Balasore train accident: Sangh tops in helping

Balasore of Odisha The pictures of the horrific train accident in So far 280 people have died in this accident. As soon as the news was received, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh silently started its service work, being criticized as an organization called Hinduist, fascist and other similar words. It is said that if the Sangh workers had not reached on time, the death toll could have been much higher.

About 600 workers had reached the spot as soon as the information about the accident was received. Amidst hue and cry there, the RSS workers immediately started taking the injured to the hospital for treatment. The NDRF team also reached the accident site after the RSS workers started the relief and rescue operations. After this the Sangh workers joined hands with them to save the people. On the one hand, some RSS workers were helping the people trapped in the train and the injured. On the other hand, some other workers reached the hospital to give blood to the injured. The doctors of the hospital were also surprised to see the crowd of youths who came to donate blood. In fact, along with the information about the accident, an appeal was made to donate blood in the RSS WhatsApp group of Balasore. After this the workers reached the hospital. Till Saturday evening, the volunteers have donated 700 units of blood to help the injured and the process is continuing.

According to Ravinarayan Panda, state RSS prachar pramukh of Odisha, the accident took place near Mahanaga village in Balasore. Many RSS workers live in Mahanaga. Apart from this, Sangh workers are also active in the district. The accident happened at 6:50. After this, after getting information from WhatsApp message, the Sangh workers had reached the accident site by 7 o’clock. After this they opened the doors of the train and started taking out the injured. Also, with the help of the local people, the injured were taken to the hospital through tractor, bike and car. Ravi Narayan Panda told that the volunteers of the Sangh, along with the personnel of various agencies involved in the administration and rescue operations, helped in evacuating the injured passengers trapped in the accident. Sangh’s co-department campaigner Vishnu Nayak was present at the accident site. Sangh volunteers engaged in the work of evacuating the injured passengers and making them sit in ambulances. After the injured passengers were taken to the hospital, Baleshwar Vibhag Pracharak Chandrashekhar Mohapatra was present at the district headquarter hospital in Baleshwar and supervised the service work there. Apart from donating blood themselves, these volunteers also got people to donate blood for the injured passengers. Similarly, some injured passengers were taken to Bhadrak district headquarter hospital and medical at Soro. In the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital, the workers of Hindu Jagran Manch continued to help the injured throughout the night and till then. In Soro Medical also, 40 volunteers of the Sangh took charge. In these hospitals too, volunteers donated blood and arranged for blood. Similarly, in the SCB Medical College and Hospital of Cuttack, the volunteers associated with the service department of the Sangh remained active. Sangh’s regional service chief Jagdish Khadanga and state service chief Shantanu Majhi were also present at the accident site and this work was done under their direct supervision. A helpline has also been started by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Ever since the Sangh was established in 1925, even after listening to the criticism of the people, this is not the first time that the Sangh, without any publicity or inducement, starts rendering its services selflessly at the site of any accident. Sangh has a long list of service, yet even today it has been at least 7-8 decades for the Sangh to bear and listen to criticism as an organization called communal Hinduist, fascist and other similar words. Hardly any organization in the world would have been criticized so much. That too without any basis. Even today many people see the Sangh from Nehruvian point of view. Although Nehru himself got a sad opportunity to correct his vision-defect when he was alive in 1962 when the country was invaded by China. Then Jawaharlal, the messiah of the ideals of Panchsheel and democracy outside the country, was neither able to handle himself nor the borders of the country. But the Sangh was doing its job.

The volunteers of the Sangh kept a constant watch on the activities of the Pakistan Army on the Kashmir border since October 1947 without any training. Neither the Nehru-Mountbatten government, nor the Hari Singh government was doing this work. At the same time, when the Pakistani army units tried to cross the border of Kashmir, along with the soldiers, many volunteers also gave their lives in the fight defending their motherland. When the partition riots broke out, when the Nehru government was in complete disarray, the Sangh had set up more than 3000 relief camps for the refugees who had come to save their lives from Pakistan. The whole country saw and appreciated the enthusiasm with which Sangh volunteers from all over the country reached the border to help the army. The Swayamsevaks put their full strength in government work and especially in helping the jawans. Guarding the troop movement routes, helping the administration, helping with logistics and supplies, and even taking care of the families of the martyrs.

Jawaharlal Nehru had to invite the Sangh to participate in the 26 January parade in 1963. Even today the paraders have to prepare for months, but on the invitation received just two days back, 3500 volunteers turned up in uniform. On being criticized for being invited, Nehru said, “The RSS was invited to participate in the 1963 Republic Day parade, in particular, to show that one could successfully fight bombs and the Chinese armed forces with sticks alone.” Invited. Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir was not able to take the decision of merger and on the other hand Pakistani army in the guise of tribesmen was entering the border, then the Nehru government was sitting in a posture of what should we do. Sardar Patel sought help from Guru Golwalkar. Guruji reached Srinagar, met the Maharaja. After this, the Maharaja sent the proposal of merger of Kashmir in India to Delhi.

The Sangh had a decisive role in the merger of Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Goa with India. Dadra was liberated from the Portuguese on 21 July 1954, Naroli and Fiparia were liberated on 28 July and then the capital Silvassa was liberated. On the morning of August 2, 1954, Sangh volunteers unfurled the Indian flag and hoisted the tricolor of India, freed the entire Dadra Nagar Haveli from the Portuguese occupation and handed it over to the Government of India. The volunteers of the Sangh had been effectively involved in the Goa Liberation War since 1955. On Nehru’s refusal to intervene armed in Goa, Sangh workers led by Jagannath Rao Joshi reached Goa and started the movement, which resulted in Sangh workers being sentenced to ten years imprisonment including Jagannath Rao Joshi. Eventually India had to intervene militarily when the situation worsened and Goa became independent in 1961.
The Sangh’s role in the struggle against the Emergency between 1975 and 1977 and the formation of the Janata Party is still fresh in the memory of many. After the arrest of thousands of swayamsevaks in Satyagraha, the workers of the Sangh started running the movement by staying underground. Sangh workers handled the work of pasting posters against the Emergency on the streets, giving information to the public and dialogue between various political workers-leaders lodged in jails. When almost all the leaders were locked in jails, efforts were made to merge all the parties and form the Janata Party with the help of the Sangh.

Ashok Bhatia