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In the Freedom Movement
During the 1947
Crisis
In the Integration
of Kashmir
In the Liberation
of Goa
During 1962
Chinese Invasion
During 1965 Pak
Aggression
During 1971 War
of Bangladesh Liberation
THE SPIRIT of freedom
Dr. Hedgewar had embodied in himself and had infused in
the Swayamsevaks has continued to blaze radiantly. Several
have been the occasions when this quality has come to the
fore-both when the British were ruling and after they left.
By the early forties,
the war took an adverse turn for the British. Shri Guruji
had just assumed the leadership of Sangh. The urgent and
paramount task of mobilising and training the Hindu youth
brooked no delay. His hurricane tours over large parts of
the country began . The message went home. Hundreds of young
Swayamsevaks gave up their studies, left their hearths and
homes and began spreading the message of national emancipation
through Sangh.
The launching of the
1942 'Quit India' agitation by the Congress proved more
like a sporadic outburst than as an organised and well-planned
rebellion. There was no prior consultation by the Congress
with other organised, patriotic groups like the Sangh. Nevertheless,
several Sangh workers took active part in it. They played
a notable role in Chimur in the famous Ashti Chimur rebellion
in Vidarbha. The British fury in suppressing it was unparalleled.
The putting out of action of the Delhi Muzaffarnagar railway
line was the handiwork of young men from Delhi, mostly Swayamsevaks.
While Nana Patil of Patri Sarkar fame in Maharashtra was
sheltered by Pandit S. D. Satwalekar, the celebrated Vedic
scholar and Sanghachalak of Aundh, Sane Guruji, an underground
Socialist leader, was under the protective wings of Pune
Sanghachalak Bhausaheb Deshmukh. Inside the capital Delhi
itself, Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali took asylum
with Lala Hansraj Gupta, the Delhi and Punjab Sanghachalak.
The waning of the 1942 movement left behind a gaping void
in the people's mind. There was yet another growing threat
looming on the national horizon. With all the nationalist
leaders of Congress lodged behind bars, the Muslim League
had a field day. Egged on by the British, their posture
now became more recalcitrant. The League had already passed,
in 1940 at Lahore, the 'Pakistan' Resolution. By now the
League's designs had become crystal clear. It had taken
recourse to violence and bloodshed to browbeat the Congress
leadership into accepting Partition. The 'Direct Action'
call and the great Calcutta killings had left no one in
doubt about the dreadful shape of things to come. During
those days Gandhiji's stay was in Bhangi Colony in Delhi.
On one night, when Muslim ruffians surrounded the place
and hurled vulgar abuses and threats at Gandhiji, the Sangh
Swayamsevaks stalled further mischief by their night-long
vigil thereafter.
By now, the spectre
of Partition had begun to haunt the nation's mind. The Hindu
masses instinctively felt that a militant and organised
Hindu force was the urgent need of the hour. That alone
could rescue the integrity and freedom of the Motherland
from the gang-up of the twin hostile forces of the British
and the Muslim League. No wonder, to the average Hindu,
the Sangh appeared as the only ray of hope. The result was
a tremendous Hindu upsurge sweeping all over the country.
During the 1947 Crisis
The sudden and unexpected
decision on 3rd June 1947 of the Congress leaders to accept
Partition came as a stunning blow to the Hindu people, and
more so to the Sangh Swayamsevaks. The British, more than
anyone else, knew what the Sangh was all about. Their intelligence
records had referred to Shri Guruji as an astute leader.
Their report with the National Archives in New Delhi, referring
to one of his speeches at the RSS training camp, says: "Golwalkar
denounced those persons who render every possible assistance
to the present government for their own selfish ends...
He declared that the Sangh had resolved to do its duty even
though the whole world goes against it and impressed on
the volunteers that they must be ready to sacrifice their
lives for the cause of Bharat Mata."
The British also unerringly
read the pulse of the nation. They knew that time was running
out against them. The INA trials had revived the stirring
memories of Subhas Chandra Bose. The sparks of naval revolt
in Bombay flew to distant cantonments touching off sympathetic
strikes by the airmen and the army. This was followed by
the British Prime Minister's declaration to quit Bharat
at the earliest date. And on 20th February 1947, he also
announced the date of their quitting as not later than June
1948.
However, Mountbatten,
the last Viceroy who carried out the final operation of
Partition, fixed 15th August 1947-a full ten months earlier-for
quitting. Leonard Mosley, who accompanied Mountbatten, laid
bare the chief reason behind it. He wrote that the advancement
of the date of transfer of power, in spite of opposition
from army commanders, was "to jostle a settlement through
before any really effective opposition to the partition
of the country had time to develop." One of the more
crucial forces which could have contributed to the opposition
was, obviously, the rise of Hindu power spearheaded by the
Sangh. The British clearly knew that the Sangh was committed
to Complete Independence of Akhand (Undivided) Bharat. They
were also aware that Shri Guruji in his countrywide tours
was invoking the inspiring vision of Akhand Bharat, and
that his call to the youth to consider no sacrifice too
great in the cause of safeguarding her unity and integrity
was eliciting tremendous response.
To the Rescue of Delhi
However, Partition did
come about. The country was gripped in a terrible convulsion.
The Swayamsevaks who had day in and day out cherished the
picture of a free and united Bharat were plunged in deep
anguish. However, they responded to the call of duty to
protect the integrity of whatever portion of the land had
been liberated and to save the life and honour of the Hindu
brethren left in the lost portions.
Delhi was then in the
throes of violence and intrigues by the Muslim Leaguers.
When later on Dr. Bhagawan Das, the great savant and a recipient
of the Bharat Ratna award, came to know the details of the
role of Sangh in those crucial days, he wrote feelingly
on 16th October 1948: "I have been reliably informed
that a number of youths of RSS were able to inform Sardar
Patel and Nehruji in the very nick of time of the Leaguers'
intended coup on September 10, 1947, whereby they had planned
to assassinate all members of Government and all Hindu officials
and thousands of Hindu citizens on that day and plant the
flag of Pakistan on the Red Fort and then seize all Hindusthan."
He added: "Why have I said all this? Because if those
high-spirited and self-sacrificing boys had not given the
very timely information to Nehruji and Patelji, there would
have been no Government of India today, the whole country
would have changed its name into 'Pakistan', tens of millions
of Hindus would have been slaughtered and all the rest converted
to Islam or reduced to stark slavery. Well, what is the
net result of all this long story? Simply this-that our
Government should utilise, and not sterilise, the patriotic
energies of the lakhs of RSS youths."
In the Integration
of Kashmir
Immediately after Independence
a most serious challenge to the freedom and integrity of
independent Bharat was posed in Kashmir. Briefly told, the
Declaration of 3rd June 1947 had left all the princely rulers
of undivided Bharat free to join either Bharat or Pakistan
or even remain independent. However, Hari Singh, the Maharaja
of Jammu and Kashmir, was in an awful fix. The Maharaja,
a devout and patriotic Hindu, could not think of joining
Pakistan. In view of the marked Muslim majority in the State,
he felt hesitant to straightway join Bharat either. Mountbatten
specially flew to Kashmir in the third week of June in a
bid to persuade the Maharaja to join Pakistan. The Maharaja,
however, resisted the pressure and as a stop-gap arrangement
executed a 'Stand-Still Agreement' with Pakistan and wanted
to have a similar link with Bharat. But the Indian leaders
would not consent to that proposal. Inside the State itself,
the Muslim Conference began pressing the Maharaja to opt
for Pakistan. R. C. Kak, the then Prime Minister of Kashmir,
however, advised him to remain independent.
Amidst these conflicting
pulls, the Sangh leaders in the State began exerting every
possible influence to persuade the Maharaja to declare his
accession to Bharat before the deadline of 15th August 1947.
The State Sanghachalak, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, submitted
several memoranda and followed them up with personal interviews
with the Maharaja. Several social and political organisations
in the province were also persuaded to pass resolutions
urging the Maharaja to join Bharat without delay. Thousands
of telegrams were sent to him from all parts of Kashmir
and other neighbouring states. Badridasji, Sanghachalak
of Punjab whom the Maharaja held in high esteem, hastened
to Srinagar to meet and advise him.
However, forces inimical
to Bharat would not let the Maharaja have his way. When
14th August came, the postal authorities in Srinagar hoisted
the Pakistani flag on their office because the post offices
within the State came under Sialkot circle which now formed
part of Pakistan. Promptly, the Sangh Swayamsevaks and sympathisers
saw to it that the postal authorities pulled down the Pakistani
flag. On the next day, i.e., the 15th of August, the Indian
Tricolour flew over most of the houses and shops in Srinagar.
The flags had been prepared in hundreds in the Sangh Karyalaya
and distributed to the people.
In the meanwhile, the
pro-Pakistani elements inside Kashmir intensified their
propaganda to pressurise the Maharaja to join Pakistan.
Large-scale smuggling of arms into the State to foment internal
rebellion was on. Economic blockade from outside was clamped
by Pakistan. The Sangh leaders were the first to realise
the gravity of the situation; and again they sent memoranda
to the Maharaja. A Sangh Swayamsevak in the guise of a Muslim
had wormed himself into the camp of the Muslim personnel
of the State's Armed Forces at Srinagar and secured detailed
plans of the projected Pakistan invasion. A prominent Sangh
worker of Kashmir personally informed the Commander of the
State Forces about the plan and the impending tragedy. Later
developments tallied word to word with the details of that
plan.
At the diplomatic level
at the Centre, too, Sangh had made certain moves in the
crucial mid-October days. Sardar Patel, knowing the mind
of the Maharaja, had pitched upon Shri Guruji to talk to
him. Shri Guruji, he knew, commanded the implicit confidence
of the Maharaja. Shri Guruji flew to Srinagar on 17th October
1947. He brought home to the Maharaja the futility of harbouring
any idea of retaining Kashmir as an independent kingdom
and advised him to join Bharat straightway. Finally, the
Maharaja expressed his readiness to sign the Instrument
of Accession to Bharat. Shri Guruji returned to New Delhi
on 19th October, and reported to Sardar Patel about the
Maharaja's readiness to accede to Bharat.
The sudden and massive
invasion of Kashmir on 23rd October by Pakistani tribesmen,
the SOS to Delhi by the Maharaja for help, agreeing to the
accession of the State to Bharat and the flying of Indian
troops to save Kashmir-all these followed in lightning succession.
The first attack by Pakistani raiders was made on 11th October
1947. Many on the Indian side were butchered and large numbers
of women abducted. Then began regular raids on a long stretch
of the border. By October 22-23, the entire Jammu Sialkot
border was aflame reducing scores of border villages to
ashes. Within the city of Jammu itself, the local Muslims
numbering about 20,000 were in a rebellious mood. The first
shot was fired in Talab Katikan area which was followed
by a series of riots. The fate of Jammu city and the entire
countryside, with no troops on hand, hung in a precarious
balance. A terrible tragedy stared everybody in the face.
But the young men of Sangh rose to the occasion. They faced
the pro-Pakistani Muslim elements inside, repulsed their
repeated attacks and shattered their designs.
Thus was saved Jammu.
But for the Swayamsevaks' valiant efforts, Jammu could never
have been saved; and without Jammu, there was not the ghost
of a chance to save Srinagar even by Indian forces.
Once the backbone of
internal saboteurs was broken, Swayamsevaks took up the
urgent task of broadening the Jammu aerodrome. Five hundred
Swayamsevaks toiled round the clock for seven days and made
the aerodrome ready for the Indian dakotas to land. Roads
for the movement of Indian Army were also repaired and constructed
by them in record time. In the meanwhile, in several villages
on the border, the local Muslims had joined hands with the
invaders and butchered thousands of Hindus and abducted
thousands of Hindu women. In that critical hour, once again
the indomitable spirit of heroism and sacrifice of the Sangh
Swayamsevaks came to the fore. Hundreds of Swayamsevaks
from Jammu laid down their lives in saving the lives and
honour of tens of thousands of Hindus remaining in Mirpur,
after it fell into Pakistani hands.
The helpless refugees
struggling towards Jammu had no other protection against
the Pathan snipers except a hundred and more Sangh men moving
by their side, in a day-and-night vigil. Kotley was a strategic
border town.. Pak raiders assisted by local Muslims intruded
into the town repeatedly and carried out killings and other
atrocities. But the Hindus did not give up. Every time they
fought back and almost every street and house became a fortress
of defence. Scores of our mothers and sisters perferred
martyrdom through poison or at the hands of their own male
folk rather than sacrificing their honour at the hands of
invaders. For six weeks, the Hindus held on to their post.
The entire credit for this historic defence of a vital border
post goes to the Sangh Swayamsevaks. Led by their heroic
Nagar Karyavaha (city secretary of Sangh) the Swayamsevaks
strengthened the people's morale, roused their spirit of
patriotism and organised them for heroic resistance.
Swayamsevaks felt no
sacrifice too great when the call came to assist our Army.
The garrison inside Kotley had run out of ammunition. 20
chests of ammunitions dropped by our Air Force had fallen
off a steep slope, well within the range of Pakistani artillery.
The Commander of the garrison thought it unwise to risk
the life of the few available soldiers to salvage the material
as the task seemed to entail sure death. However, a local
Sangh worker, Krishnalal, along with 20 other Swayamsevaks,
accepted the challenge and brought back 17 chests. But they
had to pay the price of six precious lives, including their
leader. In lieu of the six, however, they had saved the
life and honour of six thousand Hindus in the town. And
right at the fag-end of the battle, Prakash, the Nagar Karyavaha,
also fell a martyr while defending the town.
In Kashmir Valley, too,
the situation was similar. Though Sheikh Abdullah, assured
by Delhi of his supreme position in Kashmir, stood firm
against the Pak invasion, his followers joined the raiders
being carried away by the Islamic frenzy let loose by Pak
propaganda. The Swayamsevaks joined the militia in large
numbers and stood by the Indian Army in throwing out the
raiders. The defence of Srinagar claimed the life of Pandit
Manmath, a Sangh worker in the militia. Sheikh Abdullah's
government allowed the Sangh Swayamsevaks to work in the
militia till the Kashmir Valley was cleared of the raiders
and his own regime was well settled. And once that purpose
was served, the Sangh Swayamsevaks were eased out of the
militia and even out of Kashmir in a planned manner.
In the Liberation
of Goa
The struggle for Independence
was not over with the quitting of the British. On 2nd August
1954, one hundred Sangh Swayamsevaks stormed the remaining
Portuguese enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The attack
was led by the late Vinayak Rao Apte, Pune Sanghachalak.
The group included several prominent Sangh workers. They
formulated the guerilla strategy and attacked the main police
headquarters at Selvassa and forced the 175 soldiers there
to surrender unconditionally. The National Tricolour was
hoisted and the region handed over to the Central Government
on the same day. On 2nd August 1979-the occasion of the
silver jubilee of that historic event-the people of Selvassa
invited the 100 freedom-heroes and felicitated them. In
1987, the Maharashtra State Government too recognised them
as freedom fighters and honoured them.
The Portuguese still
held sway over Goa. The first to unfurl the Tricolour Flag
over the Panaji Secretariat in 1955 was a Swayamsevak working
as a teacher in Goa. He remained in the Lisbon jail for
full 17 years-well after Goa was liberated in 1961. In 1955,
Swayamsevaks took a leading part in the all-party national
struggle for its liberation. The task of providing food
and shelter, all along the Goa border, to the Satyagrahis
who were streaming from different parts of the country was
shouldered by the Swayamsevaks. Prominent workers of Sangh
and Jana Sangh led several batches of Satyagrahis and a
number of them suffered bullet wounds and inhuman tortures
in Portuguese jails.
Rajabhau Mahankal of
Ujjain was among the prominent Swayamsevaks who led a batch
from Madhya Bharat. Right at the border, the Protuguese
police were ready with their bayonets and bullets to 'welcome'
the Satyagrahis. Before Rajabhau proceeded into Goa border,
the first three columns of Satyagrahis were fired upon.
They fell down wounded. When the daring Sahodara Devi of
Saugar in the third row fell wounded, Rajabhau took the
Tricolour from her hands and stepped forward with the roar
of 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. Rajabhau fell with one of his eyes
pierced right through with a bullet. In those few seconds,
before he became unconscious, he commanded others to take
care of the Flag and of the other wounded Satyagrahis. And
within a few minutes, he joined the rank of martyrs who
had covered themselves with immortal glory in the cause
of the freedom of the Motherland.
During 1962
Chinese Invasion
Deep concern for the
national sovereignty over every inch of the country has
ever remained the life-breath of Sangh all the years. The
Indian Government, for the umpteenth time, tried to buy
peace with Pakistan by appeasing her with the gift of certain
areas in West Bengal. In December 1959, the Akhil Bharatiya
Karyakari Mandal (the All-India Executive Committee) of
Sangh warned that "The introduction of a bill to amend
the Constitution for transfer of Berubari and other Indian
territories to Pakistan is detrimental to our national pride
and solidarity." It also urged all members of Parliament
"to vindicate their supreme duty of safeguarding the
nation's sovereignty by firmly rejecting the suicidal bill
and allaying the fears of the people in that regard."
When the Kashmir issue
was taken to the UNO, Shri Guruji publicly warned that the
step would boomerang and pose serious problems in future
for the security and integrity of the country. Again, he
was the first public leader to give out the news of illegal
occupation by the Chinese of large chunks of our strategic
Himalayan borders. In 1960, when Pandit Nehru and Chou-Enlai
were jointly touring our country singing the lullaby of
"HindiCheeni bhai bhai", Shri Guruji's was the
one voice laying bare the dragon's teeth hidden behind that
enchanting slogan.
And two years later,
when the Chinese openly invaded our territory in 1962, the
Swayamsevaks swung into action mobilising support to the
governmental measures in general and to the jawans in particular.
Pandit Nehru was so much impressed that he invited a Sangh
contingent to take part in the Republic Day Parade of 26th
January 1963. At a mere two days' notice, over 3,000 Swayamsevaks
smartly turned up at the parade in full Sangh uniform. Their
massive march, in fact, became the major highlight of the
programme. When, later on, some Congressmen raised their
eyebrows over the invitation to Sangh, Pandit Nehru brushed
aside the objections saying that all patriotic citizens
had been invited to join the parade.
During the war, the
attitude of labour becomes a crucial factor. When China
invaded Bharat, a section of the Communist Party of India
proclaimed that Chinese forces were here for 'liberating'
Bharat (from capitalist domination). Their leaders like
Basavaponnaiah went to the extent of saying that Bharat
was the aggressor and had occupied Chinese territory. Their
unions were made tools to sabotage or obstruct our defence
efforts. Their water-transporting union in the North-Eastern
region served a strike notice. Transport of food and other
materials to the jawans at the Front was hampered. However,
the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh decided otherwise. At once it
withdrew all agitations by its unions. All the pending demands
were put off for the time being. A call was given to workers
to give top priority to stepping up defence production and
assisting all defence efforts.
The BMS did not stop
at that. It decided to end the potentiality for mischief
in future by such Trojan horses. In strategic sectors such
as defence production, transport, power generation, transmission,
etc., special efforts were made. Two decades of such persistent
efforts have secured for the BMS federation in the defence
sector-the Bharatiya Prati Raksha Mazdoor Sangh- a premier
position. BMS is now confident that the leftist unions dare
not try their 1962 tactics in the future. So also, in other
lifelines of the nation like power generation, road and
railway transport, the BMS has established a clear lead
over others.
During 1965 Pak
Aggression
When Pakistan attacked
Bharat in 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Prime Minister,
personally rang up Shri Guruji who was then touring Maharashtra
and requested him to be in New Delhi for the All-Leaders
Conference the following day. At the conference, Shri Guruji
extended complete co-operation on behalf of the Sangh. He
also urged that the hands of the Indian army should not
be tied down to a defensive posture but allowed to evolve
its own offensive strategy. At the conference, when one
of the representatives, while addressing Shastriji, kept
on saying 'your army', Shri Guruji corrected him with a
sharp reminder: "Say, 'our army'."
In Delhi, for the entire
period of 22 days of war, police duties like traffic control
were transferred to Swayamsevaks to free the police for
more pressing tasks. Ever since the beginning of war, batches
of Swayamsevaks daily reported at the General Military Hospital,
Delhi, to offer blood. The military looked upon the Sangh
as a friend in need. Whenever they felt the need for any
kind of civil assistance they would just ring up the Sangh
Karyalaya. When the war was at its peak a military train
carrying wounded jawans arrived in Delhi. Hundreds were
urgently in need of blood transfusion. The army officers
telephoned to the Delhi Sangh Karyalaya. It was midnight.
The very next morning 500 Swayamsevaks reached the military
hospital to donate blood. According to the hospital rules,
each of them was offered 10 rupees. But the Swayamsevaks
returned the amount saying that it could be better used
for the wounded jawans.
The Sangh Swayamsevaks
of Amritsar organised four canteens on the border within
the shelling range of the enemy. It was indeed a sight to
see the supreme courage of the young men working in such
dangerous areas. The villagers used to donate huge quantities
of milk free of charge to these canteens. They would bring
meals prepared in desi ghee to these canteens, where hundreds
of jawans took their food. On 8th September, when the Government
authorities wanted clothes for a large number of injured
soldiers, they were got ready in just four hours. The leadership
provided by two Swayamsevak MLAs of the Jana Sangh during
those crucial days was exemplary.
Prior to the commencement
of the undeclared war, the civilian aspect of work was mostly
on paper. But the superb way in which cent per cent black
outs, night patrols and other items of civil defence measures
were performed by the civilians was a miracle. The unarmed
civilians successfully caught the Pakistani paratroopers
who were armed to the teeth. Every mile of rail track, every
bridge and culvert over rivers or canals and every aerodrome
was guarded by the civilians in a most courageous and determined
manner. And in all these efforts, needless to say, the Swayamsevaks
were in the vanguard.
When the war broke out,
the Jana Sangh MLA-a Swayamsevak-in Ferozepur district,
whose village was situated in the border area just near
the theatre of war, promptly told his villagers: "I
will stay in my village and shall remain here whatever may
happen." Whenever people, terror-stricken by Pakistan's
shelling, wanted his consent to leave the village, he would
tell them, " You can leave the village, if you so desire.
But mind you, I will remain here and fight against Pakistan
to my last." Listening to such heroic words, the villagers
would again stick to their posts of duty, their morale steeled.
Another Jana Sangh MLA, a Swayamsevak, continued to stay
in Ferozepur even when the city was actually being bombarded
and shelled by Pakistan. Fazilka town had a normal population
of about 40,000. Hardly 5,000 persons stayed on eventually,
and they were almost all Swayamsevaks and their families.
In Rajouri in Jammu,
when two Swayamsevaks-one of them a leader of Jana Sangh-observed
Pakistani troops proceeding towards the town, they hastened
to the Army Cantonment to give the news. The Army Officer,
on his part, had already prepared himself to face the enemy,
but he suggested to the two Swayamsevaks to immediately
shift to Jammu for safety. He offered them an army vehicle
also for the purpose. But they refused the offer saying
that their duty lay in their own place for maintaining people's
morale and mobilising civilian support for the Army. The
next day, a committee was formed for the purpose, which
performed its job admirably and thus helped saving Rajouri
from the enemy hands.
From Meindhar in the
same area comes the story of a Swayamsevak, who dared to
enter the enemy trenches. He snatched the stengun from the
Pakistani soldier who was firing upon the neighbouring village,
killed him and his comrades in the trench and saved the
lives of hundreds of our countrymen. Another Swayamsevak
of Pathani, in Naushera Taluk, sneaked through the Pak military
formation which had surrounded and ambushed a section of
the Indian army, and supplied the jawans the much needed
water and foodstuffs. When the soldiers tried to shower
presents on him he refused them saying that he had only
done his duty towards the Motherland.
In Jammu, where the
influx of displaced persons swelled into lakhs, the Sangh-sponsored
Sahayata Samiti was the one foremost in the field of mobilizing
the civilian co-operation for their relief. Right from 15th
August up to 6th September, it arranged daily meals for
about 25-35 thousand persons and supplied them with all
the daily necessities of life.
In Gujarat too, a Sangh Swayamsevak working at Okha near
Dwaraka shot down two Pakistani satire jets flying low to
bombard that port. When he was profusely congratulated by
the army men, he remarked, in the true spirit of a Swayamsevak,
"I have just done my duty, that is all." When
the fighting ended, General Kulwant Singh told a Sangh worker,
"Punjab is the sword-arm of India, and RSS is the sword-arm
of Punjab."
Soon after the war, when the Prime Minister was invited
to Tashkent, Shri Guruji sent a message urging him not to
go. When, however, he decided to go, Shri Guruji sent a
letter to him through Atal Behari Vajpayee, wherein he had
urged him to stand
During 1971 War of Bangladesh Liberation
When war with Pakistan broke out again in December 1971,
Shri Guruji's advice to the Government and the people was
clear and crisp: "At least now, we should be shaken
out of our illusion that an appeal to the so-called international
conscience would work wonders." He also said, "Our
war aims should be clear. As our Shastras have declared,
no shatru shesh, residue of the enemy, should be allowed
to remain." However, the Government, in the wake of
the heroic liberation of Bangladesh by our jawans, again
relapsed into its old groove. With what results we all know
now - with both Pakistan and Bangladesh becoming more and
more belligerent all the time.
During the war, as on
previous occasions, thousands of Swayamsevaks throughout
Rajasthan, North Punjab, Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Bengal pledged their services with the authorities for every
kind of mobilisation of civilian support. At several important
cities and towns, hundreds of Swayamsevaks enlisted themselves
as blood donors as well as volunteers for civil defence
and first aid. Patrolling during black-out and undertaking
relief works became their normal duties. In Uttar Pradesh,
a sustained programme for public awakening was undertaken.
Prabhat-pheris (early morning marches) and public contacts
were taken up for exhorting the people to remain vigilant
about the pro-Pale elements and their possible fifth column
activities. In Delhi, the Kingsway Camp police station authorities
requisitioned the services of the Swayamsevaks to guard
the broadcasting and other vital installations in Radio
Colony and the water works at Wazirabad. The Swayamsevaks
also looked after the wounded jawans in hospitals at many
places. Army hospitals were often flooded with fruits and
other consumer articles for the use of the wounded jawans.
On 7th December 1971,
when the Barmer railway station in Rajasthan was bombed
by Pakistani planes, about 40 to 45 Swayamsevaks rushed
to the dangerous spot. A goods train carrying petrol drums
was likely to catch fire. The Swayamsevaks, unmindful of
the intermittent bombing, removed the drums to safer places.
During those critical days, senior defence and government
officers insisted that only the Sangh men be permitted to
run the canteens in those sensitive border areas.
During 1971 War
of Bangladesh Liberation
When war with Pakistan
broke out again in December 1971, Shri Guruji's advice to
the Government and the people was clear and crisp: "At
least now, we should be shaken out of our illusion that
an appeal to the so-called international conscience would
work wonders." He also said, "Our war aims should
be clear. As our Shastras have declared, no shatru shesh,
residue of the enemy, should be allowed to remain."
However, the Government, in the wake of the heroic liberation
of Bangladesh by our jawans, again relapsed into its old
groove. With what results we all know now - with both Pakistan
and Bangladesh becoming more and more belligerent all the
time.
During the war, as on
previous occasions, thousands of Swayamsevaks throughout
Rajasthan, North Punjab, Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Bengal pledged their services with the authorities for every
kind of mobilisation of civilian support. At several important
cities and towns, hundreds of Swayamsevaks enlisted themselves
as blood donors as well as volunteers for civil defence
and first aid. Patrolling during black-out and undertaking
relief works became their normal duties. In Uttar Pradesh,
a sustained programme for public awakening was undertaken.
Prabhat-pheris (early morning marches) and public contacts
were taken up for exhorting the people to remain vigilant
about the pro-Pale elements and their possible fifth column
activities. In Delhi, the Kingsway Camp police station authorities
requisitioned the services of the Swayamsevaks to guard
the broadcasting and other vital installations in Radio
Colony and the water works at Wazirabad. The Swayamsevaks
also looked after the wounded jawans in hospitals at many
places. Army hospitals were often flooded with fruits and
other consumer articles for the use of the wounded jawans.
On 7th December 1971,
when the Barmer railway station in Rajasthan was bombed
by Pakistani planes, about 40 to 45 Swayamsevaks rushed
to the dangerous spot. A goods train carrying petrol drums
was likely to catch fire. The Swayamsevaks, unmindful of
the intermittent bombing, removed the drums to safer places.
During those critical days, senior defence and government
officers insisted that only the Sangh men be permitted to
run the canteens in those sensitive border areas.
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