RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Refers To Ambedkar's ‘Grammar Of Anarchy’ Speech In Constituent Assembly, Explains Commitment To Constitution

While speaking at Nagpur on the occasion of Vijayadashami, the foundation day of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its chief (Sarasanghachalak) Dr. Mohan Bhagwat referred to the famous "Grammar Of Anarchy" speech by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly.

Dr. Bhagwat delivered his annual speech today, as the RSS enters its 100th year, at the event where Dr. Kopillil Radhakrishnan, the former Chairperson of ISRO, was the chief guest.

Grammar of Anarchy

While speaking at the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949, Ambedkar spoke against methods of civil disobedience, non-co-operation and satyagraha post-independence and adoption of the Constitution of India. 

"If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? We must hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-co-operation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was some justification for unconstitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives. But where constitutional methods are open there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned the better for us", Ambedkar said while delivering his concluding remarks in the Constituent Assembly. 

Dr. Bhagwat was referring to recent incidents of mob violence against processions relating to Ganeshotsav. He said that there is a sudden increase in incidents in the country that incite fanaticism without any reason.

"There may be dissatisfaction in the mind about the situation or policies, but there are democratic ways to express it and oppose them. Instead of following these ways, resorting to violence, attacking a particular section of the society, resorting to violence without reason, trying to create fear, is hooliganism. The attempts to incite this or doing it in a planned manner, has been called as ‘Grammar of Anarchy’ by revered Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar", Dr. Bhagwat said. 

He said that it is the job of the administration to prevent such incidents from happening and to control and punish the culprits immediately. "But until they arrive, the society has to protect itself and its property along with the lives of the loved ones. Hence, there is a need for the society to always remain fully alert and prepared and to identify these evil tendencies and those who support them", he added.

Commitment to Constitution

During his speech, the RSS chief spoke about "civic sense" or "civic discipline", which is one of the five-point transformations aimed by the RSS as it enters its 100th year of functioning. 

 Dr. Bhagwat referred to it as an aspect of the "expression of Sanskar". "Law and the Constitution too are a social discipline. Philosophical foundations and rules are made so that all people in the society live together harmoniously, keep progressing and do not disintegrate. We the people of Bharat have given ourselves this commitment to the Constitution", Mohan Bhagwat said. 

Speaking further about the commitment to the Constitution, he said, "Keeping in mind the meaning of this sentence of the preamble, everyone has to discharge the duties given by the constitution and the law properly. We should follow this system in all matters, big or small". 

He said that traffic rules must be followed and taxes must be paid on time and that there is a responsibility to maintain clean and transparent financial transactions. "Rules and regulations should be followed both in letter and spirit. To ensure that this is done properly, especially the knowledge of four aspects of our constitution, such as the preamble, the guiding principles, fundamental duties and fundamental rights, should be made known to general public. The discipline of mutual conduct passed on by the family; piety, cordiality and decency in mutual behaviour; devotion towards motherland and affinity towards the society in social behaviours, along with flawless observance of law and Constitution, all these together form the personal and national character. It is very important for these two aspects of character to be impeccable and thorough for the security, unity, integrity and development of the country. We all will have to remain engaged in this practice of personal and national character with alertness and consistency", he said. 

Regulating OTT Content

Another aspect of law that Mohan Bhagwat spoke about is the need to regulate the content on OTT platforms. He said that there is little to no control over OTT platforms on what is being shown on them. "A lot of content is so disgusting that even mentioning it would be a violation of decency. There is an urgent need for laws over the perverted visual content reaching our homes, especially children", he said.

In his speech, the RSS chief also spoke about "Deep State", "Wokeism" and "Cultural Marxism". 

He said that they are the declared enemies of all cultural traditions. "Complete destruction of values, traditions and whatever is considered virtuous and auspicious is a part of the modus operandi of this group. The first step of this modus operandi is to bring the mind-shaping systems and institutions of the society under one's influence - for example, the education system and educational institutions, media, intellectual discourse, etc., and to destroy the thoughts, values and beliefs of the society through them", he said.

He added, "In a society living together, an identity-based group is motivated to separate on the basis of its actual or artificially created speciality, demand, need or a problem. A feeling of victimhood is created in them. By fanning discontent, that element is pulled apart from the rest of the society, and made aggressive against the system. Direct conflicts are created by finding fault lines in the society. An atmosphere of anarchy and fear is created by intensifying distrust and hatred towards the system, laws, governance, administration etc. This makes it easy to establish one's dominance over that country".

In a similar speech delivered on Vijayadashami in 2022, Dr. Bhagwat had spoken about the pros and cons of a Population Control Law. 

He also spoke about the Gyanvapi dispute and the ongoing litigation for reclamation of Temples allegedly converted to Mosques.