The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous by Khushwant Singh Page A

He looked enquiringly at me.
    ‘I don’t know where to begin. I am told you shun publicity and your organization is secret.’
    ‘It is true we do not seek publicity, but there is nothing secret about us. Ask me anything you want to.’
    ‘I read about your movement in Jack Curran’s The RSS and Hindu Militarism . He says…’
    ‘It is a biased account,’ interrupted Golwalkar. ‘Unfair, inaccurate. He misquoted me and many others. There is no militarism in our movement. We value discipline—which is a different matter.’
    I told him that I had read an article describing Curran as the head of CIA operations in Europe and Africa. ‘I would never have suspected it,’ I said naively. ‘I have known him for twenty years.’
    Golwalkar beamed a smile at me. ‘This does not surprise me at all.’ I did not know whether his remark was a comment on Curran being part of the CIA or my naiveté.
    ‘There is one thing that bothers me about the RSS,’ I said to him. ‘If you permit me, I will put it as bluntly as I can.’
    ‘Go ahead.’
    ‘It is your attitude towards the minorities, particularly the Christians and the Muslims.’
    ‘We have nothing against the Christians except their methods of gaining converts,’ said Golwalkar. ‘When they give medicines to the sick or bread to the hungry, they should not exploit the situation by propagating their religion to those people. I am glad there is a move to make the Indian churches autonomous and independent of Rome.’
    ‘What about the Muslims?’ I said.
    ‘What about them?’ Golwalkar countered.
    ‘I have no doubt in my mind that the dual loyalties that many Muslims have towards both India and Pakistan is due to historical reasons, for which Hindus are as much to blame as they. It also stems from a feeling of insecurity that they have been made to suffer since the Partition. In any case, one cannot hold the entire community responsible for the wrongs of a few.’ I had begun to get eloquent. ‘Guruji, there are six crores of Indian Muslims here with us. We cannot eliminate them, we cannot drive them out, we cannot convert them. This is their home. We must reassure them, make them feel wanted. Let us win them over with love…’
    ‘I would reverse the order,’ Golwalkar interrupted. ‘As a matter of fact, I would say the only right policy towards Muslims is to win their loyalty by love.’
    I was startled. Was he playing with words? Or did he really mean what he said?
    He qualified his statement: ‘A delegation of Jamat-i-Islami came to see me. I told them that Muslims must forget that they ruled India. They should not look upon foreign Muslim countries as their homelands. They must join the mainstream of Indianism.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘We should explain things to them. Sometimes one feels angry with Muslims for what they do, but then Hindu blood never harbours ill-will for very long. Time is a great healer. I am an optimist and feel that Hinduism and Islam will learn to live with each other.’
    Tea was served. Guruji’s glass mug provided a diversion. I asked him why he didn’t drink the beverage out of porcelain like the rest of us.
    He smiled. ‘I have always taken it in this mug. I take it with me wherever I go.’
    Golwalkar’s closest companion, Dr Thatte, who had dedicated his life to the RSS, explained: ‘Porcelain wears off and exposes the clay beneath. Clay can harbour germs.’
    I returned to my theme. ‘Why do you pin your faith on religion when most of the world is turning irreligious and agnostic?’
    ‘Hinduism is on firm ground because it has no dogma. It has had agnostics before; it will survive the wave of irreligiousness better than any other religious system.’
    ‘How can you say that?’ I argued. ‘The evidence is the other way. The only religions that are standing firm and even increasing their hold on the people are those based on dogma—Catholicism and, more than Catholicism, Islam.’
    ‘It is a passing phase,’