The Rediff Special
'How will you feel about a disused temple being suddenly
demolished one day? Won't you be hurt?'
No one openly shares this conviction in the RSS, and few wish
to start a debate on Rajinder Singh's leadership qualities. This
is both because Singh is a much-respected figure in RSS circles
and also due to the comfort men of the RSS derive from their belief
in the ultimate invincibility of the collective leadership. But
how invincible is it? And how responsible? Does it constrian a
sarsangchalak? And does it blunt vision?
There are no straight answers. There is the relief of having a
collective leadership in the sense that work does not stop. "Balasaheb
Deoras was very ill for most of his term as RSS chief," says
a senior functionary. "Raju Bhaiyya and the others ran the
RSS. We managed well." Hardly, if you consider the demolition
of the Babri Masjid. Who, from the Sangh Parivar, could
be held responsible for it? "No one," says Govindacharya,
invoking, by default, the collective leadership principle.
![[Babri Masjid]](22babri.jpg)
"There is," he explains, "a major difference between
an organised movement and a mass movement. It was an unfair demand
on 6,000 volunteers to control 150,000 kar sevaks The
controllable crowd would be between 30,000 to 35,000. One is to
seven is the right ratio. In Ayodhya, it was one is to 40. So
the whole thing collapsed." He will not accept any blame
on the part of the UP government, then of the BJP, or of the top
RSS and BJP and VHP leadership in Ayodhya in failing to limit
the influx into Ayodhya.
Others say in private, however, that a few persons in the Sangh
hierarchy, notably Thengdi, were disgusted with the whole affair,
seeing it as a breakdown of the RSS discipline, and that if they
had their way, they would have ousted some senior persons in the
VHP. "How will you feel about a disused temple being suddenly
demolished one day?" asks Yadav Rao, the Manthan editor.
"Won't you be hurt? No one in the Sangh, let me assure
you, planned that demolition. But anyone seeing the videotapes
of December 6 will tell you that the discipline and dedication
of swayamsevaks has definitely eroded."
Kind courtesy: Sunday magazine
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