I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit inThe RSS

In 1987, as the Ramjanmabhoomi movement gathers momentum, a 13-year-old from a village in Rajasthan joins the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Despite his untouchable status, he quickly rises to the post of karyavah. As the Babri Masjid is demolished in 1992, he becomes the district chief of Bhilwara. He hates Muslims with a passion without having met one. He joins thousands of karsevaks to Ayodhya. He mocks MullaYam Singh. He participates in riots. He goes to jail. He finds Hindutva intoxicating. He is ready to die for the Hindu Rashtra. And yet he remains a lesser Hindu. He turns into a critic of the Sangh, becomes an Ambedkarite and makes it his life s mission to expose the hypocrisies of Hindutva. In this explosive memoir, translated by Nivedita Menon from Hindi, Bhanwar Meghwanshi tells us what it meant to be an untouchable in the RSS. And what it means to become Dalit. This is the first book of its kind that I ve read all the way through The book travels with me everywhere and I tell others of it Balu Khandela, truck driver, Paproli, Jahazpur, Bhilwara The game is up for the RSS... This book will go some way towards breaking the spell of religion Karmveer Shastri, activist for rationalism, Delhi A warning to Dalits not to be taken in by the two-faced RSS Vinod Kumar Ashramiya, Baran, Rajasthan This book is a manual on how to escape the RSS duplicity Dr Tara Ram Gautam, intellectual This book has changed the landscape of Dalit autobiography Himanshu Pandya, principal, Raniwada College, Jalore Clinching documentary proof of the Sangh s deception and hypocrisy Bharat Meghwal, student leader, Jalore, Rajasthan A work of utter honesty I recommend it to every member of the Sangh Avinash Vikas Sharma, Kothiyan, Bhilwara The feelings Omprakash Valmiki s Joothan left me with were revived by Meghwanshi s autobiography. It is the expression of truth, not merely as something experienced but undergone Dr Satyanarayan Satya, children s writer