Re-writing history, banning cow slaughter and religious conversions, development of Hindu pilgrimage centres like Pandharpur and Alandi and freeing temples and religious endowments from government control. These are some of the pet items on the wish list of the Sangh Parivar after the first BJP-led government under Devendra Fadnavis took charge in Maharashtra.
"Wrong history has been written and taught. Correct history comprising lessons on lives of icons and revolutionaries must be taught," said VHP all India secretary Prof Vyankatesh Abdeo. He wants lives of warrior-king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana Pratap and freedom fighter and Hindutva icon Veer Savarkar included in the curriculum so that students "would know correct history."
"Proper adarsh (ideals) must be projected before the young generation, and this must be done in proper language," said Abdeo.
He also wants the government to promote Sanskrit and stop cow slaughter and religious conversions. "There are many things that must be changed... this is on our agenda," said Abdeo, adding that they would discuss the matter with the government.
"The new government will curb conversions. It must also implement the anti-cow slaughter law. The previous government failed to act on this to please Muslims and Christians," alleged Abdeo.
"There is no reason for any community to be angry when law is being followed," he said.
Abdeo wants the infrastructural facilities in Hindu pilgrimage centres like Pandharpur, Shirdi, Alandi and Ashtavinayaks, visited by lakhs annually, improved. This would boost tourism and increase the revenue, he feels. The state must give up control over temples and religious endowments like Siddhivinayak temple, he added.
During Lok Sabha polls, RSS affiliated organisations had undertaken voter registration and awareness drives without directly soliciting support from BJP. This was replicated during the assembly polls too.
An RSS activist pointed out that Sangh Parivar had always played the role of a pressure group over BJP-led governments. "While we are demanding the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, fronts like Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh have been opposing disinvestment and labour reform proposals of the central government," he added.
He also expects the new government to crackdown on corruption and illegality and streamline sectors like education, housing and industry.
Incidentally, though RSS, the ideological fountain-head of Sangh Parivar, was founded in Nagpur in 1925, and Maharashtrians account for six of the seven Sarsanghchalaks, its political offshoot, BJP, was able to come out of the shadow of Shiv Sena only after winning 122 seats in the assembly polls.
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