Congress says ‘bureaucracy can now come in knickers’; Owaisi terms the move as against India’s integrity and unity
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The Narendra Modi-led central government has lifted a decades-old ban on government employees associating with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its activities. The move was heavily censured by the opposition including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, All India Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar.
The order issued by the Union Home Ministry ends the restriction on government employees engaging with the RSS. The bans were implemented in 1966, 1970, and 1980 by previous governments. These prohibitions were enforced to prevent government officials from participating in RSS activities, with severe penalties imposed on those who did. Concerns over retirement benefits and job security led many employees to avoid RSS events during this period.
The Modi administration has now amended the earlier orders, allowing government employees to freely participate in RSS programmes. This decision follows a legal challenge in Indore, where the court had sought clarification from the central government on the matter. The government’s recent move effectively abolishes the ban, aligning central regulations with those of several state governments, such as Madhya Pradesh, which had previously repealed the restriction.
Congress president Kharge said the BJP is using RSS to institutionally take over all constitutional & autonomous bodies.
“On this day in 1947, India adopted its National Flag. RSS opposed the Tricolour, and Sardar Patel had warned them against it. Sardar Patel had also banned RSS after Gandhi Ji’s assassination on February 4, 1948. Modi Ji has lifted a 1966 ban on government servants attending RSS activities, after 58 years. We know how BJP is using RSS to institutionally take over all constitutional & autonomous bodies,” he said.
Kharge noted that by lifting the ban on government employees from participating in RSS activities, Modi Ji wants to politicise government offices and employees on an ideological basis.
“This will be a challenge to the sense of neutrality of public servants in government offices and the supremacy of the Constitution. The government is probably taking these steps because the people defeated its nefarious intent to change the Constitution. The Modi government continues its efforts to take control over Constitutional bodies and work its way in through the back door and tamper with the Constitution,” he asserted.
“The opposition shall continue its efforts to protect the Constitution of India and our democracy,” he said.
Launching a blistering attack on the government, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “Sardar Patel had banned the RSS in February 1948 following Gandhi Ji’s assassination. Subsequently, the ban was withdrawn on assurances of good behaviour. Even after this the RSS never flew the Tiranga (national flag) in Nagpur.”
In 1966, a fresh ban was introduced, the Congress leader pointed out. The order stated, “As certain doubts have been raised about the government’s policy with respect to the membership of and participation in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants, it is clarified that government has always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such a nature that participation in them by government servants would attract the Central Civil Services Conduct Rules.”
Ramesh questioned the timing of the move, saying, “After June 4th, 2024, relations between the self-anointed non-biological PM and the RSS have nosedived. On July 9, 2024, the 58-year ban that was in force even during Mr Vajpayee’s tenure as PM was removed.”
In a post on X, Ramesh shared the order issued on July 9, and said: “The bureaucracy can now come in knickers too I suppose,” he jibed, alluding to the RSS uniform of khaki shorts which was replaced by brown trousers in 2016.
AIMIM leader Owaisi said the latest government memo is against India’s integrity and unity.
Owaisi took to social media to express his outrage. “The government has lifted the ban on government employees participating in RSS activities. If this is true, then it is against the integrity and unity of India. The RSS has been banned because it refused to accept the Constitution, National Flag, and National Anthem. Every RSS member takes an oath to put Hindutva above the nation. If a government employee is a member of RSS, he cannot be loyal to the nation.”
Slamming the move, VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar described the RSS as an “anti-constitution” and “anti-secular” organisation.
“I have one simple question for the both BJP and the RSS — Does the RSS entirely accept a secular state for India and that it accepts the National Flag of India, and is loyal to the Constitution of India? We will know the answer to my question. The answer is NO!!!,” said Ambedkar.
A government servant cannot be loyal to India if he is loyal to the RSS and its divisive ideology, he added.
On its part, the RSS hailed the move, saying it would strengthen the country’s democratic system. It also accused the earlier regimes of furthering their political interests by imposing the ban in the past.
“Due to the RSS’s contributions in times of national security, unity-integrity, and natural disasters, the various types of leadership in the country have, from time to time, praised the role of the RSS,” said the outfit’s leader Sunil Ambdekar.
The removal of the ban could lead to increased participation of government employees in RSS events and activities, potentially influencing the political and administrative landscape. The change reflects the Modi government’s broader alignment with RSS values and signals a shift in policy that could have long-term implications for government and political dynamics in India.
As the new policy takes effect, it will be essential to monitor how this decision impacts government operations and the broader political environment.
