A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Wrap

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“That film is a piece of fiction. And through the struggle for independence Gandhi’s greatest antagonist was Dr. Ambedkar. He doesn’t even make an appearance in the film. He doesn’t even show up there.” — Arundhati Roy telling Jeremy Scahill about Richard Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ film, wherein much crucial truth is intentionally omitted

Ideologues of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are open admirers of Hitler and Mussolini, and have said in public in the past that the Muslims of India are like the Jews of Germany. BJP Prime Minister Modi of India (present RSS leader, for all practical purposes), the fellow who was in the driver’s seat when the infamous massacre in Gujarat came down in 2002, has been embraced in public — with great fanfare — by Trump. But also by Obama… and by that woman who heads the UK right now. And others, of course.

The question is what are we going to do about all that.

As an educator — a teacher and counselor for many decades — I submit that we’re fit to fit the truth into educational circles, to teach geopolitics that resonates with the facts on the ground. At present — through many sins of commission and sins of omission in the classrooms of “America” — we get a rap of pap that’s not worth the heartbeats it takes for students to sit through a given lecture or discussion in so-called academic circles.

So, to answer the question, what we can do is to share what we see, what we know about that people [who are making lots of money and/or looking out (primarily) for their job security] are constantly hiding, or willingly avoiding. We can tell what’s call the truth.

One way to get “the truth” out outside of academic circles would be to take over the gubernatorial reins in California. To secure a grand pulpit in the Golden State, to put good, honest and compassionate folks behind the podium each and every day to speak “the truth” as we understand it. To do what no career politician would ever consider doing on an ongoing basis, long enough to make a big enough difference soon enough.

Those disingenuous souls just want to play tough about their money and jobs. But follow my recommendations and there will be the possibility of the governor (as Head of the Regents of the University of California system) creating a watershed in history on 26 campuses… influencing the entire nation. No matter what legislators decide to do or not do.

I provided a telegraphic treatment of a “game plan” that could be embraced in and outside of academia in a 2016 interview, conducted by a wonderful fellow who I now refer to as my autobiographer. He’s my very best friend. You can check out the exchange, noting the nuts and bolts embedded toward the end of the piece, not having to plow through the entire interview if you’re pressed for time.

The thing is, even if you don’t have the time to join hands in proactive, direct solidarity on the count I’m recommending, you can always pass the word to others regardless of your personal inclinations, whatever your personal situation happens to be.

But you’ll need to see that we have an “emergency” on our hands when it comes to “the truth” and that no one is presently addressing it effectively.

In or outside of academia.

This article was inspired by my reading a Jeremy Scahill interview with Arundhati Roy today. And I mention that because it made me aware of something I want to share with you immediately. That is, that she’s slated to come to the U.S. in May. If she does, I’d like to make hay of that fact.

Specifically, the “game plan” I referred to above is one which the late Howard Zinn gave his imprimatur to just prior to his death; that’s noted in the 2016 interview. Well, Arundhati LOVED Howard, and if anyone can cut through the barriers that always preclude authentic contact… well, it should be obvious what can be accomplished.

Even folks who have “something against Arundhati” (as some Indian friends of mine constantly remind me about) have to admit that we’re sitting on a grand opportunity. That is, Arundhati can serve as a catalyst for moving well-meaning citizens all along the spectrum to embrace a new paradigm for movement in solidarity, whether or not it’s what I recommend.

And she could begin to do so by simply doing a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Rap.

Okay, that’s a wrap.

Richard Martin Oxman has been an educator for over half a century, and an activist for longer than that. He can be reached at [email protected]. The author — in the spirit of what’s touched upon in the opening quote above — wants to recommend Past Imperfect, one of many excellent volumes addressing the gap which exists between History as per the movies and History as per the so-called real world… which is not the whole story either.

 

 

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