We or Our Nationhood Defined

We or Our Nationhood Defined
Author M. S. Golwalkar
Country India
Language English
Published 1939

We, or Our Nationhood Defined is one of the two controversial books written by M.S. Golwalkar, also referred to as Guruji, [1]who was the second Sarsanghchalak (Supreme Leader) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS).This book was published in 1939.[2] The scholar Jean Curran characterised this book as the RSS's "Bible" in his book Militant Hinduism in Indian Politics:A Study of the RSS.[3]

Authorship

In 2006, the RSS officially disowned M.S. Golwalkar's book We, or Our Nationhood Defined on the ground that it was "neither representing the views of the grown Guruji nor of the RSS". In 2006, a booklet authored by Delhi University lecturer Rakesh Sinha and formally released by the RSS, mentioned that while Golwalkar was alive he had "revealed that the book carried not his own views but was an abridged version of G D Savarkar's Rashtra Mimansa".[2] However, A.G. Noorani in his book The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour has written that the reason for RSS's attempt to distance itself from this book and claim that the book is an abridged version of G D Savarkar's Rashtra Mimansa is based on mendacity, and the real reason is the "brutal candidness" in the book. According to Irani, the RSS leaders Rajendra Singh and Bhaurao Deoras had made an authoritative statement in 1978 with respect to the authorship of this book where they had stated, "With a view to give a scientific base to propagate the idea India being [sic] historically from time immemorial a Hindu Nation, late Shri M.S. Golwalkar had written a book entitled We or our Nationhood Defined".[4]

Endorsement of Nazis

In his book, Golwalkar endorses the Nazi campaign targeting Jews, which had continued in Germany during the 1930s.[5][6]Observes Golwalkar:

To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races--the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by. [7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. p. 40.
  2. 1 2 "RSS officially disowns Golwalkar's book". Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  3. ↑ A.G. Noorani (2008). The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour. p. 18.
  4. ↑ A.G. Noorani (2008). The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour. p. 21.
  5. ↑ "Welcome To The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Pustakalaya)". Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  6. ↑ A.G. Noorani (2008). The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour. p. 20.
  7. ↑ Christophe Jaffrelot (1996). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics. p. 55.
  8. ↑ A.G. Noorani (2008). The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour. p. 20.
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