Pulwama: The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), a trade union affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has opened an office at Barsoo in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir.
If that comes as a surprise, there is more to come. The man in charge of the BMS in the state is 35-year-old Sameer Kuchay, a Kashmiri Muslim.
In an interview to News18, Kuchay spoke about changing times and the influence the RSS had on him from an early age.
“I am a proud Muslim, yes, affiliated with the RSS, affiliated with the BMS. If we talk about Islam itself here, our Prophet Sahib has also talked about ‘Hubbul Watan’, which means, first of all, you have to give preference to the country where you are living,” he said.
It wasn’t an easy journey for him, having faced social stigma, including from relatives who would not touch the cup from which he drank tea.
“Even my own relatives, after serving me a cup of tea or a glass of water, used to hold that glass with a cloth so that they wouldn’t get a dirty touch from a glass used by a Sanghi,” he said, adding that the situation in the Valley changed after 2019, altering people’s approach towards him.
“People have realised that today our children should have a pen in their hands, should have a book. Today, they don’t prefer their children having a stone in their hands. An ideological change has come; that shift has happened, which somewhere supported us as well in this peaceful environment. So otherwise, pre-2019, things were tough for us,” Kuchay said.
Pulwama has had a violent past and his new office, inaugurated recently by B Sundaram, the national organisation secretary of the BMS, is guarded by policemen. Kuchay said how a perception had been created that the Sangh was anti-Muslim, but his own learning and observations led him to a different conclusion.
“I have already experienced this as a Muslim: I was never made to feel inside that I belong to the Muslim community. I was always asked, ‘What can you do to serve humanity, to build the nation, to build the country, to serve society?’ Till today, no senior of mine has ever asked me whether I am a Muslim or belong to the Muslim community. Never,” he said.
He frequently spoke about the welfare of labourers and claimed that the BMS has 20 registered affiliated unions in the Valley, representing at least 30,000 labourers and employees. His responsibilities cover 10 districts of the Valley and the Ramban district in Jammu.
He was initially drawn to the RSS through social media, Kuchay said. Today, he is dedicated to the cause of uplifting labourers who contribute to nation-building, he maintained.
“If I talk about the RSS, there is one line from Pujaniya Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat ji that always inspires me. He says, ‘If you feel RSS is bad, come and join us. If you find out that it is wrong, you are free to leave. You are not bound there,” he added.
The RSS and its affiliated organisations have expanded their presence in Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370.
The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), described as the Muslim wing of the organisation, has been active in the Valley and has also held gatherings at Srinagar’s Clock Tower on Independence Day and Republic Day.
Similarly, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, has organised tricolour marches on similar occasions and held events such as National Students’ Day. The ABVP Kashmir Facebook page shows members participating in debates and sporting events at several colleges.
On Wednesday, the RSS, in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Development Foundation and Al Rahim Trust, organised a conference in Srinagar under the banner of Asluk Aalav, meaning the “good call”. The event brought together trade and youth leaders, civil society representatives, intellectuals and prominent personalities on a common platform to promote dialogue and social harmony, according to the BJP.
For Kuchay, the office in Pulwama represents an opportunity to reach people through organised labour and an ideology he says he has chosen to embrace.
