The BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has attributed the genesis of Dalits, tribals and other marginalised groups to Muslim invasion in medieval times.
Three RSS functionaries have reportedly expressed such views in forewords to three books – Hindu Charmakar Jati, Hindu Khatik Jati and Hindu Valmiki Jati – written by the BJP spokesman Vijay Sonkar Shastri and released recently by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
In his foreword, Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Bhagat’s Number Two in the RSS pecking order, reportedly says the ‘shudras’ were never untouchables according to the Hindu scriptures. It was only after the “Islamic atrocities” during the medieval times that the untouchables, Dalits and Indian Muslims emerged.
“To violate Hindu swabhiman (dignity) of Chanwarvanshiya Kshatriyas, foreign invaders from Arab, Muslim rulers and beef-eaters, forced them to do abominable works like killing cows, skinning them and throwing their carcasses in deserted places. Foreign invaders thus created a caste of charma-karma (dealing with skin) by giving such works as punishment to proud Hindu prisoners,” he writes.
Suresh Soni, another senior RSS leader, wrote, “Dalits had their genesis during Turks, Muslims and Mughal eras. Today’s castes like Valmikis, Sudarshan, Majhabi Sikhs and their 624 sub-castes came into being as a result of atrocities against Brahmins and Kshatriyas during Medieval or Islamic age.”
The third foreword by Krishna Gopal of the RSS says, “In pre-historic and Vedic age, Khatik castes have been recognized as Brahmins who affected sacrifices. It may be noted that before the advent of Muslim invaders, there is no reference to rearing pigs in India. It was a vocation adopted by Hindus to defend their religion.”
The RSS, that was founded in 1925, has been actively promoting a rewriting of Indian history and has largely rejected the historiography pursued by professional historians, accusing them of being anti-Hindu.
After the BJP’s victory in Lok Sabha polls in May, a bullish Sangh, as the RSS is also called, has undertaken a decade-long project to produce a version of Indian history based on the Puranas.
The RSS has also been accused of trying to influence the school and university curriculum through the Union Human Resources Ministry whenever the BJP has been in power.