by Ram Puniyani
The RSS agenda of Hindu Rashtra draws heavily on the superiority of the Aryan race and greatness of Brahmanical values. The ideology constructed by this organisation tells us that Aryans are the superior race. The whole foundation of the concept of the Hindu nation as the teacher-leader of the world derives from the twin and inseparable notions of the racial theory, promoted by the British, and Brahmanism, clothed in the language of Hinduism. This came to the fore once again when the spokesmen of the Garbh Vigyan Sanskar (Uterus Science Culture), an offshoot of the Arogya Bharati (health wing) of the RSS, committed to creating Uttam Santati (Best Progeny), based on the ancient Indian know-ledge of Ayurveda, outlined their plans. The claim is that by following the proper instruc-tions, as put together by this outfit, one can get children, who are tall and fair, despite their parents not being so.
The RSS has many wings one of them being the Arogya Bharati (health wing). It has devised meticulous plans for the couples to have a ‘perfectly customised child'. This is what has been reported in the media recently. As per the process devised by this outfit, there is a period of three months of ‘shuddhikaran' or purification for the parents. This means that the timing of intercourse is decided by the positions of the ‘planetary configurations' and a period of abstinence once the baby is conceived. This is to be followed by a series of procedures and regulations in matters of diet in particular.
These days a lot of illogical understanding is easily passing the muster of popular perception in the name of traditional knowledge. The extent of this is the belief that ancient India had advanced plastic surgery techniques, and great leaps in aviation science, including Pushpak Viman (Aeroplane); the truth is that modern medical science has broken a lot of mysteries of the science of child bearing, growth and rearing. The conception of child does not depend on the planetary configurations but on the meeting of the sperm with the ovum, on and around the day of ovulation of the female. The Hindutva ideology is bent on promoting the faith-based knowledge systems, undermining the imma-culate researches and gains of modern science. Even earlier Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, in the previous NDA regime, had carried out changes in the educational curriculum by introducing Paurohitya (Priestcraft) and Karmakand (Ritualism). One of the components of this was the Putra Kameshti Yagna (ritual to get the male child), the performance of which should lead to the birth of a male child. As per current knowledge, the sex of the baby is determined by the male's Y or X chromosome meeting the ovum and not by any other influence which these rituals are supposed to influence.
The health of the baby and its rearing has many components, which includes proper dietary supplements, regular exercises of the mother and good nutrition and rearing of the child as she comes up in society. The growth of the body, physical and intellectual, is a long process of rearing where proper nutrition, games and intellectual stimuli are the foundation of the health of the child. In contrast here in this scheme of things the planets, supernatural powers are projected as the main players along with the recommended diet.
The RSS ideology has been inspired a lot from German Fascism not just in matters of the concept of nationalism but also in the projection of Aryan superiority. Being the world leaders-teachers as well is a core part of this ideology. So a superior race is necessary in this ideology. Germany tried this in the form of eugenics. That experiment was a disaster. Nazis had the programme called “Lebensborn” (“Spring of Life”), which aimed to create an Aryan master race. For this breeding of children of pure Aryan race, some 8000 children were born in Germany and around 12,000 in Norway as part of “Lebensborn” under the direct supervision of the Nazi theoretician and leader, Heinrich Himmler. This encouraged women of “pure blood” to bear fair-tall Aryan children. The result was that most of such bred children did not grow on expected lines. This horrendous scheme was a central part of the inhuman racial policy. This policy on the one hand aimed at producing pure Aryan children and on the other hand wanted to eliminate non-Aryans like Jews, six million of whom were killed alongwith the forced sterilisation of people with hereditary diseases. This policy was harsh to the non-dominant people and to people with different ability. Needless to say that even the theory of race is totally discredited today and what we now know is that we are all mixed-up people with the origin of the human race located in South Africa.
It is in this light that the statement of Tarun Vijay (‘we have been living with dark skinned people') is to be viewed. This reveals the RSS' understanding of white superior Aryans living with black South Indians. As such the major RSS ideologue, M.S. Golwalkar, had already prescribed for a better race when he wrote: “Now let us see the experiments our ancestors made in this sphere. In an effort to better the human species through cross-breeding the Namboodri Brahmanas [sic] of the North were settled in Kerala and a rule was laid down that the eldest son of a Namboodri family could marry only the daughter of Vaishya, Kshatriya or Shudra communities of Kerala. Another still more courageous rule was that the first off-spring of a married woman of any class must be fathered by a Namboodri Brahman and then she could beget children by her husband.” (Quoted in the RSS journal, Organiser, January 2, 1962)
The spokesmen of this programme tell us that they have begun their work from Gujarat, where nearly 450 babies have been born on these lines and now they intend to spread their branches to different States by 2020 as their work is already in progress in different States. What's in store for us is very clear from this plan of the health division of the Hindutva fountain-head. We need to harp only on rational scientific strategies in our health planning.
The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.