INDIA Delhi lifts ban on civil servants joining Hindu extremist organisations

The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repealed a 1966 law that barred civil servants from joining the RSS, a Hindutva paramilitary group. The provisions originally also barred membership in the Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic fundamentalist organisation that is not named in this case. Congress members spread the news and expressed their disapproval.

New Delhi () – The Indian government has lifted the ban on civil servants being members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right paramilitary organisation based on Hindutva ideology (Hindu supremacy) and which promotes intolerance towards other religious minorities in India. This group is linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and which has already been banned three times since India became independent for the violence of its propaganda.

The news broke when Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera, two members of the opposition Congress party, circulated a memorandum on “involvement of government employees in RSS activities.” The document, released on July 9 by the Department of Personnel and Training (under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Complaints and Retirement), makes explicit reference to earlier regulations, issued in 1966, 1970 and 1980, that prohibit government employees from participating in activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic fundamentalist organisation modelled on the Muslim Brotherhood. Specifically, the 1966 directive, issued by the Indira Gandhi government, says: “Any government employee who is a member of or is in any way associated with the above organisations (RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami) or their activities shall be subject to disciplinary action.”

However, the most recent memo does not mention the Islamic organisation, only the RSS: “The above provisions have been reviewed and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh,” says the document, which was not available on the department’s website until yesterday.

RSS media chief Sunil Ambekar yesterday welcomed the government’s move. “Due to political interests, the then government had unreasonably banned government employees from participating in the activities of a constructive organisation like the Sangh,” he said on his social media channels, adding, “The current decision of the government is appropriate and strengthens India’s democratic system.” Some BJP officials have issued similar statements, saying the ban first imposed 58 years ago was unconstitutional.

By contrast, Congress member Jairam Rashem said the RSS had been banned in 1948 after Gandhi’s assassination, but “the ban was later lifted after assurances of good conduct.” Even after this, the RSS never hoisted the Indian tricolour in Nagpur, the party’s headquarters. He added that the 1966 ban had been imposed “rightly.” However, after the recent elections, which the BJP won, but not in a landslide as in the past, relations between Modi and the RSS have deteriorated, which is why, according to Rashem, Delhi had decided to remove the ban. “Now officials can come in breeches,” he added, referring to the khaki shorts that were part of the RSS’s official uniform until 2016.