West Midnapore: Class began with a prayer. Thirty-odd children, sitting cross-legged on the courtyard outside Jamboni village’s sole clubhouse, chanted Saraswati Vandana. A picture of the goddess and two lit incense sticks sat on a chair in front of them. This is just one of the 50,000-odd schools being run by the RSS in Bengal — and is at the heart of a raging debate in Keshiyari seat, reserved for scheduled tribes.

While Tribal Affairs Minister Sukumar Hansda said he had “no idea” about these schools, some members of the Santhali community — the largest tribe in West Bengal — have raised concerns over the “attempts to Hinduise” the community. The RSS has maintained that their efforts are purely “humanitarian” and aimed at “uplift”. The Left, meanwhile, has claimed the Trinamool Congress has allowed the RSS to grow in Bengal.

The discourse finds no resonance at the school, where classes begin at 4 pm. “These issues are political. The school is run by Vanbandhu Parishad and parents send these children to me because the primary school here is simply not good,” said teacher Somla Hembram, 20.

Kashiyari in West Midnapore is reserved for STs, with 34 per cent of its 1.5 lakh residents being tribals. The RSS has been striving to “bring adivasis back into Hinduism” since the 1990s, say villagers. The seat is one of only 72 — out of 294 — where the BJP has ever polled than 10 over cent.

“Our children come back and tell us stories of Ram and Hanuman. Many of them speak of Hindutva and shun our own culture,” said Sujata Murmu, 55. “Many of us resist, but most of us compromise and try and teach them about our gods at home.”

The Vanbandhu Parishad or Friends of Tribal Society (FTS) is one of the many RSS-led organisations working in the area. Hembram said he was able to sit for his high school examination only because of extra classes at FTS schools.

Asked about the worship of Saraswati, he said, “That is a compromise that we poor adivasis have to make. It’s part of the course and is required. But after classes I also teach the children, in whatever time is left, about their culture and the Santhali language. Ultimately, though, we want jobs. A donation of Rs 1 lakh gets you a good job, being adivasi doesn’t.”

But others, particularly the elders of his community, don’t agree. Niytananda Hembram, 81, head of Bharat-Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal, highest body of the Santhal community, spoke of the need for the tribal community to “assert their cultural independence” and “resist attempts to Hinduise them”.

“We don’t mind working hard to earn our bread. That is a part of our culture. What we can’t forget and what the new generation is being brainwashed into forgetting is our culture, our ways and our gods…. What is this, if not a blackmail and an attempt raise a new generation of BJP voters.”

The RSS looks at the mission as “apolitical” and “humanitarian”. “We have been working for decades in these areas in the field of education. We are not interested in politics. Even now when elections are on, we want to ensure that people go out and vote. But if you simply look at the extent of the schools we have in this area, you’ll realize how much of a difference we are making to the lives of people here,” said Jishnu Basu, RSS state secretary. He added of three main RSS-affiliated organisations in Bengal’s tribal belt, the FTS has 50,000 schools in the state, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram 1,500 schools and 17 hostels, and Vivekananda Vidya Vikas Parishad 400 schools, two of these exclusive to tribals.

Minister Hansda said, “I have no idea about schools being run by RSS. I have not been able to visit any assembly seat besides my own because of elections and I don’t want to comment.”

“The TMC has allowed the RSS to grow in Bengal, while curbing the Left cadre. This has been their strategy because silently they are both working on the same agenda,” alleged Mohammad Salim, CPM MP.

(This appeared in The Indian Express on April 8, 2016)