A cat and mouse game

AN INTERESTING sidelight at the recent Agra camp organised by the RSS was the telling of this story from the Panchatantra by a senior RSS functionary, Mr. H. V. Seshadiri. And it was not difficult to read the political message he was conveying.

There was a `rishi' (sage) who lived in the forest and nearby lived a mouse who played around the dwelling of the `rishi.' One day the mouse said to the `rishi' that he often felt afraid for his life as there were fat cats around. Could the `rishi' help? Certainly, was the response, and using his extraordinary powers he turned the mouse into a cat.

The mouse-turned-cat was happy, but not for too long. One day it pleaded with the `rishi' once again. It was frightened of the jackal which was threatening its life. The kind `rishi' once again came to its help, instantly turning the mouse-turned-cat into a jackal.

But that was not the end of the story. After a decent interval of time, the mouse-turned-cat-turned-jackal approached his friend once again. How could it be safe in the jungle where the tiger ruled supreme? What could the jackal do when a hungry tiger was on the prowl? The trusting `rishi' took pity on the creature and changed it once again into a tiger.

The mouse-turned-cat-turned-jackal-turned-tiger took no time at all to try and pounce on its former friend and mentor, the `rishi.' But, said Mr. Seshadiri, the `rishi' had the presence of mind to immediately turn the tiger back into a mouse.

The story seemed to make the `swayamsevaks' feel a little taller, and a lot stronger. For undoubtedly the `rishi' was the RSS, and the mouse-turned-cat-turned-jackal-turned-tiger was none else than the party and the person who now ruled India - the BJP and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee. At least, that is how the ``lesson'' taught by Mr. Seshadiri was taken. The RSS was sending out the message that when the time comes, and if the tiger does not behave, if it threatens the RSS agenda, it will turn the tiger back into a mouse.

In fact more than a month before the RSS camp one senior BJP leader spoke about the growing disenchantment with the Government's policies among those in the BJP who had been brought up on RSS ideology. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he had warned that if this continued, there was a possibility, however remote, of a serious break between the RSS and the BJP.

The debate within the BJP has already begun. One day, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, who was present at the concluding function of the Agra camp, let it be known that there was no question of the BJP distancing itself from the RSS. Two days later, the BJP president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, stated that the BJP's views on the question of minorities ``were significantly different'' from those of the RSS, that the RSS had its own agenda, the BJP its own. Earlier, a similar point had been made strongly by the party in relation to economic issues after the RSS chief, Mr. K. S. Sudarshan, chose to speak rather sharply against Government economic policies describing them as ``not in national interest''.

The debate in the party is likely to continue.

- N. V.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Saffron is thicker than...
Next     : Protectors or predators?