After RSS was formed, it went on to birth many organisations steeped in its ideology of Hindutva or Hindu Nationalism, a concept based on the notion of an Aryan race, Brahminical values and the land from Sindhu to Seas. It has spawned more than 100 affiliates since its inception. Many other organisations have sprouted, which may not be a formal part of Sangh Parivar, as known popularly, but have the same ideology. These include a multitude of "sadhus" and "sants" outside the VHP, the cow vigilantes and those out to initiate violence at the drop of a hat in the name of Hinduism. It seems that by now, many such aggressive organisations are spouting things which go much beyond what limits RSS wants to put on its followers.

For Cow vigilantes, Modi had given a statement that murder in the name of a cow is not acceptable, and just a few hours later, a Muslim man was done to death on this issue. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the significance of love, harmony, and brotherhood are central to the teachings of Lord Christ. He also urged people to strengthen these values." Just a couple of days later, the vigilante groups and even Bajrang Dal groups attacked a person in Ahmedabad who had dressed as Santa Claus and was distributing gifts. A video is going viral where two men dressed as Santa Claus are being beaten up by hooligans at the Kankaria Carnival in Ahmedabad.

Already, we have seen that carol singers were beaten up, and since the BJP came to power, carol singing has been stopped in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Bajrang Dal has also issued warnings to Hindus for attending Christmas parties.

Recently, we also saw the claims on mosques that there used to be such a temple here previously, so it must be dug up a la Babri Masjid style. Seeing the spate of such made-up claims, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat himself said that we should not keep looking for shivlings under every mosque. Amazingly, a structure similar to a fountain was claimed to be a shivling in Kashi. It became a dispute, and the demand for converting the mosque into a temple was boosted. After the Sambhal claims, the violence followed.

Probably shaken by this, the supreme leader of the supra-political outfit felt it would bring about a loss of face for the "RSS Combine." "The Ram Temple was about faith, and Hindus wanted it built. But raising disputes about new sites out of hate is unacceptable," he said. "Some people think they can become leaders of Hindus by creating new controversies. How is this allowed?"

And lo and behold, most of the fringe organisations of Hindutva politics are coming forward to oppose it. RSS is a strict disciplinarian organisation, and its members do not violate the commands of its leader. So who are these senas, dharma sansads springing up by the dozen and going against the appeal of Bhagwat?

To cap it all, RSS's mouthpiece, Organiser, came forward to articulate the fringe elements' demands and wrote, "Temple restorations are a quest for our identity!" (TOI Dec 27, 2024). It also claims that temple restorations are for our national identity and to seek civilisational justice.

Why is the hate so pervasive that it crosses the limits set by its own leaders? Is it that leaders like Prime Minister Modi want the actions leading to hate to continue, as it strengthens their politics? If not, then why are the perpetrators of violence enjoying impunity? Why does the whole system, from spreaders of hate speech to those responsible for maintaining law and order and even, to a great extent, the judiciary, have a soft corner for these criminal elements?

Having enjoyed the impunity for destroying Babri Mosques and lynching in the name of cow/beef or on killings and torture on the charge of 'love-jihad,' now they know they can get away with their illegal acts. They feel that the law may be bent to ensure that they are exonerated.

The phenomenon of the Organiser opposing Bhagwat arouses curiosity. Is there a split within RSS on the issue? Bhagwat is trying to talk about peace and harmony, while the Organiser managers feel that the path of hate and violence should be pursued to its fullest depth?

There is another aspect which needs to be understood. When such phenomena are unleashed for political benefits, initially, the leaders congratulate themselves for their success in the electoral arena. From top to bottom, diverse elements spring up, and as Mr Bhagwat said, some of them are for higher political positions and influence. They are the ones continuing their earlier political roots, which were sown by their leaders. One recalls that previous top RSS leader K Sudarshan, who later became RSS Chief, was on the stage when Babri mosque was being demolished. This has been a classical case of crime and no punishment.

All those guilty of this dastardly crime of Babri demolition were finally given a clean chit, and the judge who did this for communal politics got a plum job after his retirement.

"As you sow, so you reap." the demolition of the Babri process as a whole tells us that it was not just a spreading of fake narratives of temple destruction and many myths against Muslims. The result is there for us to see, where even the supreme authority of RSS is not being listened to. The anti-Christian campaign is just a continuation of the decades-old propaganda against Christians that they are converting by force, fraud and allurement.

Bhagwat and Modi are witnessing right in front of their eyes that the genie can be unleashed from the bottle, but putting it back is close to impossible.