Conflict Resolution The RSS Way

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Dints from St. Xavier's College, did post r Ratan Sharda, a Punjabi from Mumbai, graduated graduation from Mumbai University and holds diploma in Textile Chemistry. He was awarded PhD in 2018 for his thesis-Understanding RSS through its Resolutions -Focus on Jammu Kashmir, North East and Punjab. This thesis forms the base of this book.

Dr Ratan Sharda has written six books on RSS before this. He has written two more books, including one on Shri Guru Nanak Dev. He has edited and designed 12 books ranging from Management to Films to Cookery; and translated two major works about Shri Guruji, written by veteran RSS ideologue Shri Ranga Hari. His works have been translated in six Indian languages.

He is involved in sewa and social activism. He is an RSS swayamsevak since his childhood and held various organisational posts. He has had close interaction with many other RSS inspired organisations. As a student leader, he was arrested and jailed during Emergency of 1975-77.

Ratan Sharda has had wide ranging business experience, with last twenty two years as ERP consultant. He has travelled extensively in India and in 25 countries abroad. He is a well-known face on TV and a freelance columnist.

Prof (Dr) Yashwant Pathak, originally from Nagpur, India; is Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Taneja College of Pharmacy University of South Florida (USF) and a Tenured Professor. He has over 50 books to his credit in the area of Drug Delivery systems, Nano technology in drug delivery and artificial neural network for drug design, delivery and disposition. He has been adjunct professor in many universities outside USA.

Dr Yashwant Pathak is presently associated with several organisations including Uberoi Foundation for religious studies, International commission of human rights and religious freedom, International accreditation council for dharma colleges and schools, and International Centre for Ethno-religious mediation. His book titled Handbook of Organizational conflicts in under print with Walter De Gruyter GMBH. He has written two books in the field of Conflict Management and Eastern and Indigenous perspectives on conflict resolution and organizational conflict management.

He has travelled around 80 countries for many years to strengthen the local Hindu diaspora in different countries and was global co-convenor of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh outside of India for many years. As a founder of ICCS (International Center for Cultural Studies), he pioneered the triennial convention of Elders of Ancient Civilizations and Cultures of the World attended by hundreds of scholars of ancient civilisations and tradtions from 35 plus nations.

It has been my distinct pleasure to know both Dr Ratan Sharda and Dr Yashwant Pathak for several decades and I have admired their work. Dr Pathak and I have collaborated on many projects. Thus, I was keen to read this manuscript, especially because I am one of the Punjabis displaced when India was partitioned in 1947, and have also closely followed the developments in the other insurgencies the book covers. I found that Conflict Resolution-The RSS Way is not only insightful and penetrating but it brings to light facts and their implications generally missing in the available literature.

The book is based on Dr Ratan Sharda's PhD dissertation at the Hindu University of America. Sharda is a widely respected author, among whose publications are six books on the RSS. His co-author, Dr Yashwant Pathak, is an equally recognised scholar and author, who worked for six years in Northeast India and was among the founders of the Research Institute of World's Ancient Traditions, Cultures and Heritage, with its primary office in Arunachal Pradesh. They have presented a detailed and thorough account of the complexity and intricacy of these conflicts, the actors involved, and the nuances missed by earlier writers.

Historians will surely record the visionary leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder, Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, and his successor, MS Golwalkar (Guru Ji), and the profound impact of the RSS led by them in shaping India's social, cultural, and political landscape. This book introduces the reader to the indispensable role the RSS played in correctly diagnosing the roots of three domestic insurgencies in post- independence India-Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and the Northeast- and deploying optimal strategy and tactics to combat the separatist elements bent upon what Rajiv Malhotra calls "Breaking India;" perfectly captures the RSS contribution.

The questions prompting the inquiry and culminating with writing the thesis are most pertinent: How does the RSS, “a national organisation, professing its commitment to integrity and unity of India," measure up in addressing "the most serious challenges that India faced post- independence?" Were its views "holistic and found useful in resolving the conflicts as they ran their course?" To answer this inquiry, the authors turned to the content of the organisation's resolutions on these conflicts which represent its official position and are adopted at the twice-a-year meetings of its highest deliberative bodies-the Central Working Committee and All-India Delegates Conference. The dissertation was accepted in July 2018, and, building on it, the authors have rewritten the book by reviewing and analysing the major related developments since then, such as the abolition of Article 370 and 35A and reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is now acknowledged as the Rargest voluntary organisation not just in India but also in the world. What it does or does not do affects India in a perceptible way. RSS was founded in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur. As of now it has over six million members in 60,000 plus branches, and more from 18,000 weekly get-togethers across India. It has a presence across India at the district level and in major parts at the tehsil level. RSS and organisations inspired by it have a presence in nearly all the dimensions of the social life of India. Affiliated organisations or those inspired by it have a large number of members and associates working in nearly all walks of national life. Of the more than thirty national organisations with affiliations to RSS world view, some are mass organisations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), having memberships running into millions. Sewa Bharati oversees around 130,000 social service projects across India. Ekal Vidyalaya Movement begun by an RSS prachaarak, Shyam Gupt, has now many supporters with their own organisations and foundations running around one hundred thousand single-teacher. schools.

How could such a multifarious, multidimensional organisation be looked at in a unidimensional way? Each of its organisations can be a topic of a number of theses. For example, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is a unique labour organisation that is left of centre but does not draw inspiration from the Communist-Socialist philosophy. Ekal Vidyalaya is a unique model with 100,000 single-teacher schools that would be a great lesson for poor countries anywhere. The social service model of RSS, with Sewa Bharati as the umbrella organisation, drawing inspiration from Swami Vivekananda, Advaita philosophy and Hindu cultural values, needs study by all NGOs. It seeks minimal support from the governments; it has zero or lowest overheads in the world for any NGO. It has full-time workers working without any pay except subsistence expenses. This would be a great case study for NGOs habituated to spending 50-70% on overheads.

**Contents and Sample Pages**