The BJP's forced reversal comes after its near complete isolation not only from the opposition but also from its many allies. The only ally that publicly supported the BJP on this score is the former `socialist' George Fernandes's Samata Party. The concerted opposition in both the Houses of the Parliament and the BJP's refusal to agree to a discussion with voting on the subject had paralysed the Parliament. Clearly, the secular opposition has forced the communal forces to retract from giving a clean chit to the RSS and, thus, legitimise its activities.

The overwhelming opinion, both inside the Parliament and amongst the people, is that the RSS is a communal organisation that spreads intense hatred against the minorities in pursuit of its political project of establishing a rabidly intolerant `Hindu Rashtra' in India. In order to achieve this objective, the RSS utilises all its frontal organisations to penetrate the administrative apparatus in the country, to subvert the republican character of the Indian State, to communalise the education system and distort history to suit its communal project.

This retraction of the BJP on the RSS issue shows that the united strength of the secular forces is capable of not only withstanding the communal onslaught and protecting the secular democratic character of India but more importantly this united strength is capable of rolling back the communal offensive.

It, however, needs to be underlined that the communal forces are relentless in their pursuit. This can be seen in many areas: the attempt to subvert the Indian Constitution; the attempt to rewrite history by manipulating the Indian Council for Historical Research; the attempt to inflame communal passions by `policing' culture etc.