Chennai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K. Annamalai said the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government’s decision to stop the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) route march in Tamil Nadu has given the RSS a “huge advantage” in the state.
This comes at a time when the DMK government on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court challenging Madras High Court order, which allowed the RSS to conduct route marches across the state.
The union planned a nationwide route march to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on 2 October, which was not permitted by the government, leading to a legal battle.,
“The DMK government made a non-issue an issue and gave the RSS a huge advantage across Tamil Nadu. The RSS has emerged as a major winner in this matter,” claimed Annamalai.
Direct development of RSS in Tamil Nadu
The RSS has had a presence in the state since the 1940s, but it was confined to a few districts, including Coimbatore and Tiruppur. however, In the last five years, it enrolled more people in the Dravidian state as members and participated in Doubt,
According to Annamalai, the number of people joining the Sangh has increased four times. “I was shown some statistics by a senior publicist, Join RSS website, the portal used to join the union has seen a four-fold increase in registrations. Even then branch The strength and regular participation has gone up,” he told ThePrint.
In 2017, 1,684 people registered through the JoinRSS portal, which is expected to increase to 3,359 in 2022. RSS state secretary media wing B. Narasimhan told ThePrint. number of branches increased from 1,355 in 2015 to 2,060 in 2020.
“That’s not all, there are people who have come directly to the center Shaka meetings and have attended as members,” Narasimhan said.
Senior political analyst Priyan describes the changes and growing reach of the Sangh told ThePrint that, five years ago, if four people participated in a Sunday Shaka, now there are about 40. “Whether people accept him or not, the resistance against him by the Dravidian ideology continues.”
Ramu Manivanan, professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, told ThePrint, “The RSS is taking all steps not only to ensure the success of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, but also to strengthen its roots as a political organisation. “
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Political opposition to the Route March of the RSS
Senior Sangh activists claimed that governments in Tamil Nadu – be it the DMK or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) – have shown resistance to the RSS and its route marches.
According to Seva Bharti of RSS State President B. Rabu Manoharan, former AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa was sure that she would not allow the route march or the BJP to make inroads in the state as there was a common vote bank. “She wanted to be a Hindutva icon.”
He said that despite resistance from the government, the RSS got permission for route marches on several occasions, including 2017 and during the 2018 AIADMK rule.
Two years later 1998 Coimbatore blastThe RSS wanted to conduct a route march in the district. Though it was widely opposed by political parties, the then DMK government gave permission for it.
“The RSS march was permitted by DMK patron and then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Although the DMK was in alliance with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP, the main reason Karunanidhi gave the permission was because the RSS was not a banned organisation, and in a democracy, you cannot prevent an organization from promoting or conducting its functions. Could stop, said Priyan.
Opposition to DMK government now
According to political analysts, the RSS-DMK tussle is helping the cause of the Sangh in a way. “When you try to stop a march, it becomes a talking point. And when it happens, the organization uses it to spread its ideology.”
DMK has to handle with sensitivity full positionPriyan said, adding that there are several points that need to be considered.
Priyan clarified that “the DMK cannot give permission directly as it will be criticized by its own alliances. To avoid this, it is taking the legal route, as only then it has to implement the court’s direction.”
He said that the law and order situation is another major hurdle, which if it becomes unstable during the march, it will be another major issue which the government will try to avoid.
Meanwhile, political parties alleged that the route march would only create communal issues in Tamil Nadu.
“RSS is trying to spread communal hatred and it is the duty of an elected government to stop communal hatred. The steps taken by DMK are only for that. Congress MP Manickam Tagore told ThePrint.
referring to the Conflict Between the ABVP and the JNU Students Union, former DMK MP and spokesperson TKS Elangovan told ThePrint, “The RSS only creates communal issues. That people in Tamil Nadu are against the organization is a well-known fact. This organization has been against Tamils, their beliefs and Periyar.
Manoharan, who is leading the union’s legal fight against the DMK government, said, “The government is trying to confront us.”
“If the people of Tamil Nadu see who we are, they will accept us. The government wants to portray us as violent. Both AIADMK and DMK want to paint us black and blue to appease the minorities and project us as anti-minorities.
Meanwhile, Annamalai said that the DMK government has to maintain law and order. “Here it shows that the CM and the police are not able to maintain law and order and handle a simple route march. The Supreme Court will come down heavily on the government and condemn the state for inefficiency.
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Legal battle for Route March
The DMK government denied permission to the RSS, which had planned to take out a nationwide route march on 2 October. This approached the High Court, which, in September 2022March is allowed.
state permission denied to the RSS in the last week of September despite a court order stating law and order concerns.
The union then filed a contempt of court petition. After hearing the petition, the High Court asked the government to grant permission for the march on an alternate date of the RSS’s choice, but with appropriate restrictions.
The rescheduled date announced by the RSS was november 6 2022, but it was allowed public marches at only three places against 50, and at 23 places it was asked to take out indoor processions.
Police citing intelligence input denied March allowed at 24 other places. Another appeal was made after marching at three places for the remaining 47, HC on 10 February ordered Police gave green signal to the route march
Manoharan said, “We are an organization that saw through the British rule, the Emergency, you can never suppress us.” He said that the RSS will continue the legal proceedings.
(Editing by Richa Mishra)
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