Revisiting Integral Humanism

One of the greatest theories developed in India as an alternative to chameleon nature of Congress politicians and self destructive nature of communism in India was Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s “Ekatma Manavata Vaad”. He called it “Integral Humanism”** in English.

RSS leveraged on this theory to a great extent. In fact early days of Jana Sangh, there was a great amount of work on this ideology. Later after death of Panditji under questionable circumstances in 1968 meant a Herculean task for other intellectuals to elaborate this ideology and its application. In this regard, Deendayal Research Institute which was established by Nanaji Desmukh in 1972 produced some important works.

In 1979, when P Parameswaran, who worked for Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1957 to 1977 upon directions from Guruji Golwalkar and later became director of Deendayal Research Institute in 1977, got a very interesting book published under the banner of Deendayal Research Institute. The book was titled “Integral Approach”. The book is a great starting point for any individual interested in understanding what according to Panditji would work in the best interest of the country.

To briefly describe what the book deals with:

It has 6 chapters in total. Chapter 1 and 2 are Panditji’s theory in entirety. Chapter 3 is application of the theory to Individual and Society. Chapter 4 is application of the theory to Economic philosophy that would suit the country. Chapter 5 is Guruji Golwalkar’s idea of how an Integral Man would make an unbreakable part of the society. Chapter 6 is a study on the theory by Thengdi.

The book was edited by P Parameswaran and the final chapter is the most important part of the book where the editor goes into a great detail on applications of the theory. The book itself is now out of print.

Missing Intellectual Output from The Institute

Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute has been doing some fabulous ground work, especially with the Chitrakoot project. However, unfortunately, there has not been much of intellectual activity from the institute. Proposing elaborate theories challenging the established left-liberal narrative, detailing application notes on the policy formulation of the important issues facing India with Integral Humanism as the intellectual bed rock, data interpretation and further strengthening Panditji’s vision for the nation are no more the core concerns of The Institute or its sister organization – Dr Syama Prasada Mookherjee Research Foundation.

After Nanaji passed away in 2010, one wonders if the vision of that great man is still being taken seriously by the associated people. Vested interests have taken over both the institute. More often than not, Dr Syama Prasada Mookerjee Research Foundation’s primary activity is to simply organize programmes as a tribute to Dr Mookherjee.

If one were to pose a question like

“how many research publications were produced by either of the institutes that pose a direct challenge the existing left-liberal narrative which has gripped the country’s policy makers veering them in the direction exactly opposite to what Dr Mookherjee and Panditji warned us about?”

the answer would most probably be a blank face!

We need to reestablish The Integral Approach as the core of the right in India. Applying Integral Humanism in the right way would have meant BJP would have replicated the RSS model in its work culture completely. As I told some friends in a recent conversation, BJP’s greatest failure is not that they lost many General Elections but that they didn’t replicate working model of RSS at least in part.

For those Interested ….

We bring you this book from the past. The book itself needs a reprint with another chapter added detailing application of the theory to the current state of affairs in the country. We do not know if that could happen. We do not know if that would be allowed to happen. We do not know if there is even an iota of interest in the political parties oriented in the direction proposed by Panditji, but we bring this book for the individuals who are interested in the hope like it would attract the attention of somebody in the future. Please download the book from the link below.

The Integral Approach by Deendayal Upadhadhyaya, Guruji, Thengdi.

** It is a bit of a mystery why Panditji called his theory Integral Humanism in English. Not many of his articles really concentrate on “humanist” aspect. On the contrary they concentrate more on “national character” and the role of “individual character” in it.