As reported by The Indian Express, it was in 1964 that the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules and All India Services Conduct Rules stated that “no Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics”.

After this, several applications were moved seeking a clarification regarding the status of RSS activities under these rules. Consequently, in 1966, a Ministry of Home Affairs circular said that “certain doubts” have been raised about the policy with respect to the membership of or participation in the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants. “It is clarified that (the) Government (has) always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such nature that participation in them by Government servants would attract the provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5″ of the conduct rules, and that such officials would be “liable to disciplinary action”.

So what incident was Malviya talking about?

On November 7, 1966, an estimated crowd of around 1 lakh protesters marched towards Parliament, led by Naga Sadhus brandishing spears and trishuls demanding a countrywide ban on cow slaughter. The agitation was backed by the BJP’s forebear, the Jana Sangh, The police fired to disperse them, leading to the death of seven protesters and leaving hundreds injured.

Many Congress leaders’ houses were broken into and vehicles were set ablaze during the protest, which was seen as the crescendo of the demand which first originated in 1965. In his article ‘History in Flux: Indira Gandhi and the ‘Great All-Party Campaign’ for the Protection of the Cow, 1966–8’, historian Ian Copland wrote: “A good case for the 1960s as a turning point can be made on the basis that it was the decade when the Hindu Right first made its mark in India as a political force.”

What had happened leading up to the November 1966 protests?

Following the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, a group comprising business magnate Seth Dalmia, Murli Chandra Sharma of the Jana Sangh and M S Golwalkar of the RSS took up the cause of cow protection. They later added on other Hindu groups like the Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad, VHP and Hindu Mahasabha.

In 1965, the group called for a meeting which was attended by three of the four Shankaracharyas. Swami Karpatri of the Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad was chosen as the leader of the group. A call was taken at this meeting to hold protests in Parliament.

What was the aftermath of the Parliament protests?

Two weeks later, some prominent seers joined a large-scale hunger strike seeking a ban on cow slaughter. The Shankaracharya of Puri announced a fast until death unless cow slaughter was banned across the country even as then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi refused to “cow down to the cow savers”.

As two people died and the Shankaracharya’s health started to fail, a faction of the protesters led by Karpatri broke away and decided to contest the 1967 Lok Sabha elections.

How did Indira Gandhi react to the issue?

The PM constituted a joint parliamentary committee comprising animal husbandry experts and leaders from across the political spectrum. The panel was mandated to examine the “feasibility” of a “total ban on the slaughter of the cow and its progeny” and give recommendations within six months. However, the committee never submitted a report to the government.

What happened in the 1967 elections?

The Congress fell to 283 seats, its lowest tally till then. With 44 seats, C Rajagopalachari’s Swatantra Party emerged as the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha.

The Jana Sangh, which had won 14 seats in 1962, rose to 35 seats.