View source for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S)

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[[Category:India |R ]]
[[Category:Politics |R ]]

=2010-15: Upward growth=
[[File: R S S knickers.jpg|The R S S decided to change its dress from knickers to trousers, also khaki, with effect from October 2016 <br/> Graphic: The Times of India |frame|500px]] 
[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48498034.cms?_ga=1.142849909.1917077285.1419269575 ''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==
[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=35-jump-in-Bihar-R-S-S-membership-10102015017035 ''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=

[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=R 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 Uganda, 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.
=2016=
==Goa: Resignations on the issue of language==
[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=RS S-office-bearers-in-Goa-quit-en-masse-01092016001050  Murari Shetye,  R S S office-bearers in Goa quit en masse after state chief axed Sep 01 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi)]

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R S S) plunged into a crisis in August with its office-bearers in Goa resigning en masse after the Nagpur-based outfit sacked its Goa unit chief Subhash Velingkar. The unprecedented revolt in the `disciplined' outfit followed another first: Velingkar is the only R S S state chief to be ousted from office. Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), an organisation Velingkar is also part of, had announced late the previous day that it would float a political party to take on BJP in the 2017 Goa polls on the issue of giving primacy to regional languages over English as a medium of instruction in schools.

R S S national prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya told TOI: “One cannot remain an R S S functionary and carry out political activities. As Velingkar has announced he would launch a new political party, R S S relieved him of his responsibilities.“

Hours after he was sacked, the swayamse vaks in Goa started de manding that Veling kar be reinstated. But the Konkan `prant' of R S S, which governs the state unit, refused to budge, triggering the showdown. Senior R S S official Ratna kar Lele said BJP could not dictate terms to R S S as it was the parent body . Another member, Praveen Neswanker, said, “We will now work full time for BBSM and enrol two lakh rakshaks to ensure that BJP is defeated in the 2017 polls“. All vibhag, zilla, taluka and shaka pramukhs in Goa resigned, he said.

Tension was palpable at an emergency meeting of R S S at Bambolim on the outskirts of Panaji, which quickly turned into a no holds-barred attack on the outfit's brass and BJP .Around 250 sevaks from across the state and six representatives of the Konkan prant attended the meeting.All shakhas across the state will be closed from Thursday .

During the meeting held at K B Hedgewar school complex, an institution run by R S S, the sevaks came out strongly in support of Velingkar, saying they had joined R S S because of him.

Velingkar and BBSM have been demanding that government aid in Goa should be provided only to primary schools which have Konkani, Marathi or any other regional language as their medium of instruction.

Velingkar has vehemently opposed the state government's move to give grant to English medium primary schools and even targeted BJP officials from Goa, including Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar, over the issue. He had called Parrikar a `liar' for not adhering to his promise to stop grants to 127 Church-run Englishmedium primary schools.

However, BJP refused to withdraw the grant for fear of losing out on Catholic votes.

Asked about Velingkar supporters' claim that a section of R S S was supporting them in their campaign against BJP, Vaidya clarified: “Sangh's Konkan unit had extended its support to campaign in favour of local languages, which was a social issue and had nothing to do with politics.“ Vaidya stressed that action against Velingkar was not taken because of his anti-BJP stance.

A statement issued by R S S Konkan Prant Sanghachalak Satish Modh said: “R S S feels that all efforts should be made to strengthen the system for primary education in mother tongue in the country . R S S has supported and will continue to support the cause of agitation in Goa by BBSM which is in consonance with the aforesaid opinion of R S S.“

The statement emphasised: “R S S, since its inception, has never been involved in politics, and hence, R S S would have no role in the political endeavour of BBSM.“

BBSM workers had shown black flags to BJP president Amit Shah on his recent Goa visit. This, along with state BJP members' complaint to party brass against Velingkar, is said to have triggered Sangh's action.

(With inputs from Akhilesh Singh in Delhi)