Another strange event that the media sees as of little consequence... or so it seems considering that no one is making as much of a big deal as needs to be made of this (according to me):

Thursday, September 14, 2006 (Bhopal):Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chauhan has proven himself a true disciple of the RSS by revoking a ban imposed by the previous Congress regime that prevented government employees from being members of the RSS."It's a cultural and a social organisation that takes part in various creative activities and also imparts patriotic feelings amongst the youth. That is why everyone including the government servants can be a part of it," Chauhan said. The order, distributed to all government departments,commissioners, collectors, head of departments and CEOs of district panchayats reads: "The state government makes it clear that the Sub-rule 1 of Rule 5 of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965, is concerned, it is not applicable to the RSS. "Under this clause no government servants can join any political organization or participate in political activity. It was this clause that former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had invoked on the RSS, citing it as a political entity supporting a specific political party. Any violation of the ban meant termination of services. And now the opposition is accusing the government of encouraging communal politics. “The Madhya Pradesh government is working as per the wishes of the RSS. The only motive behind lifting the ban is a deliberate attempt to destroy the fragile communal harmony in the state," said Manak Agarwaal, Spokesperson, Congress. The Madhya Pradesh BJP is a divided house and the chief minister has far from consolidated his position. But by
revoking the ban, Shivraj Singh Chauhan has ensured for himself a robust mention
in the book of favorites of the Sangh Parivar.

RSS is a political organization, more than being affiliated to a political party it promotes a specific ideology... and ideology that is against everything that the constitution of this country stands for. The RSS believes that we are a 'Hindu' nation and thus people with other believes have to be treated inferior etc... i could go on and on about RSS but maybe if people notice things around them one can see how the "cultural and social" organization has communalized our society to almost a level of no return.
And more than anything else they practice politics of hate that is absolutely of no use other than to the armament industry and the politicians and reconstruction companies... Yes it is true that they have not launched a large-scale carnage other than the fall out of Babri masjid that they take credit for... But it is because of the things they say and tell young people in their Shakhas (literally training camps, but ofcourse we do not recognise them thus even though they distribute trishules- tridents and give training in the name of ‘self defense etc) Gujarat 2002 were made possible.
There is video footage of big shots like Praveen Togadia etc saluting the RSS chief and flag... of course in the exact likeness to 'Hail Hitler'.... But lets remember they are a social and cultural organisation. Which also makes its members pledge "main yeh trishul Dharan karke, apni bharat mata ke raksha karonga... aur pakistan ke chalis tukre karwaonga” and similar things ("I accept this trident to protect my mother land... and will cut Pakistan into 40 pieces", the best I could do with all the agitation about our skewed heads)!!!
But the irony is that the organization does actually do work... they were the first ones to go and set up camps at Tsunami affected areas. They provide a lot of aid during natural disasters. But all on the premise of the needy accepting their ideology and belief. Once a senior journalist and activist told me that much of what happened during 2002 in Gujarat was made possible cause of the work our orange brigade (I like to call them that) did in the state after the earthquake the previous year... I don't know for certain how far that is true but from what I saw of the state a year after the carnage it is quite obvious that it was not a spontaneous mob reaction... Was rather a well thought out plan that succeeded (even today there are people who cannot go back to their villages, cause of threat to their lives, Muslims like auto rikshaw drives vendors etc who are in constant public view and access guise their identities in order not to raise suspicions, a journalist friend with a French beard is not spoken to till he gives his name cause 'he looks like a miyan')!
Lets remember its a cultural and social organization and lets wait till the next Gujarat to act.. Till then of course we can sit around and twiddle our thumbs, as the only harmful things they are doing are kin to telling middle school children that Hitler was great and high school children that one of the major sociological problems in our country is the minorities!!!

:)
PS I am reacting like this becuase this wa sthe only news item published about the great move.