state where alleged lockdown violations had taken place.

Notwithstanding all the roadblocks, the Modi government has been resolute in its management of the pandemic.

The Tablighi Jamaat Offence 

India would probably have been out of the woods by now had the Markaz Nizamuddin event not taken place. Around 3000 Tablighi Jamaat members, some of them from abroad, who had converged in Nizamuddin in the second week of March extensively traversed several Indian cities before it was reported that 10 Indonesian attendees had tested positive for the virus in Telangana. The rest is history.

Currently, over 4,200 positive COVID-19 cases in India have links to people who attended the Markaz event. Also, more than 40,000 people who came in contact with the Jamaat super spreaders have been quarantined across the country.  

Whether or not this shady “religious” gathering was a deliberate sinister ploy to provoke the COVID situation in India remains to be seen. But the incidents of harassment of healthcare workers, spitting at them and making lewd gestures at female staff by the quarantined Jamaatis speaks volumes. The horrendous actions of the Tablighi Jamaat, while their chief Maulana Saad continues to be on the run, have impeded India’s progress in flattening the curve. 

India -the Global Leader 

Leading by example, PM Modi dialled the SAARC nations and sought regional cooperation on dealing with the pandemic. A virtual conference of the SAARC leaders was held on March 15 2020, in which India made an initial contribution of US $10 to the SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This was followed by contributions from Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives. 

Modi did not stop here. He went beyond the SAARC contours to reach out to the wider world. After his conversation with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, a virtual G20 Summit was held on March 26 to forge a viable global partnership to tackle the multifaceted issues arising out of the pandemic. The summit established Modi’s image as a compassionate global leader. While for most member nations safeguarding the economy took priority over other burning concerns, the Prime Minister of India laid unequivocal focus on protecting human lives and promoting the common interests of humanity. Modi underscored the need for a robust healthcare response to the corona crisis and recommended sharing of the benefits of medical research. 

India’s stature as a reliable international power has grown immensely through PM Modi’s COVID diplomacy. Advanced countries such as the US, Germany, Brazil, the UK, Spain, etc, that also ironically happen to be the worst affected by the pandemic, have received shipments of hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ) and paracetamol from India under commercial agreements. The exercise of HCQ export was decided to be done on a case by case basis depending on the severity of the situation in the recipient country and not under any kind of international pressure. Simultaneously, it was ensured that there was no careless exporting of the drug, and India had enough reserves for itself should there be a worst-case scenario.  

Modi’s diplomatic generosity during an unprecedented global public health crisis was applauded by the Presidents of the United States and Brazil as well as the WHO. Furthermore, Modi - as a philanthropist regional leader - sent free dispatches of rescue medicines to Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Mauritius, and some African nations.

To wrap it up, it is quite evident that the fight against the coronavirus pandemic is far from over but India has done extremely well so far compared to the rest of the world. It is difficult to predict the fate of the lockdown after May 3. Perhaps it could extend or there could be a phased relaxation but either way, credit goes to the Modi government for enforcing it at the right time and saving the country from a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Meanwhile, India must salute its COVID warriors for putting their lives on the line to fulfil their national duties. 

Humanitarian in character and Constitutionally upright: The CAA is all that India stands for

A Constitutionally moral and ethically resonant Citizenship Amendment Act has been at the receiving end of rampant flak and red-herring ever since it was passed in December 2019. Deception and detraction have stood out as the hallmark features of a virulent anti-CAA campaign engineered by interest groups in the Muslim fraternity, the leftist lobby, the opposition parties and the anti-Modi media.

The canard levelled against CAA is based on the premise that the act discriminates on religious grounds and is a weapon to hound Muslims out of India. This could not be further from the truth as the act does not concern the Muslim citizens of India or the whole of Indian citizenry for that matter. The Citizenship Amendment Act only paves the path for granting Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to certain religious communities who were victims of religious persecution and sought refuge in India before December 31, 2014. 

The act brings under its ambit Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. However, it does not cover the victims of sectarian violence - the Shias and the Ahmadiyas which are the two religious sects within the Muslim community. This remains to be the biggest thorn in the flesh of those who label the CAA as discriminatory and draconian. They have presented and continue to present a distorted picture of the CAA to induce fear and hatred in the hearts of Indian Muslims. 

All Indians, especially the Muslim community, should be cognizant of the historical fact that Zafarullah Khan, the chief architect of the1940 Lahore Resolution which called for the creation of Pakistan as a separate homeland for Muslims, was a renowned Ahmadiya himself. Not only did he and his followers consciously choose Pakistan over India but he also played a leading role in crushing Pakistan’s chances of espousing a secular constitution as had originally been envisioned by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Liaqat Ali Khan who succeeded Jinnah after the latter’s demise, by virtue of the Objectives Resolution of 1949, ensured that Pakistan’s Constitution was inspired entirely by the tenets of Islam. The birth of Islamic theocracy in Pakistan left the country’s non-muslims as second-class citizens. What is supremely significant though is that the Objectives Resolution was supported by Shias and Ahmadiyas in letter and spirit, thereby owing allegiance to an Islamic Pakistan. In the subsequent years, non-muslims were subjected to heinous atrocities by the state while Shias and Ahmadiyas who had supported the Objectives Resolution watched all of it like mute spectators. After carrying out a mass obliteration of minorities, the Pakistani state started a systematic crackdown on Shias and Ahmadiyas declaring them as non-muslims. 

Anti-CAA commentators call the act discriminatory despite the historical account that establishes Shias and Ahmadiyas of Pakistan as choosers of an Islamic theocracy instead of a secular constitution and as the audience and supporters of the genocide of their non-muslim countrymen. To put it bluntly, it is the malevolent desire for Islamisation of India that drives the torchbearers of pseudo-secularism to advocate the inclusion of Shias and Ahmadiyas in the Citizenship Amendment Act. But a stoic silence is maintained on episodes as recent as the brutal killing of 25 Sikhs in Kabul by ISIS terrorists or dating as far back as the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir in the 90s. This is simply because both categories of victims are non-muslims. Pseudos’ textbook of religious persecution does not include Hindus. They portray Hindus as a community that persecutes Indian Muslims while itself being immune to any form of persecution. 

This selective employment of the word ‘persecution’ aimed at projecting a particular community as the victim while demonising another is as detrimental, if not more, to the idea of a unified and stable India as persecution carried out in practice itself. In the aftermath of the Delhi riots, the anti-Muslim pogrom connotation attributed to the carnage to portray Hindus as an Islamophobic blood-thirsty community has traumatised the collective consciousness and dignity of the self-respecting Hindu society. Vilifying Hindus through propaganda and fake news was the mainstay of the vicious anti-Hindu agenda run by the so-called “seculars” of India and the Modi-baiters in international media. A lop-sided narrative was weaved to brush under the carpet the gut-wrenching barbarism unleashed on the majority community. The macabre murder of the IB official Ankit Sharma was barely highlighted with any vehemence by the pseudo-secular brigade and the anti-establishment media. What has emerged, therefore, is an irrefutable imperativeness of laying an unambiguous emphasis against the misrepresentation of the idea of “protection and rehabilitation of persecuted Hindus and other non-muslims” as a threat to the existence of Muslims in India. The CAA is a significant step in this direction. Its relevance and indispensability have become even more pronounced after the Delhi riots, not just in the context of the refugees but also with regard to Hindus and other non-muslim communities in India. 

India has a civilisational responsibility to embrace the victims of religious persecution and Hinduphobia who have been denied a life of dignity due to their religious identity. This is a country that has a rich humanitarian tradition of accommodating the oppressed and the abused such as the Tibetans, Jews, Parsis, Sri Lankan Tamils and Ugandan Hindus. Then why not the non-muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh? Shutting doors on them would be tantamount to slapping humanity in the face, something that India does not stand for. 

In Muslim majority countries, Islamic majoritarianism percolates into the deepest levels of political practices as well as constitutional and jurisprudential proclamations. The majoritarian authoritarianism is so robust that it is considered to be the democratic right and religious duty of Muslims to build a state that is governed by laws and conventions of Islam. This enforcement of an Islamic identity not only leads to the alienation of minorities but also forms the bedrock of religious persecution in the Islamic world. Juxtapose this picture with the image of a religiously-tolerant Hindu-majority India that does not champion the cause of Hindu majoritarianism and upholds the country’s egalitarian justice system. Hindu ethos does not encourage or endorse the oppression of any community and the inclusive Hindu culture advocates the freedom of conscience, not subjugation or retribution. This is regardless of the reality that the Indian subcontinent faced the savageries of Islamic invasions for centuries. Millions of Hindus were brutally persecuted for standing up against forced conversions, Hindu temples were desecrated, Hindu girls were raped, and in many cases abducted and married to Muslim men after converting them to Islam.

People of non-Islamic faiths, for whom it was logistically and financially impossible to migrate to the Indian side of the divide in1947, have over the decades seen their plight manifest into imperilment. Post India’s independence there has been a prodigious decline in the population of non-Muslims from 25 per cent in 1951 to 5 per cent in 2011 in Pakistan and 23.2 per cent in 1951 to 9.6 per cent in 2011 in Bangladesh. Pakistan, in particular, is guilty of the state-sponsored crackdown on religious minorities, especially Hindus, in the form of killings, rapes, forced conversions, scrupulous allegations of blasphemy, forced marriages of minor Hindu girls, etc. Such horrendous acts of cruelty legitimise the granting of Indian citizenship to the exploited refugees. A nation that has the magnanimity and tolerance to accommodate those who chant anti-India slogans such as “Bharat tere tukde honge inshallah inshalllah”, “Jinnah Wali Azadi” cannot be questioned for opening its heart to those non-muslims who have been tormented in the name of radical Islamist supremacy. Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi are a classic example of an attempt to blackmail India into surrendering to sinister anti-Hindu propaganda masquerading as an anti-CAA protest. At the heart of this anarchic theatre that lasted for many weeks was a morbid desire to paint India with an Islamic colour. 

But, firm in its determination, the Modi leadership has exhibited unflinching resolve to uphold India’s parliamentary sanctity and sovereignty, erecting strong barriers against unsolicited and unwarranted interference in its policy and decision-making. This is despite the constant intimidation and lambasting received from the propaganda-driven Shaheen Bagh protestors as well as the Congress and other left-leaning parties, or even some political and diplomatic voices from overseas be it the ‘growing Hindu supremacy and suppression of Muslims in India’ comment from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini or the UNHRC’s intervention in the Indian Supreme Court against the CAA.

From all that has been meticulously explained above, it can only be inferred that the CAA is inherently altruistic. The act is not anti-Muslim at all and benign for Indian citizens of all faiths. It does not divide the country on communal lines, instead bolsters India’s legacy as a nation of rich humanitarian values.