New Delhi [India], October 1 : The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday said that the release of a postage stamp and a 100 rupee coin by the Prime Minister to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the RSS is a "grave injury" and "insult to the Constitution" of India which the RSS has never accepted.
According to the release from the party, the CPI(M) stated that it is highly objectionable for an official coin to replicate the "Bharat Mata" image of a Hindu goddess, promoted by the RSS as a symbol of its sectarian concept of a Hindutva Rashtra.
"The postage stamp showing uniformed RSS volunteers at the 1963 Republic Day parade too falsifies history. This is based on the lie that Nehru invited the RSS to participate in the 1963 Republic Day parade as recognition of its patriotism during the Indo-China war, when it has been shown through evidence that the 1963 Republic Day parade was essentially a huge gathering of more than one lakh citizens. The presence of uniformed RSS volunteers if at all, was unreported and incidental," the CPI(M) added
The party further said that this entire exercise is to whitewash the shameful role of the RSS, which was not just distant from the freedom struggle but actually strengthened the British strategy of divide and rule, thus seeking to weaken the unity of the people of India, which was a crucial component of the struggle against colonial rule. "The history of independent India has seen the worst communal violence, in which the role of the RSS has been detailed in numerous reports of official commissions of inquiry," the party said.
"Today, it is the RSS and its Parivar who continue to target minority communities and also marginalised sections of society through the promotion of manuvadi ideologies. This is the reality of the history of the RSS that the Prime Minister seeks to conceal by misusing his position. In doing so, he has lowered the dignity of the constitutional position he holds," CPI(M) added in a statement.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for its long-standing commitment to nation-building. He said the RSS has helped nurture and strengthen countless lives over the years.
Speaking during the centenary celebrations of RSS in the national capital, PM Modi said, "Just as human civilisations flourish along the banks of mighty rivers, similarly, hundreds of lives have blossomed and thrived along the banks and in the flow of the RSS. Since its formation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has pursued a grand objective. That objective has been nation-building."
On the occasion, PM Modi released a specially designed commemorative postage stamp and coin highlighting the RSS's contributions to the nation on the occasion of the organisation's centenary celebrations.