India Today - April 25, 2016

136 Pages·2016·23.98 MB·English

INDIAN AIR FORCE RIVER LINKING SHAH RUKH KHAN
Mid-flight Crisis Why It Won’t Work Fifty and Restless
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RSS CHIEF APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016 APRIL 2016
APRIL 2016 A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE
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#RSSMakeover
THE RSS
5
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/ MAKEOVER
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The fountainhead of the Sangh Parivar undergoes a
radical transformation, but contradictions persist

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INDIAN AIR FORCE RIVER LINKING SHAH RUKH KHAN
Mid-flight Crisis Why It Won’t Work Fifty and Restless
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THE RSS
RNI NO. 28587/75 MThe founAtainheKad of Ethe SaOngh PaVrivar uEndergRoes a
radical transformation, but contradictions persist
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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
For the last 70 years, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the foun-
www.indiatoday.in tainhead of the Sangh Parivar, has been treated with some degree of wari-
ness by most Indian governments for being a hardline Hindutva outfit out
Editor-in-Chief: Aroon Purie of touch with the modern world. The RSS, on the other hand, has seen itself as a
Group Chief Executive Officer: Ashish Bagga kind of moral force. Its goal has been to create a Hindu Rashtra and a new spiri-
Group Editorial Director: Raj Chengappa
tual order that will rejuvenate the “reservoir of knowledge” that went dry due
Deputy Editors: Prachi Bhuchar, Damayanti Datta, Kunal Pradhan,
S. Sahaya Ranjit, Sandeep Unnithan to the creation of an “artificial culture” over 400 years of Mughal and British rule.
MUMBAI: M.G. Arun
Senior Editors: Uday Mahurkar CHANDIGARH: Asit Jolly In 2000, while covering the RSS’s 75th year celebrations at a time when its
AHsYsDoERcAiBaAtDe: E Admitaorrnsa: Ktha Kus. hMike nDoenk a, Shweta Punj own affiliate BJP was in power, INDIA TODAY had famously described the RSS’s
JAIPUR: Rohit Parihar MUMBAI: Suhani Singh PATNA: Amitabh Srivastava policies as “a mix of cowdung capitalism and Hindu paranoia”. It was then an
Assistant Editors: PUNE: Aditi S. Pai
Correspondent: BEIJING: Ananth Krishnan organisation that was too pro-Swadeshi, pro-upper caste, anti-English, not
Photo Department: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor), open to gender equality, and obsessed with a version of history that wasn’t in
Chandradeep Kumar, Yasbant Negi, Rajwant Rawat, M. Zhazo
AHMEDABAD: Shailesh Raval KOLKATA: Subir Halder consonance with the spirit of the Independence movement. Right through, the
MUMBAI: Mandar Deodhar
Photo Researchers: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), RSS seemed to have its own leaders, its own agenda, and its own set of priori-
Shubhrojit Brahma, Satish Kaushik
ties that were unnecessary for a newly formed developing country.
Infographics and Illustrations: Saurabh Singh (Chief of Graphics)
Art Department: Jyoti K. Singh (Art Director), Vikas Verma Now, almost a century after its creation and with its political arms at full
Production Department: Harish Aggarwal (Chief of Production),
Naveen Gupta, Vijay Sharma stretch in the Narendra Modi regime, the RSS is attempting to become more
palatable. Though its goal may not have changed entirely, it is trying to be
Group Business Head : Manoj Sharma
Associate Publisher: Anil Fernandes (Impact) more in tune with the times. The last few weeks have been all about an RSS
IMPACT TEAM makeover. Under Mohan Bhagwat as Sarsanghchalak, the RSS
Senior General Manager: Jitendra Lad (West)
General Managers: Arun Singh, Mayur Rastogi (North), is making alterations both to its attire and its approach. So
Upendra Singh (Bangalore), Velu Balasubramaniam (Chennai)
Deputy General Manager: Kaushiky Chakraborty (East) gone are the khaki shorts and in come the brown trousers.
Sales and Operations: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales) However, along with that, the RSS is also growing its net-
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations) work geographically, promoting backward leaders to key
Manish Kumar Srivastava, Regional Sales Manager (North)
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (West) positions, embracing B.R. Ambedkar as a symbol of its India-
Arokia Raj L., Regional Sales Manager (South)
first and pro-Dalit credentials, allowing women into the organ-
isation even if not inside the shakhas, and softening its stand
on Mahatma Gandhi, whom it opposed because of his acquies- OUR MAY
2014 COVER
cence to India’s partition. Instead of being mired in caste divi-
sions, it wants to create a rainbow coalition to revitalise its cadres and unify
Hindus under one umbrella. At the 2016 India Today Conclave, the group’s
Sahsarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale went a step further and deviated from
RSS’s known stand on homosexuality, saying it’s a matter of choice and should
not be a criminal offence. Also, the RSS chief’s controversial view that the reser-
vation policy should be reviewed was contemporary and forward-looking.
There is no doubt the RSS enjoys greater political clout within the Modi
government and the BJP than it ever has. Present and former members are
involved in administration and governance at various levels—from senior min-
Volume XLI Number 17; For the week isters to organisational bigwigs, from appointees in cultural and educational
April 19-25, 2016, published on every Friday
institutions to leaders who represent the party on conventional and social
(cid:30)F CE-d8i,t oSreicatlo Or-f1fi6cAe ,L Fivilimng C Mitey,d Niao Iidnad i-a 2L0t1d3.,0 I1n;d Piah Tonode:a 0y 1G2r0o-u4p8 0M7e1d0i0ap lex, media. It is no surprise then that the RSS is growing more rapidly now than
(cid:30) Subs criptions: For assistance contact Customer Care India Today Group, A-61,
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from Rest of India (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); Fax: [phone]; years, of which the major push has come in the last two.
Mumbai: 022-66063411/3412, Kolkata: 033-40525327, Chennai: 044-24303200;
e-mail: [email protected] But some key issues remain unresolved. Ghar wapasi, love jihad, national-
(cid:30) Sales: Direct all trade enquiries to General Manager (Sales), Living Media India
Limited, B-45, Sector 57, Noida-201301 (UP) ism, minorities, Ram Mandir, beef ban and the RSS’s economic vision are areas
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(cid:30)M Iilmlsp),a Sc.tB O. fMficaersg:, 1L2o0w1e, r1 P2athre Fl l(oWore,s Tt)o, wMeurm 2b Aa,i -O4n0e0 0In1d3i;a Pbhuollnse C: e6n6t0r6e,3 (3J5u5p;i t er of concern as the Modi government reaches the two-year mark. Our cover story,
Fax: [phone] (cid:30) E-1, Ground Floor, Videocon Towers, Jhandewalan Extn,
New Delhi (cid:30) Guna Complex, 5th Floor, Main Building, No.443, Anna Salai, written by Editor (Research) Ajit Kumar Jha and Senior Editor Uday Mahurkar,
Chennai-600018; Phone: [phone] (cid:30) 201-204 Richmond Towers, 2nd Floor,
12, Richmond Road, Bangalore-560025; Phones: 22212448, 22213037, 22218343; looks at the RSS makeover in greater detail, separating the cosmetic from the
Fax: [phone]; (cid:30) 52, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, 4th Floor, Kolkata-700071;
Phones: 22825398; F ax: 22827254; (cid:30) 6-3-885/7/B, S omajiguda, Hyderabad-500082; consequential as we analyse the chan ges and reveal the change-makers.
Phone: [phone];
Fax: [phone] (cid:30) 39/1045, Karakkatt Road, Kochi 682016; Phones: 2377057, The big question is, can the RSS really change its colours? Can it under-
2377058 ; Fax: [phone] (cid:30) 2/C, “Suryarath Bldg”, 2nd Floor, B ehind White House,
PFaanx:c h26w5a6ti5, 2O9f3fi c(cid:30)e C Co.pGy. rRigohatd L, Aivhinmge Mdaebdaiad I-n3d8i0a0 L0t6d;. P Ahlol nrieg:h 2t6s 5r6es0e3r9v3e,d 2 t6h5r6o0u9gh29o u; t stand that the era of Swadeshi, protectionism, self-reliance, chauvinism and
the world. R eproduction in any m anner is p rohibited.
identity is gone? The Modi government came to power on a promise of devel-
Printed and published by Ashish Kumar Bagga on behalf of
Living Media India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, opment, and will be judged on how it delivers on that front. The RSS must
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana)
and at A-9, Ind ustrial Complex, Maraimalai N agar, District realise that its cultural and political future sails in the same boat.
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught
Circus, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Aroon Purie.
(cid:30) IN DIA TODAY does not take the res ponsibility for returning unsolicited
publication material.
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
(Aroon Purie)
APRIL 25, 2016 (cid:31) INDIA TODAY 10
COVER STORY
RSS
United Colors
10
of RSS
The saga of the Sangh is
one of evolution from
a cultural force to a
political machine
INSIDE
DEFENCE 6 UPFRONT
IAF
7 GLASS HOUSE
26 In a Death
Spiral 58 GLOSSARY
The IAF stares at a massive crisis as
60 EYECATCHERS
its aircraft age and replacements
take time arriving
SPECIAL REPORT
RIVER-LINKING Cover by
NILANJAN DAS
30 Muddying
Digital imaging by
The Waters AMARJEET SINGH NAGI
Photograph by
From the Himalayas to the Western SHAILESH RAVAL
Ghats, the Modi regime pushes
ahead with a mammoth river-linking
project with questionable benefits
Page: 66-67
THE BIG STORY
CINEMA
TEMPLE TRAGEDY
SHAH RUKH KHAN
22 It’s All Smoke
54 His Biggest
and Tatters
Fan
A massive fireworks blast, some 113 deaths
and counting, overnight a temple in south A star in search of his stripes, Shah Rukh
Kerala and its custodians become a cautionary Khan returns to his acting rootswith a
tale for those who flout the laws of the land trifecta of films this year
02 INDIA TODAY u APRIL 25, 2016
MAIL
The Iron Maidens
APRIL 11, 2016
Whatever their electoral performance, Amma and Didi are doing the cause
of gender equality in India proud
It is amazing that, in a democratic set-up, two
women, who are known for their autocratic and
dictatorial styles of functioning, have found such
favour with the masses. For me, that makes
them the iron(y) maidens.
AVINASH GODBOLEY, Dewas
Gynaecocracy
Ship). The PWF, with
Rules!
whom he has entered into
Apropos your cover story, an alliance, is a coalition of
Warrior Queens, Amma politicians with limited ap-
and Didi seem headed for peal. The DMK would have
successive wins, thanks been a better bet as it is a
largely to the Opposition in major political party, and
both states being in disar- commanded a vote share of
ray. The Congress-DMK all- over 26 per cent in the
iance in Tamil Nadu is no 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
match for the AIADMK, its Together with the DMDK’s
prospects having receded The Virtues of Inconsistency 10 per cent, the electoral
further with Vijayakanth chances would have been
Modern Chinese leaders like Mao and Deng always saw “flexibility,
opting to align with the brighter for both the DMK
rather than consistency, as a positive virtue and the ability to re-
People’s Welfare Front and Vijayakanth. By driv-
spond to the logic of a particular situation as a sign of wisdom and
(PWF). As for the Congress- ing a hard bargain with
an indication of power”. This seeming inconsistency is a function
Left alliance in West Karunanidhi, Vijayakanth
of the sheer size of the country and the contradictions that
Bengal, it can dent TMC’s might just have committed
abound within its borders. It’s what explains the question you ask
performance, but is un- political harakiri. His con-
in your story Chinese Double Barrel: “How did China go from a
likely to dislodge Mamata. tribution as opposition
country that was two decades ago largely dependent on the im-
A. SRIKANTAIAH, Bengaluru port of arms, mainly from Russia, to a major producer and supplier leader in the Tamil Nadu
assembly has been unex-
of advanced weapons?” Mao the Great Helmsman always believed
Apropos your story, Didi in zi li geng sheng or regeneration through one’s own effort. ceptional, nor is he a great
Still the Dada, in India, the orator like Vaiko or
C.V. VENUGOPALAN, Palakkad
politics of freebies has Tirumavalavan. Most MLAs
taken firm root. Tamil gressive streak in her sec- for Mamata. Despite the of his party have already
Nadu showed the way and ond term, and it will be the state not turning the cor- defected to rival camps,
Jayalalithaa is keeping up end of the road for her. ner as expected when she more are likely to do so.
the tradition. However, SUBRAT KANUNGO, Noida dislodged the Left, it is KANGAYAM R. NARASIMHAN,
even in Bengal, Mamata is Mamata’s ‘people like us’ Chennai
resorting to the tactic, an- The completely opportun- image that will help her
nouncing rice at Rs 2 a kg. istic alliance the Left has comfortably sail through The BJP may be reluctant
Whether it directly trans- entered in with the these elections. to admit it, but the party
lates into votes is debata- Congress in Bengal indi- VIPUL PANDE, Nainital does seem to have learnt a
ble. Mamata is poised to cates how formidable Didi few lessons from the Bihar
win anyway, even if with a is. The coming together of It looks like Vijayakanth is debacle in November. And
reduced majority. But she these two ideologically dif- destined to captain a rud- Assam is where it has put
cannot take her position for ferent parties is only likely derless ship (Captain it into action, first, by dec-
granted forever. Any re- to attract more sympathy Steers the Third Front laring Sarbananda
03 INDIA TODAY (cid:31) APRIL 25, 2016
MAIL FROM THE
ARCHIVES
Sonowal as chief ministe- or the Shimla conclaves Militant Revivalism
rial candidate and, second, seem a thing of the past.
The new militancy is menac-
by entering into an alli- The organisation has not
ing, and growing in intensity.
ance with the Asom Gana had proper elections for its
And the message being
Parishad and the Bodoland top bodies for a while and
hammered home is the
People’s Front (The Going members to the Congress
same: for too long, the minor-
Gets Tough). Of course, Working Committee con-
ities have been appeased and
one will have to wait till tinue to be nominated.
pampered while the majority
May to find out if the strat- Unless the party can get its
has been restrained from as-
egy has paid off, but trends RAW Wound act together, 2019 looms
serting what it holds to be the
in the first phase seemed as a lost cause.
only basis for unifying the
In arresting alleged
encouraging. Badruddin J. AKSHOBHYA, Mysore country—Hindu nationalism
RAW spy Kulbhushan
Ajmal’s All-India United The new mood and the
Jadhav, anti-India Scorched Earth
Democratic Front could forces taking shape manifest
forces in Pakistan have
queer the pitch yet, espe- The photograph of the themselves in dozens of ways:
tried to kill two birds
cially as it has shown itself parched earth in Latur in the sharply increased at-
with one stone (The
willing to tie up with the (The Great Thirst) was de- tendance at temples, the
Man in the Dhow)—
Congress. pressing. How can the ad- growing strength of the once
ensure that any prog-
J.S. ACHARYA, Hyderabad ministration be so callous discredited Rashtriya
ress in India-Pakistan
toward the suffering of its Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),
talks is stalled, and si-
I am afraid 2016 is not people? It took the which has seen a sudden and
multaneously create a
looking good for the Bombay High Court to unprecedented increase in at-
wedge between India
Congress, as the party reprimand the state and tendance at its drills and en-
and Iran just when ties
seems to have lost its the BCCI for using pre- joyed the growing popularity
are warming up. It is
moorings entirely after the cious water to water IPL of its numerous front organi-
also aimed at derailing
humiliating defeat of 2014. pitches when people were sations, the drive to reconvert
the anti-terror coopera-
One also hopes that it real- reeling under a drought. people from Islam and
tion India is hoping to
ises that the negative turn S.R. DEVAPRAKASH, Tumkur Christianity to Hinduism and
have with Saudi Arabia
for the BJP in 2015 does the effort to end Christian or
and the UAE. However,
not mean the Congress is Don’t they deserve better, Muslim proselytisation, the
Pakistan risks embar-
reviving in 2016. The proof the wretched of the earth? palpable increase in commu-
rassing only itself as
is evident in how its gov- How long do they have to nal tensions across the coun-
India has now extended
ernments have collapsed pay the price for the negli- try’s northern belt, the
the olive branch several
in Arunachal Pradesh and gence and mismanage- programme aimed at “liberat-
times.
Uttarakhand. The fight ment of the politicians who ing” more than two dozen
between the old guard AKSHAY VISWANATHAN, draw their salaries from Hindu temples—converted
and the young turks is not Thiruvananthapuram public money? into mosques by the Mughal
helping its cause either. If indeed he is Indian, J.V.V. MURTHY, Coimbatore rulers, the growing popularity
Nor has Sonia Gandhi’s the government must of all-night jagarans, even
withdrawal from party own up to their ‘spy’ and Latur’s water woes are a perhaps in the character of
affairs in favour of son make all possible efforts matter of shame for the the vote in the 1984 general
Rahul Gandhi. There has for his safe release country. It’s disheartening elections, described by a vari-
ety of political pundits as a
been no restructuring, and rather than leave him to to know that the supply of
Hindu backlash.
there does not seem to meet Sarbjit’s fate. water is insufficient to
The clarion call to Hindu
be any roadmap in sight. meet even the basic drink-
SHWETA CHAUDHARY, nationhood, sounded from
Self-introspection sessions ing needs of people.
New Delhi
the pulpits of rath yatras,
like the one at Pachmarhi CHARVI KATHURIA, New Delhi
dharnas, morchas, andolans,
padyatras and kirtans organ-
ised by socio-cultural-reli-
Readers are recommended to make appropriate enquiries before sending E-MAIL YOUR LETTERS TO: gious groups like the RSS, the
money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in r elation to
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4 INDIA TODAY (cid:31) APRIL 25, 2016
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UPFRONT AJIT RANADE
PANAMA LEAKS: A BRIDGE TOO FAR
In the early days after independence, India led a hand- you to escape high taxes in the home country. This could
to-mouth, or rather a ship-to-mouth existence. be due to tax avoidance (which is legal) or tax evasion
Chronic food shortages in the pre-Green Revolution (which is illegal). But apart from tax dodging, moving
days meant substantial import dependence on foodgrain to a haven like Panama also allows you to acquire
that arrived by sea. This, in turn, meant we needed to layers of secrecy.
have adequate foreign exchange to pay for food imports, If the ultimate beneficiary (that is, the owners) cannot
and also for the oil. In those early days of Soviet-style be traced, then the corporate veil can become opaque
planning, which combined export pessimism and import and impenetrable. With multiple layering of firms and
substitution, foreign exchange was extremely scarce. ownership, the ultimate beneficiary could indeed
Inward foreign investment was mostly barred. The become unknowable. The desire for secrecy or anonym-
country had to conserve every dollar, like water in a ity could be legitimate, especially for someone who does
drought. Dollars could come in, but could not go out. not want to flaunt their wealth in the home country. In
This explains the rather harsh provisions of the India, some may even become targets of extortion and
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), violation of mafias, and hence may want the safety of hiding their
which was a criminal offence. Those were the bad old wealth in a haven like Panama.
days, with stories of over- and under-invoicing, and clev- But if the income and assets that flow into such
er ways of smuggling dollars out of India. All this changed opaque companies come from illegal sources like bribes,
in the liberalisation era, starting 1991. As foreign direct drugs or terrorist financing, then it is antithetical to the
investment was opened up, so were the restrictions on national interest and to national security. There could
the exit of dollars from India. The most telling statistic is also be instances of “round tripping”, wherein out-
that India’s foreign exchange reserves, which remained bound capital from India, re-enters through a Panama
constant at about five billion dollars for decades, bal- company, while enjoying special tax benefits and other
looned to more than 300 billion dollars in the decade after privileges. But such transactions are more commonly
opening up. The floodgates had opened, only to witness executed via Mauritius than Panama. Last year, we had
capital not rushing out, but rushing in. the Swiss leaks, revealing names in HSBC, Geneva. That
FERA was replaced by FEMA in 1999, and viola- too led to speculation over ill-gotten wealth secreted
tions were no longer a criminal act, but punishable by a abroad. Black money has been a hot topic since 2011,
penalty. India’s capital account gradually became more and became something of a national obsession during
open, especially for foreign and Indian corporates, and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
non-resident Indian individuals. But it’s important to note that the Panama leaks have
From 2004, Indian residents too could move out only revealed the mechanism used to create companies
larger amounts of dollars to invest abroad, without any and trusts. They haven’t revealed the size of assets or
questions asked (though report- their legal status. Even in the
ing remains mandatory). Against Illustration by SAURABH SINGH case of the Swiss leaks it would
such a background, the Panama take a herculean effort to estab-
leaks present a curious story. They lish culpability, let alone punitive
reveal thousands of Indians who action and the eventual repatria-
created trusts and companies that tion of the loot.
held foreign assets. At this time, it The US authorities had to
is not clear whether all assets were practically threaten a shutdown
hidden or reported to authorities of Swiss banks in America, before
in India (like the Reserve Bank they could extract incriminat-
of India and the government). It ing evidence on tax-dodging US
is, however, possible that many citizens holding Swiss accounts.
accounts and companies are the Finally, it is useful to remem-
result of legitimate transactions. ber that a huge cache of black
For instance, if money was earned money can be unearthed within
abroad, it was possible to park India itself. The three notorious
it overseas legally. If, however, sectors are real estate, education
these assets were moved prior to (capitation fees) and elections.
the FEMA regime, then that may The Panama leaks are currently
With liberalisation in 1991, foreign
be illegal. There’s no use saying a bridge too far.
direct investment was opened up
that the FERA law was draconian,
since it applied to all. and so were the restrictions on the The author is an economist and a
Tax havens by definition allow exit of dollars from India. political analyst
6 INDIA TODAY (cid:31) APRIL 25, 2016