The Hydra Among Us

Most Indians will readily tell you that “The Sangh” is the fountainhead from which the current ruling party at the centre draws its ideological strength. As much as it is tempting to view “The Sangh” as a group of old farts (all men) huddled in Nagpur and lording over all of us, the functional unit of The Sangh, much like an infantry platoon that actually fights the fight, is the “Shakha”.

We know what a “shakha” is, don’t we? It is that thing where they all wear khakhi chaddis, stand around a flagpole with a saffron flag on it, sing songs and do calisthenics — right?

Wrong.

It is true that the dog-and-pony show in khakhi chaddis IS a “shakha” and is probably the most visible and well known form of “shakha”. But in reality, the “shakha” operates in many forms — some overt but mostly covert — and the “shakha” does not pack up and leave after an hour of calisthenics in the morning.

Meet Mr. Sudheesh Minni — a former full-time sangh-worker who has been blowing the whistle on his former outfit and laying bare a lot of their inner workings.

In this interview with a Malayalam channel, Minni discusses the many ways in which the “shakha” operates by stealth — in ways that most people do not even notice.

Take a look.

I have transcribed into English, the conversation from approximately 3:15 to 12:00, in the following clip:

Anchor: So you were an excellent Sangh worker in the eyes of the organisation?

Sudheesh Minni: Yes, definitely.

A: When did you become a full-time RSS worker?

SM: Roughly around the time I turned 18.

A: There are only around 200 such people in all of Kerala?

SM: Yes, very few such people (full-time RSS workers)

A: Sangh sources say it is around 200 full-time workers.

SM: Yes, only very few such people.

A: So you turned into one such full-time Sangh worker

SM: Yes

A: Your area of specialisation was vedic maths?

SM: Yes, so the whole strategy was to infiltrate schools, especially those with a lot of Muslim and Christian students, under the guise of vedic maths and to basically impress them through mathematics. Thus bring them into a Hindutva line.

A: Please elaborate. What do you mean by infiltrate?

SM: For example, we might identify ourselves as a “speed-mathematics trainer”

A: An easy way to solve maths problems..

SM: Yes exactly. Its easy to impress kids using these skills.

A: You are an MSc Maths graduate..

SM: Yes, the Sangh trained me in this. So, when the kids have a maths problem, we show them how to solve it easily and they get impressed. That impressed state of mind is what we exploit.

A: So speed-mathematics is what you used. What is this speed-math. Can you tell an example?

SM: For example, (*Explains how 106x104 is worked out*) and extends this to algebra and this impresses the kids.

A: This impresses the kids..

SM: Yes, they are impressed. Classes become attractive for them.

A: Maths becomes fun for them..

SM: Yes, lead them through that route, to the agenda of Hindutva

A: When you approach a Christian or Muslim school, how do you advertise this? As vedic maths?

SM: No no. We won’t call it vedic maths, we just call it speed-maths. Or just call it an easy methodology.

A: Thus you get kids into the fold. Then what?

SM: We have multiple approaches. We will give our phone number and their parents call us. When they call us, we will use this Vidya Gopala Archana front or we might use the Laxmi Puja front. Basically, we will create a venue, a program and then invite them.

That program is in reality a shakha. What happens there is no archana or puja but basically a shakha.

A: When we hear “shakha”, our mental imagery is that of a saffron flag, people standing around it, singing RSS songs.. calisthenics..

SM: What RSS means by shakha work is all of these. Even a “spiritual talk”, delivered by a sangh worker, is a shakha.

A: It is a stealth shakha..

SM: Yes it is shakha by stealth. The Laxmi puja (that they organise) is a shakha by stealth. This vedic maths classes, is shakha by stealth.

A: Events like Laxmi puja are part of Hindu religious faith. So you will be able to invite only Hindu kids..

SM: RSS believes that Hindu kids who study in Christian schools eventually embrace Christianity.

A: That is what RSS believes..

SM: Yes. In a Christian convent school, they are made to make the sign of the cross, thus making them Christians. That is what RSS teaches.

A: So, as a Pracharak, vedic maths was your designated role.. How long did you do this work?

SM: Around 5 years..

A: Roughly how many people have you managed to bring into the Sangh fold?

SM: Don’t have exact figures but using this method, have managed to bring a lot of folks into their fold. What RSS teaches everyone is that the Christians and Muslims are invaders and that they’re here to destroy Hinduism and India.

They point out specific incidents such as religious conversions and scare us. Once we return from these classes, we view Christians and Muslims as enemies. Same for Communists. Even before we start the class, Communists are enemies.

A: This is something the Communists talk about in their venues all the time — that the Sangh views minorities and Communists as enemies.

SM: Yes, I confirm this. This is exactly what they teach in Sangh training camps. Communists are always enemies. Specifically about Christians and Muslims, they teach a lot. About how they do things, how they occupy places. For example, Malappuram district, they will turn it into a Muslim Nation… Kashmir, they’re going to capture.. Pakistan has already been taken by them.. In Nagaland, Christians have instigated separatism.. Basically they all are going to chop our Mother into pieces. We should not allow this. They teach all these.

A: There are supposed to be 5000 shakhas in Kerala. So these stealth activities that you mentioned are outside of these 5000 shakhas

SM: These are all off the books. For example, under the guise of popularising sanskrit, a lot of pracharaks go to schools. Sankrit, yoga.. all these are used by pracharaks to infiltrate. Same for ayurveda. In pujas, in astrology…

[Sudheesh Minni continues to travel across Kerala, speaking about his experiences of a lifetime as a former foot-soldier of The Sangh, the organisation he was affiliated with since his early school days. His memoir, aptly titled “The Maze of Hell” is a Malayalam bestseller]