'No one is propagating RSS ideology as a government officer.'
Passing the time is a big challenge for newly retired employees.
And this problem was faced by Purushottam Gupta, a retired Central Warehousing Corporation employee from Indore.
So, he decided to get involved in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and thought this would enable him to carry out nation-building work.
But there was a catch.
Being a central government employee, Gupta could not take up the Sangh's work, as a 1964 central government order prohibited him from doing so.
The 1964 central civil conduct rule 5 (1) (external link) stated: 'No government servant shall be a member of, or be the otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity.'
Gupta then with the help of his lawyer friend Manish Nair moved the Madhya Pradesh high court for lifting this ban.
His legal battle ended last week with the striking down of the order, putting an end to a rule by which a government employee/retired employee cannot be associated with a political organisation.
In a telephone interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com, Purushottam Gupta spoke about why he went to court and his legal victory.
When did you decide to file a case regarding permission needed for central government employees and retired employees to attend RSS shakhas?
I joined central government service in the department of central warehousing in 1982. And in the place where I lived, Indore, there used to be Sangh shakhas where many people used to gather.
In my colony at that time there were many businessmen and they used to attend the shakhas regularly. I was one of the few who were from the service class. And at that time I got aware of this horrific rule which stated a central government employee is not allowed to participate in shakha work.
There was a central government diktat which prohibited me from doing so. There was a fear that even I participated unofficially, someone would report it to my seniors and I could lose my job or sent to jail for 7 years for attending a Sangh shakha.
Didn't you know before joining the central government that RSS work was banned for its employees?
Yes, I knew about that and also the history behind the ban. In the past there had been many bans on the RSS, which was first done in 1948 after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. It was later removed.
In 1964, the government did not target the RSS directly but targeted government employees and prohibited them from attending RSS shakhas or being associated with their work.
I wondered what the RSS did to get this kind of punishment to their workers.
The RSS has always stood for social work and has worked for the nation's good in times of calamity.
I always felt that morning time and evening time of a government employee is his own and he can do what he wants to do.
Were you associated with the Sangh from childhood?
I was with the RSS in childhood but when I got to higher class studies I got busy and didn t attend regularly. And off and on before joining the government job I did social service for the Sangh in Indore.
When did you file the petition against the rule?
I retired in June 2022 and realised that even after retirement I could not do Sangh work because of the rule.
If I did I would get seven years imprisonment and my pension too will be stopped.
I then met one of my lawyer friends, Manish Nair, and expressed my displeasure over this rule. He told me that we can go ahead and file a petition in court on this issue.
Why did you go to court directly rather than approaching the government?
Many friends of mine told me that they wrote to the home ministry to remove this rule for central government employees but there was no response to their plea. Therefore, I thought I should go to the court directly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is an offshoot of the RSS and government employees, if they work for the RSS while in service after office hours, may not be neutral or impartial in their conduct. Don't you feel such a charge can be levelled?
This is what the Congress party says.
The Sangh does a lot of social work, right from gau seva to other nation-building work.
There is no doubt that the BJP is one of the offshoots of he RSS but so are 73 other organisations like the Bajrang Dal, Seva Bharatiya, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad which are affiliated to the RSS.
And you have to note that the Madhya Pradesh state government lifted a ban on state government employees working for the RSS in 2003.
You didn't answer my question so let me put it this way: Will government employees be impartial if they are Sangh workers?
I am answering your question as per my observations and experience.
The Sangh never tells people to vote for a particular party but they say that people must come out and vote in a democracy.
I have heard (RSS Sarsangchalak) Mohan Bhagwatji's lecture and he too never propagates to the people that they must vote for the BJP. Their workers come to homes and request people to come out and vote.
That is the precise question I am raising. Now if you are a government employee, then as an RSS worker can you be impartial and tell people to come out, or rather tell them to vote for the BJP which is a Sangh offshoot?
No, the Sangh has never come out and told people to vote for the BJP.
If that was the case someone would have made a video on this issue. The Sangh only says in the interest of the nation, go out and vote.
This is what even the Election Commission of India does.
Sadly, even after that, 40 percent of people do not vote in elections.
But the BJP's parent organisation is the RSS.
That is not my concern. My concern is only that I am a retired central government employee and why am I being sent to jail for seven years and my pension being stopped just because I am doing social work for the RSS?
I do not want to work for elections but want to do seva of samaj (social work).
If you are a government officer in the education department and at the same time you are an RSS worker, won't you propagate RSS history as a government employee?
No one is propagating RSS ideology as a government officer.
It is only that government employees need to have social gathering freedom after their work hours.
For example, if kabaddi is being played in an RSS shakha and I want to play as a government employee after my office hours, I should have the right to do so. And for that I need permission and freedom to go to a RSS shakha.
Doctors, engineers and even industrialists attend Sangh shakhas which talks of nation-building, so why are government employees being kept out? There are yoga classes going on in shakhas which I wish to attend.
Moreover, why discriminate against central government employees when the Madhya Pradesh state government employees can attend RSS shakhas?
Why have different rules and why punish Sangh workers who are government employees?
The reason given then was that the Sangh believes more in Hindu nationalism rather than the pluralist, secular, Constitution of India. Therefore, the rule was framed that government employees have to be loyal to the Constitution of India rather than to the Sangh's ideology.
But why send me to 7 years in jail? There has to be a reason.
The reason they say is that government employees take an oath on the Constitution when they join government service, therefore they need to be loyal to the Indian Union rather than a political or cultural organisation.
The Constitution of India gives liberty to an individual to do what he wants to do in this country. Moreover, if that was the case as you say, the central government did not respond in court the way you are asking me questions.
Obviously it is a Sangh-oriented government, so why will they object to your petition?
It is just for namesake. If that was the case, then India would have become the world leader.
It is only the media which says such words or the Congress party spokesperson who says such words.
The Sangh has always worked for nation-building and if you read the biography of Sangh founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, you will understand what the Sangh is all about.
