RSS claims evoke ridicule

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 2. The RSS has been lampooned in a leading British newspaper for making some truly outlandish claims to back its idea of a ``golden era'' in ancient India.

``India always got there first, say Hindu mentors,'' reads a headline in The Times which in a report from Delhi this morning quoted extensively from an

RSS pamphlet ``We are proud to be Hindus'' claiming that America was originally discovered by the Hindus and Columbus simply followed in their footsteps. The pamphlet is described as part of a campaign to arouse passions in the build-up to a ``potentially explosive decision later this month by Hindu priests'' about when to build a temple on the ruins of the Babri Masjid.

The report piles on the RSS for claiming that everything - from the discovery of America and the laws of gravity to wireless technology - came from ancient India. ``America? Discovered by Indians. Gravity? Indian. Chess, wireless technology and dams? Indian. Indian. Indian'' the report says assuring its readers that this is not a fictional monologue from the TV sitcom ``Goodness Gracious Me'' but a selection of ``genuine claims by a stridently nationalist Hindu organisation close to India's ruling party.''

In the TV spoof, Father Christmas and the Superman are claimed to have Indian origins by a ``proud'' immigrant who is fond of telling people: ``Mr. Everything comes from India.''

The Times, while lampooning the RSS and quoting Muslims and Christians as calling it a ``semi- fascist organisation,'' makes it a point to underline that it is also ``widely regarded as the ideological mentor to the ruling coalition, Bharatiya Janata Party of Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister. In a separate panel headed ``Where everything comes from,'' the newspaper lists as many as ten RSS claims including Pythagoras' theorem which it says first appeared in ``Shilpa Sutras'' and a host of scientific inventions.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Bangladesh court rules fatwa illegal
Next     : Sri Lankan army may advance towards Elephant Pass