PM defends Gujarat Govt. order on RSS

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, FEB. 5. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today defended the recent order of the Bharatiya Janata Party Government in Gujarat lifting the ban on participation by Government employees in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Although sources in the Rashtrapati Bhavan clarified that the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, had merely forwarded to the Centre, along with a covering letter the memoranda submitted by the Congress(I) and other Opposition parties opposing the lifting of the ban, the Prime Minister himself gave the impression that reports suggesting Mr. Narayanan had asked for specific clarifications on the subject were correct.

Asked about the clarifications sought by the President at inauguration of the World Book Fair, Mr. Vajpayee said, ``the Government's stand will be made known to the President and I am confident that will satisfy him.''

Mr. Vajpayee categorically denied that the RSS was a political organisation. ``It is a cultural and social organisation and I do not think objections should be raised to anybody joining it.''

The crux of the controversy lies in the fact that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules specifically prohibit government servants from joining any political party or organisation which participates in political activity, subscribes or assists in any manner any political movement or activity. The RSS admittedly has not only close links with the BJP - it is the party's parent organisation - it also actively subscribes to and its members participate in political movements spearheaded by the BJP or other RSS fronts. But the RSS and the BJP have steadfastly maintained that the Sangh was only a ``cultural organisation''.

The BJP itself has pointed out that the ban on government servants becoming members of the RSS or participating in its activities had been in force mostly during periods when the RSS itself was a banned organisation and its members had gone underground. The ban on government servants participating in its activities was put into effect in the mid-eighties in Gujarat and the Keshubhai Government ``had simply withdrawn the ban order''. The RSS and some of its other fronts have been banned by the Central Government at least three times for different lengths of time - immediately after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, during the Emergency and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

While the Opposition has denounced the Gujarat Government's move as a blatant attempt at politicising the bureaucracy and giving it a distinctly saffron colour, the BJP's allies in the National Democratic Alliance Government have maintained a studied silence.

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