New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has called a video of him doing the rounds on social media, in which he can be seen arguing against the idea of reservations, fake. “A video being circulated on social media says that the Sangh is against reservation. The Sangh offers its full support to all forms of reservations offered by the Constitution. The Sangh reiterates that whoever has been given reservations should continue to have them, as long as societal inequality exists,” Bhagwat said on Sunday (April 29).
Without going into the provenance of the video Bhagwat claims in fake, was he right in saying that the Sangh parivar has never stood against reservations? Here’s a list of four times different leaders of the RSS have expressed views contrary to what Bhagwat is now claiming they hold. A user on X, Rahul, first pointed to these instances.
1. Manmohan Vidya, 2017: ‘Reservations should end’
In January 2017, RSS’s the publicity chief Manmohan Vaidya – and currently, according to his X bio, its joint general secretary – said that reservations were introduced in a “different context” and must have “a time limit”.
“Reservations for SC/ST was introduced in a different context. It was provided for in the Constitution to remedy the historical injustice done to them. It was our responsibility. So, reservation for them has been there since the inception (of the Constitution). But, even Ambedkar has said its continuance in perpetuity is not good. There should be a time limit to it,” he said at the Jaipur Literature Festival. “Its continuance forever will promote sectarianism.”
2. K.N. Govindacharya, 2016: ‘Constitution should not be confined to reservations’
In an interview to The Wire in 2016, RSS ideologue K.N. Govindacharya talked about wanting to create a new framework for the Constitution, specifically saying that while reservation may help to some extent and be important “emotionally”, “we must discuss what more can be done to help people”.
“Our constitution is so vague, non-specific and basically a continuation of western philosophies of Hobbes, Locke and Kant. It is individual-centric and focused on his physical wellbeing. Our civilisation goes back 4,000-5,000 years,” he said, to try and justify why he thinks a new Constitution is required.
3. M.G. Vaidya, 2015: ‘No need for reservations now’
Speaking to The Hindu in 2015, RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya said that reservations should be abolished. “There is no need for caste-based reservation now, because no caste has remained backward. At the most, continue it [reservation] for the SCs and STs, but only for 10 years. Abolish it [caste-based reservation] completely after that,” he said.
He also said that caste-based reservation has “strengthened” caste divisions rather than eradicating them.
4. Mohan Bhagwat, 2015: ‘Reservation policy should be reviewed’
In 2015, Bhagwat himself claimed that the reservation policy was being used for political ends, and so should be reviewed.
“We believe, form a committee of people genuinely concerned for the interest of the whole nation and committed for social equality, including some representatives from society, they should decide which categories require reservation and for how long,” he said, according to The Hindu. “The non-political committee like autonomous commissions should be the implementation authority; political authorities should supervise them for honesty and integrity.”
In 2019, he did not outright state his own position but said that there should be conversation in a harmonious atmosphere between those in favour of reservation and those against it.
