Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S)
Graphic: The Times of India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Communalism and the R S S
NIA judge: R S S tag is not communal/2018
Srinath Vudali, April 22, 2018: The Times of India
Hours before he made his sensational decision to resign after acquitting five accused in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case, special court judge K Ravinder Reddy dismissed contentions made by National Investigation Agency, especially evidence put forth before him by CBI, which had earlier investigated the case, as “untrustworthy”. Ravinder Reddy, the IV additional metropolitan sessions judgecum-special judge for NIA cases, observed “any person associated with R S S is not communal and not anti-social”.
The judge, while discussing the NIA charge, questioned whether the prosecution proved beyond doubt that Devender Gupta was communal for just being a pracharak of R S S? ``The R S S is not proscribed organisation. If any person works in it, it does not give any scope that he is a communal,’’ the judge said in his 140-page judgement.
NIA judge states R S S tag is not communal
Hours before he made his dramatic decision to resign after acquitting five accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case, special court judge K Ravinder Reddy dismissed contentions made by National Investigation Agency (NIA), particularly evidence by Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) as “untrustworthy”. CBI was probing the case before handing it over to NIA. Ravinder Reddy, the fourth additional metropolitan sessions judge & special judge for NIA cases, observed “anybody associated with R S S doesn’t make him communal or anti-social”.
The judge, while discussing the NIA charge, questioned whether the prosecution proved beyond doubt Devender Gupta was communal for just being a R S S pracharak? “R S S is not proscribed organisation. If any person works for it, it does not give any scope for him to communal and anti-social,” the judge wrote in the 140-page judgment.
In the order, Ravinder Reddy reduced the Mecca Majid blast case to 18 points and discussed each point at length. As far as the conversation between Aseemanand, Maqbool Bin Ali and Shaik Abdul Kaleem at the Chanchalguda Jail, which was the basis of Aseemanand’s statement before a judge in Delhi, the special judge called the “extra judicial confession is false”.
“This court holds the testimony given by Maqbool as untrustworthy and false. Kaleem was also interrogated by CBI officer Raja Balaji in Mecca Masjid blast case in the first round of investigation. And, he was also subjected to narco-anlaysis test... Kaleem is under police surveillance and he obliged to turn witness. At the same time, no documentary evidence is there on record to show that Kaleem was in Chanchalguda jail when Aseemanand was languishing in the same prison. Therefore, this court holds evidence as false,” the order stated.
On the deposition by Aseemanand before a judge in Delhi on December 18, 2010 and later retracting the statement, Judge Ravinder Reddy said, “Confession by Aseemanand in Delhi is hit by Section 26 of Indian Evidence Act. This court holds the confession statement of Aseemanand was not voluntary, which was recorded during the course of police custody.’’ “The statement has also been retracted by Aseemanand four months later. Facts and circumstances of the authority relied on by NIA, wherein the officer who recorded the confessional statement of the accused has assured that he will not hand him over to police and he will be sent back to jail. But the fact and circumstances of the case show that the Delhi judge handed over Aseemanand to CBI officer Raja Balaji. It is admitted fact that Aseemanad was in the police custody on December 18, 2010.”
“The prosecution also failed to prove that accused Lokesh Sharma was the one who purchased the two Nokia 6030 mobile handsets in 2007,” he said in the verdict.
History
Relations with Congress
Seeking to counter questions over former President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to its Nagpur headquarters, R-S-S recalled PM Jawahar Lal Nehru’s invitation to over 3,000 Sangh volunteers to take part in the Republic Day parade in 1963.
“Nehru was impressed with the services of Sangh volunteers at the borders during war with China in 1962. He invited Sangh volunteers to the 1963 Republic Day parade to imbibe the spirit of nationalism,” said Ratan Sharda, author and member of R-S-S’ national media team.
He said several NGOs and other organisations had been invited but most of them did not turn up as they were unhappy with Nehru over the China war debacle. “However, R-S-S took part in the event at a short notice of barely two weeks,” Sharda added.
Criticising those attacking former President Pranab Mukherjee for accepting the Sangh’s invitation to visit its headquarters, Sharda said even former PM Indira Gandhi had unveiled Vivekanand Rock Memorial in 1977 on the invitation of senior R-S-S functionary Eknath Ranade, the architect of the memorial.
Mukherjee will be the chief guest at the valedictory function of the third-year training programme of new R-S-S workers at Sangh headquarters on June 7 and also address the volunteers.
The visit has left a section of Congress perplexed as party chief Rahul Gandhi has been highly critical of the Sangh and its functionaries. Apart from his own association, Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee is a Congress MP and his daughter Sharmistha, a functionary.
R-S-S said Mukherjee is not the first leader to visit its headquarters as several, including Mahatma Gandhi, had participated in the organisation’s events in the past.
Sangh mouthpiece “Organiser”, in its latest edition, said, “Eminent personalities like Sarvodaya leader Prabhakar Rao, Lokmanya Jayaprakash Narayan, Justice KT Thomas and noted scientists like G Madhavan Nair, K Radhakrishnan and K Kasturirangan have attended Sangh programmes.”
Welcoming Mukherjee’s visit, ICCR chairman and senior BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabudhe said this will encourage the trend of shedding prejudices about R-S-S. “It’s a welcome thing that Pranabda is visiting R-S-S HQ and addressing Sangh delegates. It shows his open mindedness and democratic spirit,” he added.
Evolution: 2014- Mar 2021: SCs, STs, politics
Noted social historian Badri Narayan has written extensively on Dalits and saffron politics. In his latest book, Republic of Hindutva, he explains how the R S S is constantly reinventing itself to spread its worldview. Avijit Ghosh talks to him about its role during elections, and how the Opposition can change tack to counter this challenge
You describe R S S as the ‘garbhagriha’ of Hindutva politics. You also say that “the political forces attacking the R S S are in fact attacking its shadow but are unable to understand the real R S S .” What, according to you, is the new R S S ?
Post-90s India was reshaped by liberalisation and globalisation. These produced new forms of social aspirations. The R S S needed to respond to all these complexities and they did. It is changing itself constantly, redefining its meaning and arguments in the context of emerging new social challenges. Their positioning on issues like environment and transgenders etc shows how the organisation has responded effectively to the questions raised by aggressive modernity and rapid globalisation. It is working to appropriate its opposites by selective forgetting, contextual remembrance and reinvention of traditions, memories and histories. Recently R S S chief Mohan Bhagwat explained the need to selectively forget some ideas of Bunch of Thoughts, a collection of speeches of M S Golwalkar, because according to him ideas change when society and time change. But it is also true that on the ground, R S S is struggling to counter the image caused by actions of fringe elements who claim to be representing Hindutva.
R S S has been working to accommodate varied social groups — Dalits and tribals — into the larger Hindutva fold for years. Can you give us some grassroot examples of how the organisation works these days?
R S S works with mostly invisible and the most marginal Dalits, nomadic-semi-nomadic, ex-nomadic and tribal communities in three ways. One, through sewa projects such as establishing schools, hospitals, and reviving traditional water resources to carve out space in the hearts and mind of the marginal communities. Two, by reinterpreting their heroes, histories, icons and other identity resources and making them part of the grand Hindutva identity. Three, by responding to the evolving urge of creating religious space and visibility for marginal communities.
For instance, smaller Dalit communities in Bundelkhand such as kabootaras, kuchbadhiyas, Hari and saperas aspire for a temple of their community deities in their bastis. We observed during our fieldwork how saperas wanted to invite Yogi Aditya Nath to inaugurate a temple of their snake deity. They have the desire but not the capacity to build temples. R S S responds to these desires by helping them build local temples of their deities which become identity markers for them.
Also Sangh forms network with katha mandlis, pravachankars, Ramleelas troupes, all popular among marginal communities in remote areas, to forge linkages with them. Through these popular and religio-folk methods, Sangh evolves a Hindutva cultural common sense among them.
Left-centrist, mainstream Ambedkarite discourses fail to see this new turn of emerging identity aspiration among Dalits and tribals. Ambedkar realised this urge and incorporated it in his schemes of political actions but after sometime even Ambedkarite discourses could not pay attention to such inherent urges of the communities.
How does the R S S look at and relate to B R Ambedkar today?
Interestingly, the Sangh is working to transform the image of Ambedkar from social critic to mahapurush, something like a deity for not only Dalits but for all section of Indians. They recreate Ambedkar’s image in a way, so that no political or social group can use him to create any kind of anti-Hindutva narrative.
Whenever someone mentions Ambedkar’s criticism of caste system, they appreciate this criticism and sometime claim themselves the position of a social reform agency which is working to remove all these evils of Indian society.
R S S claims to be a cultural organisation. Yet it was actively involved in the 2014 and 2019 national polls. What exactly is its role during elections?
Sangh influences the functioning of BJP, directly or indirectly. Some Sangh pracharaks work for BJP in various capacities. At many places, Sangh works as an agency to collect feedback, remove dissatisfaction among BJP cadres which emerges during elections due to various reasons. At many places, it plans booth management and brings voters to the booths.
In 2014, a section of local R S S cadres worked in various parts of Uttar Pradesh to collect people’s responses after a Modi lecture. During 2019, we observed that they persuaded undecided chaiwalas, vegetable vendors, daily wagers to vote for BJP.
Government employees’ participation in R S S activities
Haryana: 1967 ban lifted in 2021
Ajay Sura, Oct 12, 2021: The Times of India
Over five decades after Haryana restricted the state government employees from participating in the activities of the R S S, the Manohar Lal Khattar government on Monday withdrew the diktat that was issued in 1967. The government withdrew the relevant portion of the January 11, 1967, notification which prohibited the staff from taking part in activities of the Sangh and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The order released by the chief secretary’s office said that the prohibition was withdrawn as it is “no longer required”. The 1967 order had said that the government held the activities of the R S S and Jamaat-e-Islami to be of such a nature that participation in them by the government employees would attract action under the service rules.
Monday’s orders were issued in the notification for implementation of the Haryana Civil Services (Government Employees Conduct) Rules, 2016 which bans the participation of employees in politics and elections. As per the new rules, “no government employee shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation, which takes part in politics”.
Ideology
As enunciated at the 2018 Outreach
From: September 21, 2018: The Times of India
R S S chief Mohan Bhagwat’s lecture series in Delhi, a three-day outreach initiative, was intended to restate, and in many ways clarify, the saffron outfit’s vision for India. It wouldn't have been so unusual had it not made headlines for things contrary to what the R S S is seen to be about.
Here are his selected sound bytes from the conclave...
NO HINDUTVA WITHOUT MUSLIMS:
Perception: R S S wants a Hindu Rashtra in which there is no place for Muslims
Bhagwat said: "Hindu Rashtra doesn’t mean there’s no place for Muslims. The day it is said so, it won’t be Hindutva any more. Hindutva talks about Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam"
NOT FOR MUKT, BUT YUKT:
Perception: R S S is anti-Congress, which in turn is one of its biggest critics
Bhagwat said: " Hum log toh sarvlok-yukt Bharat waale log hain, mukt waale nahin hain (We are for all inclusive Bharat, we aren’t about ‘mukt’) ... Under Congress, a big movement started in the country. There were many great personalities who sacrificed their lives and who still inspire us... (Congress) made a big contribution"
NAGPUR DOESN’T RUN GOVERNMENT:
Perception: Modi government is controlled from Nagpur
Bhagwat said: “Often people speculate that a call from Nagpur (R S S headquarters) must be behind a particular decision (of the government). That is baseless. All those working (in the government) are seniors and they are far more experienced in politics than us”.
“They (BJP) neither depend on our advice, nor do we give any. If they need any suggestion... and if we have something to offer, then we give it.”
NOT ALL OF GOLWALKAR’S THOUGHT ETERNALLY VALID:
Perception: R S S endorses former head Guru MS Golwalkar's speeches against Muslims
Bhagwat said: “‘Bunch of Thoughts’ (by MS Golwalkar, second R S S sarsanghchalak) is a collection of speeches made in a particular context and cannot be eternally valid. Sangh is not dogmatic. Times change and, accordingly, our thoughts transform. Dr Hedgewar said we are free to adapt to times as they change.”
RESPECT THE CONSTITUTION:
Perception: R S S ridicules the word 'secularism' in the Constitution
Bhagwat said: “Constitution is the consensus of all Indians and it is the duty of all to follow it... what I have said is in accordance with the Constitution. Sangh works after accepting the primacy of the Constitution and we respect it fully”
Basically... This marks the beginning of a new discourse, says an R S S-aligned academic. Opposition parties say, what the R S S chief said was only a reiteration of its earlier stand. Some say R S S is working in tandem with BJP — the speeches are an attempted image makeover ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that are months away, especially given Bhagwat's comments on issues like reservation, vigilantism, Ayodhya temple etc.
Revising portions of Golwalkar’s thoughts
R S S chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said that the saffron fountain-head has discarded chunks of “Bunch of Thoughts” — a compilation of speeches of its former head Guru M S Golwalkar — which was for long the lodestar for the organisation.
“Bunch of Thoughts jo paristithi vash boli gai, woh shashwat nahi rahti... Sangh band sangathan nahi hai, samay badalta hai, hamari soch badalti hai, badalne ki permission Dr Hedgewar se milti hai (Bunch of Thoughts is a collection of speeches made in a particular context and cannot be eternally valid. Sangh is not dogmatic. Times change and accordingly, our thoughts transform. Dr Hedgewar, R S S founder, said we were free to adapt to times as they change),” said Bhagwat.
He was replying to a question about the conflict between his statement that R S S doesn’t see Muslims as “unwanted” and Golwalkar’s views in “Bunch of Thoughts”, categorising the community along with Christians and Communists as “internal enemies”.
Bhagwat said the Sangh acknowledges as valid only those parts of “Bunch of Thoughts” which remain relevant to the current circumstances and have been put together in an in-house publication, “Guruji: Vision and Mission”.
Bhagwat has spelt out new direction for R S S to follow
Bhagwat’s statement on Golwarkar marks a big public shift in R S S’ stand. Though the Sangh would privately emphasise that “Bunch of Thoughts” was a compilation of speeches made by Golwalkar at different points in time and that the one about “internal enemies” was made in the immediate aftermath of Partition when a communist insurgency raged in Andhra Pradesh, they fought shy, given the continuing reverence for “Guruji”, of repudiating it. “This marks the beginning of a new discourse,” R S S-aligned academic Rakesh Sinha told TOI.
“Bhagwat ji has spelt out the new direction for the organisation to follow,” added Sinha, who was recently nominated to Rajya Sabha. In his concluding remarks at the three-day outreach, “Future of India: R S S perspective”, the R S S chief called upon all communities to come close to the Sangh to understand its working. “You need not believe all that I have said during the last three days but I believe firmly that once you understand the Sangh, you will want to be part of it.”
“We support reservation as the Constitution provides for it. Reservation should stay till those communities which get the benefits of reservation themselves decide they no longer need it. Reservation is meant to correct the inequalities that crept into our society over the last few centuries. It will take time to correct the situation and we must patiently wait for the right time-Reservation is not the problem, it is the politics of reservation that creates problems,” Bhagwat said answering questions on caste-based reservations.
Reservations (affirmative action)
Shyamlal Yadav, Sep 6, 2023: The Indian Express
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat said September 6 that reservations should continue for as long as there is discrimination in society. This statement was a departure from Bhagwat’s earlier position articulated eight years ago, when he had called for a review of the system of quotas.
This is a review of the R S S’s stand on caste-based reservations over the decades.
But first, what did Bhagwat say?
According to a PTI report from Nagpur, Bhagwat underlined the R S S’s support for reservations for the historically disadvantaged sections of Indian society.
“We kept our own fellow human beings behind in the social system. We did not care for them, and it continued for 2,000 years,” he said.
“Until we provide them equality, some special remedies have to be there, and reservations is one of them. Hence, reservations have to continue till there is such discrimination. We at the R S S give all support to the reservations provided in the Constitution,” Bhagwat said.
And how was this different from what he had said earlier?
In September 2015, in an interview given to R S S-linked weeklies Panchjanya and Organiser, Bhagwat had called for a review of reservation by a panel of non-partisan observers.
“…Form a committee of people genuinely concerned about the interest of the whole nation and committed to social equality…,” the Sarsanghchalak said. “They should decide which categories require reservation, and for how long. Like autonomous commissions, this non-political committee should be the implementation authority; political authorities should supervise them for honesty and integrity…”
Bhagwat spoke days before the Assembly elections in Bihar, and was widely seen to have damaged the BJP. While Bhagwat seemed to have realised his mistake quickly, it was to little avail.
On October 22, with two phases of polling over and another three phases to come, he praised Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Sarsanghchalak’s traditional Vijayadashami address, which he ended with the slogan “Hindu-Hindu ek rahein, bhed-bhaav ko nahi sahein (All Hindus must unite, must not tolerate discrimination)”.
But the Mahagathbandhan of Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Lalu Prasad’s RJD, Congress, and some smaller parties nevertheless used his statements to argue that the R S S and BJP were against reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs. The Mahagathbandhan won a two-thirds majority, and Nitish became Chief Minister.
Was this the first time that the R S S had invoked Dr Ambedkar?
While Bhagwat’s praise for Ambedkar was seen as his way to make amends for the time-to-rethink-reservations remark, it was not the first time that the R S S had invoked Babasaheb.
The R S S has held the flag for Hindu unity from the time of its foundation in 1925, but it has always faced criticism for having a leadership dominated by upper castes, and especially Brahmins. Two incidents in particular were seen as a setback to the R S S’s bid to “unite Hindus”.
On Vijayadashami day in 1956, as Sarsanghchalak M S Golwalkar addressed swayamsevaks at Resham Bagh in Nagpur, at Deekshabhoomi in another part of the city, Ambedkar led almost half a million followers to embrace Buddhism.
Twenty-five years later, in 1981, hundreds of lower-caste Hindus in Meenakshipuram in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu converted to Islam to escape caste oppression.
The Meenakshipuram incident shook the R S S, and it began invoking Ambedkar and Dalits more frequently thereafter. It also started organising a series of Hindu Samagams or gatherings; in one such event held in 1982 in Bangalore, thousands of uniformed swayamsewaks declared, “Hindavah sahodarah sarve (All Hindus are brothers).”
And at a function in Maharashtra on April 14, 1983, the R S S observed the birthdays of both its founder K B Hedgewar and Ambedkar — that year, Ambedkar’s birth anniversary by the Roman calendar coincided with Hedgewar’s by the Hindu calendar. To build on this symbolism, the R S S then took out a 45-day Phule-Ambedkar Yatra that covered the whole of Maharashtra.
In 1989, the centenary year of Hedgewar’s birth, when Balasaheb Deoras was Sarsanghchalak and H V Sheshadri was Sarkaryawah, every R S S shakha was asked to run at least one education centre in Dalit localities in its area. Sewa vibhags were then established in the R S S to organise such activities.
The following year, the R S S observed the centenary year of Ambedkar and the Dalit reformer Jyotiba Phule. The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highest decision-making body of the R S S, passed a resolution saying: “These two great leaders dealt deadly blows to the evil practices and conventions prevailing in Hindu society, and… successfully persuaded Hindu society to do away with all the injustices it had perpetrated on its own members.”
And what about the R S S’s stand on caste-based reservations?
Mohan Bhagwat’s 2015 position echoed the R S S’s point of view over the previous three decades. In 1981, it had passed a resolution calling for a committee of non-political people to review the policy of reservation, and stuck to that stand in the subsequent decades.
Significantly, however, both the Jana Sangh and its successor, the BJP, repeatedly demanded quotas for the economically weaker sections, besides stressing on the need for continued caste-based reservation. The quota for the poor came into force in 2019.
In 1981, as an anti-reservation movement raged in Gujarat, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said that merit should not be ignored while ensuring justice for deprived sections. That year, the ABPS passed a resolution calling for “the constitution of a committee of non-partisan social thinkers, which will study in depth all the problems arising out of reservations and suggest positive steps for the uplift of Harijans and Tribals…”
Note that Bhagwat’s statement of 2015 was very similar to this original formulation.
The ABPS resolution also wanted the committee of thinkers to “recommend necessary concessions to the other economically backward sections with a view to ensuring their speedy development”, and “agree(d) with the Prime Minister’s viewpoint that reservation cannot be a permanent arrangement, that these crutches will have to be done away with as soon as possible…”
Four years later, in 1985, the R S S’s Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (ABKM) “reiterate(d) its earlier demand that the central government should, without further delay, come forward to constitute a representative committee of eminent and impartial persons to examine and evaluate in all its aspects and formulate a national consensus on the reservation policy, so that even while the socially neglected and needy sections of society receive the necessary support…”
The same year, the ABKM “alerted” the government and the people against the “…exploitation of poverty and illiteracy of the backward classes and setting them up against the rest of society with the help of foreign funds… (as) a weapon of vote politics…”
Another resolution adopted at the same ABKM said that the “…policy of reservation, designed and accepted as a means to accelerate the pace of development of our backward and neglected brethren and thus strengthen social harmony, (was) being stretched to ludicrous lengths, having been made a tool for partisan gains…”
Growth and expansion
2010-15: 61% growth, Kerala leads list
The Times of India, Aug 16 2015
Anahita Mukherji
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is on a roll: No. of shakhas up 61% in 5 yrs
Kerala, which was never had a BJP govt, leads list
A bunch of lively schoolboys form a circle around an authoritative 12year-old in khaki shorts and a superman T-shirt at a Navi Mumbai maidan on a weekday night. At first glance, they look merely like children at play . But as the boy leading the group conducts a series of activities, from games and exercises to prayers and a session of marching involving bringing one's right hand to one's chest, it gradually becomes evident that this is an Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh shakha in progress -one of 51,335 shakhas held daily across the country this year.
Shakhas are the smallest units of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh.
While the organization is called `extremist' by its critics, its admirers respond to the taunt by calling it `Hindu nationalist'. But even its detractors agree that the RASHTRIYA SWAYAMSEWAK SANGH organizational network is virtually unparalleled.
While there is no formal membership, an analysis of data on the number of shakhas conducted each year over the last five years shows a 29% increase in daily shakhas, 61% increase in weekly shakhas and 40% growth in monthly shakhas across India from 2010-11 to 2014-15.
The trend is similar in cities like Mumbai, which have seen a 34% increase in the number of daily shakhas.Weekly shakhas have grown by over 70%. The largest increase in shakhas across India over the last five years took place between 2013-14 and 2014-15. Kerala has over 4,500 shakhas -the highest in India -despite never having a BJP government. It's tempting to attribute the nationwide in crease in the number of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh shakhas over the past two years to a change in the Central government. BJP is part of the 38 ideological affiliates of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh that form the Sangh Parivar.
However, Pramod Bapat, media coordinator of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh Konkan division, insists Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh growth has nothing to do with a BJP government at the Centre, adding that the organization has flourished under Congress governments for decades.He gives Kerala's example to drive home his point. Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is also strong in West Bengal, another state where BJP's presence is marginal.
A law graduate whom TOI met at a shakha conducted under a flyover says he joined Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh a few months ago via their website because he supported their views on Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code, and not because of the BJP government. In recent years, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh shakha strength has in creased as timings are adjusted to suit various age groups -students, working professionals and retired people. As part of its outreach, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh befriends heads of various communities (for instance, the head of a blacksmith community in an area) and involves them in various social activities, gradually making inroads into the organization.
While senior Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh member Narayan Samant, jailed during the Emergency , says the organization may have grown organically in the past, he believes it will grow a lot more in every sphere of life over the next four years as the government of the day belongs to the same ideology .“We are not against any community . We were not born out of an opposition to anybody. We only want Hindus to unite. If we become strong, opposition to us will reduce. When Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh was formed, Hindus stood divided. Now you will see much greater unity amongst Hindus,“ says Samant.
2015: 35% jump in Bihar membership
The Times of India, Oct 10 2015
35% jump in Bihar Rashtriya Swayamsewak SaNGH membership
The Bihar polls seem to have given a boost to interest in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in the state with a sharp increase of 35% in online applications during July-September, helping sustain interest in the Sangh that saw an estimated 6 lakh persons below the age of 40 join in the 2014 election year.
The Sangh's recruitment has been steadily increasing, with around 5 lakh signing up in 2013, sources said arguing that elections are not necessarily the sole factor for increased interest in the saffron organisation that attracted an average 5,300 online applications monthly in the JanuaryJune period this year. In Bihar, the average on line requests were around 280 amonth in the first six months of 2014, but rose to 353, 423 and 727 in the July-September period. In the same interregnum, the national average rose to 6,083, 6,555 and 8,808 per month respectively . The online applications are a small fraction of the number of persons joining the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh as most do so by simply walking to the nearest shakha.
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh prachar pramukh (head of publicity) Manmohan Vaidya said “The Sangh's appeal among younger persons reflects a growing urge among youth to connect with India's cultural identity and take pride in it. It also shows a desire to serve society.“ Pointing to the online applications from Bihar and an increased presence in shakhas there, Vaidya said “The youth seem to be increasingly fed up with the communal politics of the so-called secular leaders.“
The average per month requests has risen from 1,000 in 2012, 2,500 in 2013 to a high of 7,000 in 2014, when the elec tion and the Modi campaign generated considerable interest in the BJP and the Sangh.
If the numbers of those who join shakhas is taken into account, the Sangh seems to be on a strong footing. Going by the number of new entrants who express a desire to train for Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh work, some 80,000 volunteers in the 13-40 age group participated in training camps in 2013 and the number went up to 1,15,000 in 2014.
Sangh leaders estimate that about one in six new recruits opt for the more rigorous “prathamik shiksha varga“ or seven day camps, pointing to around 6 lakh new entrants to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in 2014 and about 5 lakh in 2013.
2015: Hindu SwayamsevakSangh (HSS) spreads to 39 nations
S S-shakha-spreads-wings-to-39-nations-21122015001072 The Times of India Dec 21 2015
Anahita Mukherji
Mumbai
Growing up on the outskirts of Pune, Girish Bagmar came from a family of Congress supporters. Now based in Boston, Bagmar sends both his sons to shakhas run by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the overseas wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Many of his Indian friends in the US work for HSS and offered to take his children to the shakha. “I've never attended HSS shakhas. I send my children there so they can socialise with other children and learn about Indian culture,“ says Bagmar. The US is one of 39 countries where HSS runs shakhas, says Ramesh Subramaniam, Mumbai coordinator of R S S's overseas work,who also heads Sewa, a platform for overseas Indians to fund R S S service projects. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), the over seas wing of says Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, works closely with other Hindu cultural organisations abroad including the Chinmaya and Ramakrishna missions, says Ramesh Subramaniam, Mumbai coordinator of R S S's overseas work.
“We don't call it Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh overseas. It's not on Indian soil so we can't use the word `Rashtriya'. We call it Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh as it unites Hindus worldwide,“ says Subramaniam, adding that R S S's overseas wing is bigger than its affiliate, Vishwa Hindu Parishad. R S S is the ideological parent of nearly 40 official affiliates including VHP and BJP.
The 39 countries where shakhas are held include five in the Middle East where outdoor shakhas are not permitted and are replaced by gath erings at people's homes.Finland has only an e-shakha where activities are conducted via video-camera over the internet for people from over 20 countries living in areas where HSS units are absent. “The diaspora's longing for a connection with `Indian culture', `history' and `traditions' in a context in which they are a minority that is not represented in the mainstream, provides a ready social basis for the R S S,“ says Subir Sinha, academician at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.
“While Nepal has the large st number of shakhas outside India, US comes second with 146. We are present in every state of the US. We have shakhas in cities like New York, Washington DC, Seattle and Miami,“ says Satish Modh, who has been associated with R S S work abroad for over 25 years. While shakhas in India take place in open maidans, in the US, most shakhas are held in university campuses on hired parking lots, says Modh.
Most overseas shakhas are held once a week. In London, they are held twice a week. The UK has 84 shakhas. “The sangh parivar got a boost in the UK under Blairite `multiculturalism' in which culture was identified with religion and religion with its most hardcore version,“ says Sinha.
The first overseas shakha is believed to have been on a ship. “In 1946, two swayamsevaks, Manekbhai Rugani and Jagdish Chandra Sharda were travelling from Mumbai to Mombasa (Kenya). Neither knew each other. One saw the other performing the right hand `namaskar' and figured he too was from R S S. They held the first shakha together on the ship. The first shakha on foreign soil was in Mombasa,“ says Ramesh Mehta, a senior R S S member whose home in suburban Mumbai has played host to overseas sangh leaders for 30 years. R S S's Kenya wing, earlier called Bharat Swayamsevak Sangh, spread its ideology to neighbouring Tanzania and Uga nda, and later to parts of South Africa and Mauritius.R S S sent Mehta to Zimbabwe and Kenya to set up shakhas. “Many swayamsevaks in African countries had the option of moving to the UK once those countries gained independence. Haribhai Shah, a swayamsevak who moved from Mombasa to Birmingham, began UK's first shakha,“ says Mehta. The sangh celebrates 50 years in UK next year.
2017-18: 250 shakhas added in Bengal
Rohit Khanna, March 26, 2018: The Times of India
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R-S-S) has added more than 250 shakhas across Bengal in the last one year, and it plans to go beyond block levels to ‘reach out’ to people at ‘mandal’ or gram panchayat level.
A senior Sangh functionary explained that the rising number was a result of ‘the increased response from socially and economically backward areas’ of Bengal, which prompted the organisation to ‘spread its network’.
After gaining considerable traction in Hooghly district and Durgapur, the number of shakhas have grown from around 1,100 in 2016 to more than 1,350 in 2017. “Growth is being witnessed in areas where people lack basic facilities like education and health. We are getting response from the people. Based on the response, we are spreading into areas where people have expressed their willingness for seva,” the Sangh functionary said.
He added that localised development models had helped the organisation grow by more than 20 per cent in Bengal in the last one year.
At present, R-S-S operates through 910 shakhas in 650 places in south Bengal and 452 shakhas in 373 places in north Bengal.
The number of weekly activities or milans stands at 1,092 and there are 226 mandali (monthly congregation) across the state.
Leadership
Hosabale may replace Joshi as No.2 in R-S-S
Ramu Bhagwat, March 2, 2018: The Times of India
The highest collective decision making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R-S=S) — Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) — is meeting in the city on March 9-11. There are indications that the current R-S-S Sarkaryavah Bhaiyyaji Joshi will step down and Dattatreya Hosabale will be elected in his place.
It is the ABPS which gives a sort of democratic colour to the otherwise non-transparent and closed nature of the R-S-S. Around 1,500 representatives of various constituents of Sangh Parivar get together for ABPS annually at different venues in the country. But once in three years, ABPS meets in Nagpur — R-S-S headquarters. What makes the Nagpur ABPS crucial is that election for the post of Sarkaravah takes place during the meet.
While Sarshanghachalak is the top post of the R-S-S, its incumbent is seen in the role of a philosopher and guide leading the world’s largest organization wedded to the cause of protecting Hindutva. It is the No.2 or Sarkaryavah who looks after the day-to-day activities and is practically the executive head.
Bhaiyyaji Joshi has been in the post for last nine years. Before that he spent years in Sewa Bharti that does disaster management and providing relief during calamities. He was also the all-India Sewa Pramukh. The current R-S-S chief Mohan Bhagwat also worked as Sarkaryavah for nine years before he was promoted to the post by K S Sudarshan, the outgoing chief, in 2009. Bhagwat-Joshi are credited with gearing up the organization in 2014 for giving a big push that enabled the BJP to come to power at the Centre and form the party’s first majority government with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
In 2015, ABPS at Nagpur, Hosabale’s name had cropped for the general secretary post. But for some reasons it was dropped and Joshi was given third term. Now in early 70s, Joshi’s is grappling with some health problems and wants to step down. Unlike Joshi who worked all along with the R-S-S and graduated from the Shakha level, Hosabale, who has come through the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
Known as politically more pragmatic, there are some in the R-S-S who feel that he is closer to the Modi-Shah duo who rule the country and hence his appointment to the No.2 position would mean further politicization of the R-S-S. But there are others who feel that Hosabale in his 60s, would be the dynamic force and help attracting the youth support. So he could be chosen over the two sarkayavahs — Dr Krishna Gopala and V Bhagaiah, older than him.
A new Sarkaryavah just with general elections a year ahead makes the change more significant as it would re-define the Sangh’s role. Also the R-S-S would under the new general secretary would be in 2025 organizing the centenary of its inception.
…but Joshi re-elected gen secy for 4th term
Putting to rest speculation about a change of guard, Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) on Saturday re-elected Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi, 70, as ‘sarkaryavah’ (general secretary) of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R-S-S) for yet another term of three years. This will be Joshi’s fourth consecutive term as ‘sarkaryavah’.
Joshi was elected unopposed for the post. The highest decision-making body of the Sangh Parivar holds election for the second-in-command of R-S-S triennially at the Nagpur headquarters.
Hosabale new R S S general secretary
Hosabale new R S S general secretary, takes over from ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi
BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Dattatreya Hosabale, widely perceived to be more appreciative of the compulsions of BJP leadership and a pragmatic, was elected Sarkaryavah (general secretary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (R S S) in Bengaluru , the concluding day of the two-day triennial conclave of top R S S functionaries.
He replaced Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi, 73, who opted to retire on health grounds, after being in that post for four terms of three years each.
With his ‘pragmatic’ outlook, Hosabale, 66, popularly known as ‘Dattaji’ in the R S S, is expected to facilitate better co- ordination with the BJP leadership during his tenure which will overlap with the crucial lead up to the 2024 LS polls. He hails from a small village in Shivamogga district of Karnataka and is from a family associated with the Sangh Parivar.
In his maiden comments after taking over as the second senior-most functionary of R S S, Hosabale launched into a strong defence of the contentious ‘love jehad’ laws promulgated by BJP governments in states.
Another key change effected at the meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the highest decision-making body of the Sangh, was the elevation of Arun Kumar and Ramdutt Chakradhar as Sah Karyawah or joint general secretaries. With this, there will be five joint general secretaries. Krishna Gopal, C R Mukunda and Manmohan Vaidya are the other joint general secretaries.
Sunil Ambekar, who not long ago headed BJP’s students’ wing ABVP, will be the new prachar pramukh in place of Arun Kumar. The appointment of Ram Lal as the All India Sampark Pramukh, based in Mumbai, was another important decision.
The Sangh also recalled former BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and included him in the national executive.
A powerful orator, the erudite Hosabale is second from Karnataka, after HV Sheshadri from Bengaluru, to hold this top position, which is second only to chief Mohan Bhagwat. Significantly, BL Santhosh, also from Karnataka, is second in BJP’s hierarchy after national president JP Nadda.
Hosabale is currently based in Lucknow and looks after BJP-R S S coordination. Now, he is being tasked with coordinating over 30 affiliated outfits, including BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.
Joshi was known to maintain a distance from BJP’s day-to-day affairs, but that may change now. “Dattaji has a good working relationship with the BJP leadership, especially PM Narendra Modi as he had played a key role in the last two Lok Sabha polls and also in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017. He shifted his base to Lucknow a year before the polls,” said a senior R S S functionary. He is considered to have a good rapport with home minister Amit Shah too.
Hosabale’s name was proposed by regional sanghchalak Ashok Sohoney of Gujarat and endorsed by five other delegates. His name for the post has been doing the rounds since 2015.
Hosabale’s elevation is seen as part of the Sangh’s expansion plans south of the Vindhyas, ahead of the 2024 general elections and the R S S’s grand celebrations in its centenary year of 2025, according to Sangh insiders.
“Hosabale, one of the joint general secretaries since 2009, will give impetus to R S S growth in states where BJP is aiming to gain a foothold by working closely with Modi and Shah,” said another R S S functionary.
Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the R S S
2016> 19: Muslim and Christian students
ALLAHABAD: The number of Muslim students in the schools run by Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of R S S, has witnessed an increase of approximately 30% in the past three years. About 12,000 Muslim and Christian students are studying in these schools in the state. Moreover, Vidya Bharati has recruited Muslims as teachers also.
Muslim students also recite ‘shlokas’ and ‘bhojan mantras’ and are doing well in studies as well as sports.
Mohd Afsar and Mohd Sahban, students of Jwala Devi Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College, Prayagraj, won gold in hammer throw at recent ‘Khelo India Youth Games’ in Guwahati.
Chintamani Singh, additional secretary, Vidya Bharati (East Uttar Pradesh), said, “As many as 12,000 Muslim and Christian students are studying in our schools in UP. Around 9,037 Muslim and 10 Christian students are pursuing studies in 1,194 schools in east UP. The remaining are in west UP.”
“The urge for good and quality education has been the prime reason for the rise in number of Muslim students in our schools.
In 2016, the number of Muslim students in our schools in east UP, comprising 49 districts, including Awadh, Kanpur, Kashi and Gorakhpur prants, was 6,890, it increased to 9,037 in 2019,” he added.
Singh said around six lakh students are studying in Vidya Bharti schools in UP, with a majority in rural areas.
Muslim kids fared well in their schools
Many Muslim boys and girls studying in Saraswati Shishu Mandir and Saraswati Vidya Mandir have brought laurels to their schools in sports, cultural activities and academics, he said.
Yugul Kishore Mishra, principal of Jwala Devi Saraswati Vidya Mandir, told TOI, “Two students of our school, Mohd Afsar of Class X and Mohd Sahban of Class XI, won gold medals in Khelo India Youth Games in under-17 category recently. Muslim students do well in academics also.”
“With change of time and perception, Muslim families get their children enrolled in our schools because of quality education,” Mishra claimed.
Vijaydashmi speeches
2019
Oct 9, 2019: The Times of India
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S) chief Mohan Bhagwat condemned the growing trend of killings by mobs even as he maintained that the incidents were not “one-sided”. He also objected to the term “lynching” used for mob violence, saying the usage was part of an effort to defame the country and the Hindu community and create fear among the “so-called minority communities”.
“It must be accepted that these tendencies of violence have... crossed the limits of law and order and wreaked havoc by eroding mutual relations in society. Neither this tendency is the tradition of our country, nor does it fit in the spirit of the Constitution,” he said in his Vijaydashmi speech in Nagpur.
“Howsoever deep the differences of opinion be, howsoever provocative action might have taken place, still, we should act by remaining within the limits of the Constitution, handing over such cases to the police and reposing faith in the judicial system,” he said in apparent reference to violence by gau rakshaks.
2023
Oct 25, 2023: The Times of India
Nagpur : R S S chief Mohan Bhagwat launched a scathing attack on “cultural Marxists and woke people”, calling them selfish, discriminatory and deceitful forces who use their influence in the media and academia to undermine the country’s education and culture, disrupt social cohesion and promote conflict, reports Shishir Arya.
In his annual speech on Vijayadashmi, which happens to be the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s foundation day, Bhagwat referred to the coming Lok Sabha polls and said people should choose the “best available option” for guaranteeing stability — something immediately interpreted as a pitch for BJP.
See also
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S)
