AIKS condemns RSS for calling protesting farmers 'disruptive forces'

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) on Monday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for calling the protesting farmers of Punjab and Haryana "disruptive forces", and claimed "Hindutva terrorism is the gravest internal threat to the country".

The AIKS made the remarks referring to the recently concluded all-India meeting of the RSS in Nagpur, where its leaders alleged that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, an attempt "to spread anarchy under the pretext of farmers' agitation has been restarted", and alleged that "separatist terrorism" has raised its "ugly head" through them in Punjab.

Responding the charges, AIKS said in a statement, "In the recently concluded Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Nagpur, Dattatreya Hosabale, its general secretary, has denigrated the ongoing farmers' protests in Punjab and Haryana by terming them as anti-national."

The AIKS condemned the RSS leader's statement and said, "This canard spread by the betrayers of the freedom struggle is out of vengeance against the incessant SKM-led united movement of farmers which has forced the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government to withdraw the pro-corporate Farm Acts."

The AIKS said Hosabale's remarks on the farmers' movement and the Punjab movement is "a loyal continuum of the RSS' trajectory of collaborating with British imperialism and denigrating the greatest anti-imperialist martyrs like Bhagat Singh."

It added, "When the entire country was on the streets condemning the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, the RSS and other Hindutva outfits were busy denouncing them. The RSS which couldn't produce a single freedom fighter worth the name opted to belittle the immense sacrifices of these revolutionaries as 'failures' as clearly demonstrated in Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts."

The Left-backed farmers' body further said, "Notably, the RSS has used the term 'disruptive forces' to characterise the patriotic farmers of Punjab and Haryana, who are fighting against the corporatisation of agriculture. The reality is that it is Hindutva terrorism that is acting as the most disruptive internal threat to the unity and diversity of the country.

"Hindutva fascistic politics is closely aligned with international finance capital and big business which is threatening Indian farmers. RSS should not forget its history of collusion with the imperialist forces and with imperialist agencies like the CIA."

The AIKS claimed that the "nefarious role" played by the RSS in inciting communal riots was identified in various official inquiry commission reports. "This very reason had led to its ban in 1948 after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and in 1992 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid," it said.

"The role played by the Sangh Parivar functionaries in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom as well as in the 2002 Gujarat genocide are well documented," it added, and called upon all "patriotic forces to isolate and expose fascistic elements led by the RSS who are spreading canards against the farmers' movement".

The RSS, the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP at the Centre, in its annual report 2023-24 presented by general-secretary Dattatreya Hosabale at the Sangh's annual conclave in Nagpur, said "separatist terrorism in Punjab has raised its ugly head again".

The RSS said, "Under the pretext of farmers' agitation, especially in Punjab, attempts have been restarted to spread anarchy, just two months before the Lok Sabha elections."

On 13 February, thousands of farmers began marching towards the national capital to push for their demands, notably a minimum support price for their crops. Hundreds of farmers have been sitting at the Punjab-Haryana borders for the past one month. The 'Dilli Chalo' march, also known as the Farmers' Protest 2.0, is the second round of continuous protests and road blockades initiated by farmers in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana.