The rule of law, public trust in institutions and leaders, and the capacity to enforce accountability are all fruits of the trees planted during the freedom struggle. It is politically obvious that all political parties need some moral claim to have contributed to cultivation of these values in the Indian polity. Even many regional parties adopt icons from the Freedom Struggle to claim their legitimacy unless they themselves are resultants of some churn in the 80s or 90s. Examples include DMK adopting Periyar, or the Lohiaite socialist parties of North India. After all, fundamentalist and exclusivist religious nationalism cannot be the source of legitimacy forever.

And, it is also natural that the Congress, and even the Communists, do not have a need to constantly reiterate their contributions; these are etched into collective memory, passed down through generations from Telangana to Jammu and Kashmir, and from Assam to Maharashtra. This, however, is not the case with the Sangh Parivar. For this reason, the political power amassed by the BJP has been repeatedly deployed to weave itself into history. This article examines, with meticulous sincerity, not judgment, the nature and extent of the RSS’s contribution to the freedom struggle.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)—founded in 1925—presents a particularly complex and paradoxical case. Its existence spanned the zenith of Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha campaigns, the agonising political negotiations for self-rule, and the brutal culmination of Partition. Tracking the role of the RSS in the first quarter-century of its formation (1925 to 1950) reveals an organisation that was preoccupied not with overthrowing the colonial power, but with unifying the Hindu populace through quasi-military training and ideological purification, often drawing direct inspiration from Europe’s most destructive authoritarian movements.[1] This examination, drawing on existing extensive scholarship often overlooked by those who seek to whitewash the history of Hindu nationalism, finds the RSS’s contribution to the core anti-colonial struggle to be negligible, if not actively counterproductive, substituting nationalist action for communal consolidation and ideological emulation of colonial systems, albeit unknowingly.[2]

As one of the most important constituents of the current Indian ruling establishment, if not the most important, celebrates 100 years of its existence and now looks to have international influence via lobbying, it is important to examine whether it indeed was what it claims to have been.

I. The Foundation: 1925–1940

The RSS was established on the day of Vijayadashami (Dussehra) in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a Telugu Brahmin doctor from Nagpur.[3] Hedgewar’s belief was that the fragmentation and deep social divisions among Hindus were the primary reasons for what he deemed a thousand years of foreign subjugation of the subcontinent.[4] The antidote he envisioned was a rigorous system of training focused on ‘character-building’ (chaaritya nirman), aimed at forging a disciplined cadre of men who would unify the highly pluralistic country and serve as a model for other Indians.[5]

The RSS’s foundational ideology was inextricably linked to the Hindu Mahasabha, sharing the core philosophy of Hindutva as propounded by V.D. Savarkar.[6] Savarkar, whose literary flourish and often ‘merciless and blunt’ prose provided ideological groundwork, defined the nation not by pluralistic geography but by religious and cultural unity, articulating a vision of Hindu Rashtra.[7] Indeed, the close symbiotic relationship between the Mahasabha and the RSS led the colonial government itself to view the Sangh as almost the youth wing of the Mahasabha in its early decades.[8] The Hindu Mahasabha formally commended the activities of the RSS in 1932.[9]

Hedgewar, despite having been involved in the revolutionary movement during his student days in Calcutta and having participated in the Congress movement in 1921, came to reject mainstream politics. As his views progressed, Hegdewar’s hypothesis about the reasons for subjugation of Indian subcontinent region (this in his mind was Hindu society) by Islamic invasions and British colonialism also took shape.[10]

He felt that in the disintegrated state of the country, only a Hindu organisation based on brotherhood and patriotism could secure independence.[11] The RSS focused heavily on establishing daily mandatory assemblies called shakhas, which involved physical exercise, military drills, and weapons training using the lathi (wooden staff).[12]

Critically, writer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay notes that Hedgewar’s strategy explicitly demanded organisational distance from the core political struggle led by the Indian National Congress. When the Civil Disobedience Movement was launched in 1930, Hedgewar reluctantly participated in a satyagraha in his individual capacity for nine months. However, he intentionally kept the organisation and its members away from the movement. He worried that the RSS’s organisational work would suffer. The prohibition on direct political involvement was a strong message to members desiring action, as the RSS sought to attain the ideal of Hindu Rashtra through man-making and training, believing this goal required no ‘external stimuli’ such as agitations, which were categorized as morally corrupting or rajasik (valorous agitation).[13]

The Shadow of European Fascism: An Analogy

Compounding the RSS’s distance from the anti-colonial movement was its startling admiration for European fascism and Nazism. B.S. Moonje, Hedgewar’s political mentor, was particularly enamoured by these movements. After meeting Benito Mussolini in Italy in 1931, Moonje lauded the fascist youth group, the Opera Nazionale Balilla, for its contribution to Italy’s “military regeneration”.[14] He declared India needed such an institution for the “military regeneration of the Hindus” and believed the realisation of organising Hindus could only occur if India had “a Hindu as a Dictator like…Shivaji of Old or Mussolini or Hitler”.[15] British intelligence reports, assessing the RSS as early as 1933, warned that the Sangh hoped to be to future India what the “Fascist” were to Italy and the “Nazi” to Germany.[16]

The RSS mirrored this emphasis on racial exclusivity in its internal doctrine. M.S. Golwalkar, writing later, expressed admiration for Nazi Germany’s racial policies, specifically the purging of Jews to maintain “racial and cultural purity”.  Academic Shamshul Islam notes that Savarkar even suggested that Indian Muslims might have to “play the part of German Jews”.[17]  The RSS doctrine asserted that Hindus were the rightful inhabitants and that non-Hindus, categorized as invaders or guests, must fully assimilate or be forced to “live at its mercy”.[18] This emphasis on creating a unified ‘national race’ and preparing cadres through rigorous training, divorced from the anti-colonial movement, positioned the RSS against internal pluralism.

Ironically, this ideological leaning toward a militaristic, exclusionary nationalism aligns functionally with the founding principles of the Zionist project in Palestine. The Zionist project prioritised establishing “Strict communal and Jewish-centred colonies”, perceiving the indigenous Palestinians as an obstacle to national goals. The core Zionist strategy was converting settlement into the main thrust of nationalism, involving demographic control and the extraction of land and jobs.[19]

II. The Era of Acquiescence: 1940–1947

The second phase began with the ascension of Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar as Sarsanghchalak in 1940. Golwalkar, who had demonstrated an inclination towards spiritual pursuits, placed the highest priority on the continuity of the shakha system and its character-building mission.[20] He was reluctant to engage in direct political action, fearing it would derail the primary task of building the Hindu Rashtra through man-making.[21]

This political aloofness defined the RSS during the Quit India Movement of 1942, the most powerful mass uprising against the British Raj. While many youth were mobilized into the RSS during World War II, the organisation maintained strict neutrality from the movement itself.[22]

The strategic non-participation was openly acknowledged by the British government. A Bombay Home Department report stated that the Sangh had “scrupulously kept itself within the law, and in particular, has refrained from taking part in the disturbances that broke out in August, 1942”.[23] Consequently, the Home Department concluded that the RSS did not represent an “immediate menace to law and order”.[24] This passive collaboration, or active non-opposition, enabled the RSS to focus entirely on its communal project while the Congress bore the full weight of British repression.[25]

During this period, Golwalkar codified the RSS’s exclusionary vision in Bunch of Thoughts. The extensive focus on ‘character-building’ within this work reaffirmed the ideological commitment to identity politics, analysing the forces that united Hindus and separated them from other communities. Golwalkar’s teachings defined nationalism narrowly, rejecting the individualistic principles of democracy and tracing the foundations of modern democracy solely to self-interest and materialism, which he labelled a rakshasi paddhati (demonic system).[26]

The militaristic aspect of the RSS’s character-building served its divisive mission in the run-up to Independence. Between 1942 and 1948, some RSS members in Sindh, for example, received training in handling bombs and hand grenades.[27] This training was primarily organized to address the perceived internal enemy, the Muslim community.[28]

The ideological framework of the RSS during this time strongly embraced the concept of a pure racial nation, justifying the organization’s militant focus.[29] The organisational template used centralized, hierarchical authority, mirroring the disciplinary and militaristic approach necessary for the physical control and consolidation.[30]

III. Partition, Assassination, and Suppression: 1947–1950

The Partition of British India in 1947 fundamentally undermined the RSS’s central goal of a unified territory (Akhand Bharat).[31] Despite this failure, energies were actively channelled  into the resultant communal violence, with some members even participating in the partition violence.[32] Renowned Constitutional Law Scholar and Lawyer AG Noorani notes that even Jawaharlal Nehru wrote letters to both Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Govind Ballabh Pant about the violent activities of RSS and the need to curb such actions, even as Partition violence was being perpetuated.[33]

The RSS’s rhetoric and actions stood in direct opposition to the path of pluralism championed by Gandhi, who described the RSS as a “communal body with a totalitarian outlook”.[34]

The inevitable crisis arrived on January 30, 1948, with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The killer, Nathuram Godse, had been an RSS member, though he claimed to have left the organisation in 1938.[35] Godse and his co-conspirator, Narayan Apte, ran the virulent communal magazine Agrani (later Hindu Rashtra), which fiercely criticised Gandhi and Nehru for allegedly neglecting Hindu interests.[36] Godse was intrinsically a part of the RSS’s “extended family” at the time of the murder.[37]

A police report cited a meeting attended by Golwalkar in December 1947 where the discussion included proposals to ‘assassinate the leading persons of the Congress in order to terrorise the public.[38]

On February 4, 1948, the Government of India declared the RSS an “unlawful association”.[39] The ban was prompted by the widespread “suspicion of RSS involvement in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi” and the alleged creation of an environment conducive to “anti-Muslim violence.” Golwalkar was detained on February 3, 1948.[40] Jawaharlal Nehru explicitly criticised the RSS’s “real objectives” as being contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and characterized its activities as “anti-national and often subversive and violent.”[41]

Paradoxically, the RSS responded to the ban by resorting to its first mass agitation, using the Gandhian principle of non-violent resistance (satyagraha) that it had previously shunned as mere politics.[42] The organisation fought for legitimacy, eventually entering into rigorous negotiations with the government.

The ban was lifted on July 11, 1949, contingent upon the RSS adopting a constitution.[43] The RSS pledged in its draft constitution that the organisation would remain “aloof from politics and is devoted to social and cultural fields only”.[44] The government also demanded that the organisation declare allegiance to the national flag and commit to scrutiny of its accounts.[45] Despite these formal concessions for institutional survival, Golwalkar later assured his followers that the organization had “given up nothing” of its core principles, characterizing the required clarification as a mere governmental imposition.[46] The conclusion of this period saw the RSS severely tarnished but ideologically intact, prepared to continue its project of Hindu Rashtra from within the framework of the new Indian state.

The RSS spearheaded exclusivity through its doctrine of Hindutva. Golwalkar’s insistence that non-Hindus, including Muslims and Christians, were “foreigners” who must assimilate or reside at the mercy of the “national race”,[47] finds a direct counterpart in extremist imperative to manage and control the presence of the local ‘other’. Golwalkar’s explicit praise for Nazi Germany’s efforts to maintain racial purity provided a chilling template for dealing with internal minorities.[48]

Moonje’s vision of a Hindu dictator and his emulation of fascist military youth camps defined the RSS’s organizational goal as military regeneration and defence against the “aggressiveness” of non-Hindus. This training was vital for executing communal violence during Partition.[49]

Ironically again, post-1967, the RSS openly celebrated Israel’s “aggressive Zionist militarism” as a symbol of Hindu resurgence, confirming the organisation’s ideological alignment with exclusionary, militant ethnic nationalism as a valid path to realizing “historical destiny”.[50]

The RSS utilised the concept of historical reclamation, asserting that Hindus were the original inhabitants of a territory and that others were invaders, providing the rationale for their subjugation.[51] This ideological framework, rooted in exclusionary and racialist models of nation-building, clearly positions the RSS’s function in its first 25 years as parallel not to a unified anti-colonial front, but to a determined project preparing for ethnic hegemony in the post-imperial era.

Conclusion

RSS’ contribution to the freedom movement, therefore, was negligible. That is said multiple times. What also becomes clear from the above discussion is that the current brute force religious nationalism it espouses or effectuates has seeds in how it saw itself as the harbinger of Hindu nationalism that also spoke with a positive attitude about the then fascist ideologies. However, the most important takeaway from the above discussion is that the if the origins of RSS have any effect on the RSS today (which they obviously do but since we are doing this analysis in a sincere and non-judgmental paradigm), and therefore on the country today—such effects are not positive or inclusive but are exclusionary, virulently communal and dangerous to the idea of India—a secular, diverse and vibrant people’s democracy. If the origins do not have any effect on the RSS, then it does not make sense for the high constitutional and political functionaries of India to “yap” about RSS as if it is an organisation worth its salt.

(The author is part of the legal research team of the organisation)

[1] Pieter Friedrich, Saffron Fascists: India’s Hindu Nationalist Rulers (2020) 49

[2] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 49

[3] Walter Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, Messengers of Hindu Nationalism: How the RSS Reshaped India (C Hurst & Co (Publishers) Ltd, 2019) 14; Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right (Westland Publications Private Limited, 2019) 11.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] M.S. Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts (Vikram Prakashan 1966) 85.

[7] Vikram Sampath, Savarkar Echoes from a Forgotten Past, 1883–1924 (Penguin 2019) 482;

[8] Vikram Sampath, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966 (Penguin 2020) 390

[9] Pralay Kanungo, RSSs Tryst with Politics 47

[10] Pralay Kanungo, RSSs Tryst with Politics 43.

[11] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 216

[12] Walter K Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, Messengers of Hindu Nationalism: How the RSS Reshaped India (Routledge 2019) 91; Pralay Kanungo, RSSs Tryst with Politics 89

[13] Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right 295; Pralay Kanungo, RSSs Tryst with Politics 41

[14] Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right 44

[15] Ibid

[16] Ibid

[17] Shamsul Islam, RSS, School Texts and the Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: The Hindu Communal Project (Sage Publications 2008) 87

[18] Devanura Mahadeva, RSS: The Long and Short of It (2022) 24

[19] lan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples (2nd edn, Cambridge University Press 2006) 54, 41.

[20] Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right 110

[21] Ibid

[22] Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right 109

[23] Walter Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, Messengers of Hindu Nationalism 51

[24] Pralay Kanungo, RSSs Tryst with Politics 84

[25] Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, The RSS Icons of the Indian Right 110

[26] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 24

[27] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 163

[28] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 58, 130

[29] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 26

[30] AG Noorani, The RSS: A Menace to India (LeftWord Books 2019) 101

[31] Walter Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, Messengers of Hindu Nationalism 8.

[32] AG Noorani, The RSS: A Menace to India (LeftWord Books 2019) 146

[33] AG Noorani, RSS:Menace to India 128

[34] Partha Banerjee, In the Belly of the Beast: The Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India (Ajanta 1998) 162

[35] Dhirendra K Jha, ‘Historical Records Expose the Lie That Nathuram Godse Left the RSS’ (Caravanmagazine.in2020) <https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/historical-record-expose-lie-godse-left-rss> accessed 8 December 2025.

[36] Vikram Sampath, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy 468

[37] Devanura Mahadeva, RSS: The Long and Short of It (2022) 46

[38] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 121

[39] Walter K Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, The RSS: A View to the Inside (Penguin Viking 2018) 6

[40] Hartosh Singh Bal, ‘How MS Golwalkar and Vallabhbhai Patel Ensured the RSS’s Survival after Gandhi’s Assassination’ (Caravanmagazine.in30 January 2019) <https://caravanmagazine.in/extract/gandhi-assassination-rss-vallabhbhai-golwalkar> accessed 8 December 2025.

[41] Noorani, RSS:A Menace to India, 9.

[42] Ibid 215

[43] Noorani (n 31) 146

[44] Jyotirmaya Sharma, Terrifying Vision 196; Walter K Andersen and Shridhar D Damle, RSS A View to the Inside 196

[45] A G Noorani, The RSS A Menace to India 560.

[46] Ibid 582

[47] Devanura Mahadeva. RSS: The Long and Short of It, 26

[48] M S Golwalkar, We or Our Nationhood Defined (Bharat Publications 1939) 87

[49] Noorani, RSS: A Menace to India, 108

[50]Sumantra Bose, ‘Why India’s Hindu Nationalists Worship Israel’s Nation-State Model’ <https://theconversation.com/why-indias-hindu-nationalists-worship-israels-nation-state-model-111450> accessed 14 December 2025; The Wire ‘Israeli Diplomats Forged Deep Ties with Hindu Right Wing from Early ’60s, Documents Reveal – the Wire’ (The Wire10 March 2024) <https://thewire.in/diplomacy/israeli-diplomats-forged-deep-ties-with-hindu-right-wing-from-early-60s-documents-reveal> accessed 15 December 2025.

[51] Vikram Sampath, Savarkar Echoes from a Forgotten Past 472

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RSS: The Flag, the Funds and The Missing Transparency

November 26: How RSS mourned the passage of India’s Constitution by the Constituent Assembly

The post Religious Nationalism Minus Anti-Colonialism: The RSS Between 1925 and 1950 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The RSS is not registered under the Societies Act or the Trust Act. It has no PAN, files no income-tax returns, has no obligation to disclose donors, and is not accountable to RTI or FCRA. In purely legal terms, the most influential organisation in India is an organisation that, on paper, does not formally exist.

Its funding comes through “Guru Dakshina”—donations from members ranging from a few rupees to several lakhs, symbolically offered to the saffron flag rather than to a registered entity. This model allows the RSS to collect crores every year without the scrutiny applied to even the smallest NGO.

And that is the stark contrast:

• A charity feeding orphans faces compliance audits.
• A student group receives notices for minor reporting lapses.
• Even a roadside shopkeeper must justify every rupee of income.

But the ideological mother organisation of the ruling party remains exempt from the transparency required of ordinary citizens.

This raises a fundamental democratic question:

Should a body that influences national policy, political appointments, and cultural direction be allowed to operate with zero statutory oversight?

The RSS’s network—stretching through political, educational, labour, media, and cultural wings—makes it far more than a “cultural organisation.” It is a parallel power centre whose decisions shape public life, yet cannot be questioned through democratic channels. It holds influence without legal responsibility, authority without accountability.

The issue is not the lavishness of Keshav Kunj, but what it represents: a governance anomaly where an institution with enormous political reach functions beyond the mechanisms that safeguard transparency in a democracy.

If NGOs, activists, journalists, and citizens are routinely scrutinised, raided, or labelled “anti-national” over compliance issues, what then do we call an organisation that collects vast funds in the shadows and shapes the ideological spine of the state without placing a single financial document on public record?

Democracies do not weaken because people ask questions. They weaken when power becomes invisible, and when institutions that influence the nation most refuse to follow the rules applied to everyone else.

Keshav Kunj is not merely a building. It is a reminder of a deeper shift—away from democratic accountability and toward a political ecosystem where some institutions answer to no one.

And in today’s India, the reality is uncomfortably clear: The country is controlled by the BJP, and the BJP is controlled by the RSS—and that should concern every believer in constitutional democracy.

Courtesy: The AIDEM

The post RSS: The Flag, the Funds and The Missing Transparency appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute   India into a      SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all;

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this 26th day of November 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.”

RSS demanded Manu Smruti as the Constitution

The two underlined ideals merely formally added in 1977, ‘Socialist and Secular’, only strengthened the resolve of the Constitution of India would apply to a non-sectarian polity with only the people of India, all of its people, sovereign. How many Indians however know that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) that has today affected a stranglehold on Indian politics and democracy, through its political appendage, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had, at the time, mourned the birth (coming into effect) of the Indian Constitution? Outraged when the Indian Constituent Assembly (CA) adopted a democratic- Secular Constitution under the supervision of Dr. BR Ambedkar, their organs protested.

We know that when the Constituent Assembly of India passed the Constitution on November 26, 1949, the RSS organ Organizer came out with an editorial on November 30, 1949 titled ‘Constitution’ declaring its firm rejection of Constitutional Values:

“The worst about the new Constitution of Bharat is that there is nothing Bhartiya about it…There is no trace of ancient Bhartiya constitutional laws, institutions, nomenclatures and phraseology in it…Manu’s Laws were written long before Lycurgus of Sparta or Solon of Persia. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing.”

How fundamentally, the RSS denigrates the Constitution of India can be gleaned through the following statement of the most prominent ideologue of the RSS, Golwalkar:

“Our Constitution too is just a cumbersome and heterogeneous piecing together of various articles from various Constitutions of the Western countries. It has absolutely nothing which can be called our own. Is there a single word of reference in its guiding principles as to what our national mission is and what our keynote in life is? No!”

[MS Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1996, p. 238.]

By demanding Manusmriti as “constitution of India”, RSS, in fact was following the belief of its darling Hindutva icon, VD Savarkar who had declared long back:

“Manusmriti is that scripture which is most worship-able after Vedas for our Hindu Nation and which from ancient times has become the basis of our culture-customs, thought and practice. This book for centuries has codified the spiritual and divine march of our nation. Even today the rules which are followed by crores of Hindus in their lives and practice are based on Manusmriti. Today Manusmriti is Hindu Law”.

[VD Savarkar, ‘Women in Manusmriti‘ in Savarkar Samagar (collection of Savarkar’s writings in Hindi), vol. 4, Prabhat, Delhi, p. 416.]

The faith of RSS brass in Manusmriti, naturally, leads them to believe in Casteism too which gave birth to the debased practice of Untouchability. For RSS Casteism is the essence of Hindu Nationalism. Golwalkar did not mince words in declaring that Casteism was synonymous with the Hindu Nation. According to him, the Hindu people are no one but,

“The Hindu People, they said, is the Virat Purusha, the Almighty manifesting Himself. Though they did not use the word „Hindu‟, it is clear from the following description of the Almighty in Purusha-Sukta [in the 10th book of Rig Ved] wherein it is stated that the sun & the moon are His eyes, the stars and the skies are created from his nabhi [navel] and Brahmin is the head, Kshatriya the hands, Vaishya the thighs and Shudra the feet. [Italics as in the original text] This means that the people who have this fourfold arrangement, i.e., the Hindu People, is [sic] our God. This supreme vision of Godhead is the very core of our concept of „nation‟ and has permeated our thinking and given rise to various unique concepts of our cultural heritage.”

[Golwalkar, M. S., Bunch of Thoughts, collection of writings/speeches of Golwalkar published by RSS, p.36-37.]

What kind of a Hindutva civilization the RSS wants to build by enforcing the laws of Manu, can be known by having a glimpse of the laws prescribed by Manu for the lower castes, Untouchables and women. Some of these dehumanizing and degenerated laws, which are presented here, are self-explanatory.

A selection of Laws of Manu denigrating Dalits/Untouchables

1. For the sake of the prosperity of the worlds (the divine one) caused the Brahmana, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra to proceed from his mouth, his arm, his thighs and his feet. (I/31)
2. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the Sudras, to serve meekly even these (other) three castes. (I/91)
3. Once-born man (a Sudra), who insults a twice-born man with gross invective, shall have his tongue cut out; for he is of ‘low origin’. (VIII/270)
4. If he mentions the names and castes (jati) of the (twice-born) with contumely, an iron nail, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth. (VIII/271)
5. If he arrogantly teaches Brahmanas their duty, the king shall cause hot oil to be poured into his mouth and into his ears. (VIII/272)
6. He who raises his hand or a stick, shall have his hand cut off; he who in anger kicks with his foot, shall have his foot cut off. (VIII/280)
7. A ‘low-caste’ man who tries to place himself on the same seat with a man of a high caste, shall be branded on his hip and be banished, or (the king) shall cause his buttock to be gashed. (VIII/281)

As per the Manu Code if Sudras are to be given most stringent punishments for even petty violations/actions, the same Code of Manu is very lenient towards Brahmins. Shloka 380 in Chapter VIII bestowing profound love on Brahmins decrees:

“Let him never slay a Brahmana, though he has committed all (possible) crimes; let him banish such an (offender), leaving all his property (to him) and (his body) unhurt.”

A selection of Laws of Manu demeaning Hindu women

1. Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one’s control. (IX/2)
2. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence. (IX/3)
3. Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), (It is enough that) he is a man, ‟ they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly. (IX/14)
4. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this (world). (IX/15)
5. (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct. (IX/17)

[The above selection of Manu’s Codes is from F. Max Muller, Laws of Manu, LP Publications, Delhi, 1996; first published in 1886. The bracket after each code incorporates number of chapter/number of code according to the above edition.]

The reproduced parts of the Manu Code above need no further elaboration and commentary. They are too glaringly venomous, fascist and derogatory of marginalized sections, the Untouchables who are referred to as Sudras by Manu. Perhaps this was the reason that the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche who contributed immensely to the growth of totalitarian ideas in Europe in the 20th century, fell in love with this work.

It is to be noted here that a copy of Manusmriti was burnt as a protest in the presence of Dr. BR Ambedkar during the historic Mahad agitation on December 25, 1927. Dr Ambedkar called upon Dalits to commemorate each December 25 as the Manusmriti Dehen Diwas (Manusmriti burning day) in future. In fact, Brahmanism as basis of the RSS world-view is the original Fascism in the history of human civilization.

[https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/manusmriti-dahan-divas-protest-staged-at-collectorate/article30396588.ece]

RSS’ deep hatred for democracy

It is true that when RSS faced the wrath of the Indian State when Sardar Patel was the home minister of India it criticised the detention laws without trial. In an editorial in Organizer it wrote:

“Section 21 and 22 providing for detention without trial reduce all the wordy assurances about liberty, equality and fraternity to just near meaningless verbiage.”[Organizer, November 30, 1949]

But once in power the RSS-BJP rulers led by the present leadership have returned to Hindutva’s Fascist and Nazi heritage. They have converted Indian democratic-secular polity into a totalitarian Hindutva oligarchy where any kind of dissent is treated as anti-national and anti-Hindu. It is the continuation of hatred for democracy as decreed by Golwalkar as early as 1940. Golwalkar while addressing the 1350 top level cadres of the RSS declared:

“RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology are lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land.”

[Golwalkar, M.S., Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, nd., volume 1, p. 11.]

November 26, 2025

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

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On the 50th anniversary of India’s formal ‘Emergency’, how the RSS betrayed the anti-emergency struggle

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The article also notes the RSS’s controversial history, including its association with communal violence—such as the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by a former RSS member and the 1990s demolition of a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, which sparked significant backlash.

The post 100 yrs of RSS as seen by global media house: Power, controversy, push for Hindu-first India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“The lesson had been burned into public memory. The Emergency became more than a chapter in history. It became a warning. For Narendra Modi, it was not just a past event. It was part of his personal journey. As Prime Minister, he has often reminded the nation of those dark times…It was about imprisoning free thought, art, and expression. That period left behind not just scars, but reminders. It taught us that freedom is earned, not gifted.” [i]

Let us take first, examine the claim that the RSS-BJP rulers are/have been committed to the liberal democratic values as a faith. The most prominent ideologue of the RSS, MS Golwalkar, also known as the ‘Guru of Hate’ [whom PM Modi credits for grooming him into a political leader] while addressing the 1350 top level cadres of the RSS in 1940 declared, “RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land.” [ii]

With such a philosophical love for totalitarianism the RSS has, always hated sharing of power. Proponents of the Sangh have stood in strong opposition to the federal structure of the constitution, a ‘Basic’ feature of the India polity. Golwalkar declared in 1961, “Today’s federal form of government not only gives birth but also nourishes the feelings of separatism… It must be completely uprooted, constitution purified, and unitary form of government be established.” [iii]

So far as the formally declared Emergency is concerned, the RSS claim of fighting against it needs to be evaluated in the light of contemporary narratives including documents from RSS archives. In this connection, two narratives one by a veteran thinker and journalist of India, Prabhash Joshi and the other by TV Rajeswar, former Intelligence Bureau [IB] chief who was the deputy chief of IB during the Emergency are of immense importance. They recounted the days of the Emergency (or state terrorism) when the RSS ‘surrendered to the repressive regime of Indira Gandhi’, ‘assured her and her son, Sanjay Gandhi to enforce faithfully the draconian 20-point programme announced by the Emergency regime.’ In fact, a large number of RSS cadres got themselves released from jails after mercy petitions (maafinaamas).

The account by veteran journalist, Prabhash Joshi appeared in the English weekly Tehelka n the 25th anniversary of the Emergency. [iv] According to him even during the Emergency “there was always a lurking sense of suspicion, a distance, and a discreet lack of trust” about RSS’ joining the anti-Emergency struggle. He went on to say that,

“Balasaheb Deoras, then RSS chief, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi pledging to help implement the notorious 20-point programme of Sanjay Gandhi. This is the real character of the RSS…You can decipher a line of action, a pattern. Even during the Emergency, many among the RSS and Jana Sangh who came out of the jails, gave mafinamas. They were the first to apologize. Only their leaders remained in jail: Atal Behari Vajpayee [most of the time in hospital], LK Advani, even Arun Jaitley. But the RSS did not fight the Emergency. So why is the BJP trying to appropriate that memory?”

Prabhash Joshi concluded that “they are not a fighting force, and they are never keen to fight. They are basically a compromising lot. They are never genuinely against the government”.

TV Rajeswar, who served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim penned a book, ‘India: The Crucial Years” [Harper Collins] corroborated the fact that “Not only they (RSS) were supportive of this [Emergency], they wanted to establish contact apart from Mrs. Gandhi, with Sanjay Gandhi also”. [v] Rajeswar in an interview with Karan Thapar disclosed that Deoras,

“Quietly established a link with the PM’s house and expressed strong support for several steps taken to enforce order and discipline in the country. Deoras was keen to meet Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay. But Mrs. Gandhi refused.” [vi]

According to Rajeswar’s book,

“Sanjay Gandhi’s concerted drive to enforce family planning, particularly among Muslims, had earned Deoras’s approbation.” [vii] Rajeswar also shared the fact that even after Emergency the “organization (RSS) had specifically conveyed its support to the Congress in the post-emergency elections.” [viii] It will be interesting to note that even according to Subramanian Swamy during the Emergency period, most of the senior leaders of RSS had betrayed the struggle against the Emergency. [ix]

Contemporary documents in the archives of the RSS validate the narratives of Prabhash Joshi and Rajeswar. The 3rd Supremo of RSS, Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras wrote the first letter to Indira Gandhi within two months of the imposition of Emergency. It was the time when state terror was running amok, crushing the human rights of thousands of Indians.

In letter dated August 22, 1975, Deoras began with the following praise of Indira:

“I heard your address to the nation which you delivered on August 15, 1975, from Red Fort on radio in jail [Yervada jail] with attention. Your address was timely and balanced so I decided to write to you”. [x]

Indira Gandhi did not respond to it. So Deoras wrote another letter to Indira on November 10, 1975. He began his letter with congratulating her on being cleared by the Supreme Court of disqualification which was ordered by the Allahabad High Court,

“All the five Justices of the Supreme Court have declared your election constitutional, heartiest greetings for it.” It is to be noted that opposition was firmly of the opinion that this judgment was reflective of executive pressure on the judiciary. Deoras also stated that “RSS has been named in context of Jaiprakash Narayan’s movement. The government has also connected RSS with Gujarat movement and Bihar movement without any reason…Sangh has no relation with these movements…” [xi]

Since Indira Gandhi did not respond to this letter either, RSS chief got hold of Vinoba Bhave who supported the Emergency religiously and was a favourite of Indira Gandhi. In a letter dated January 12, 1976, he begged that Acharya should suggest the way that ban on RSS was removed. [xii]  Since Acharya too did not respond to Deoras letter, the latter in another letter without date wrote in desperation,

“According to press reports respected PM [Indira Gandhi] is going to meet you at Pavnar Ashram on January 24. At that time there will be discussion about the present condition of the country. I beg you to try to remove the wrong assumptions of PM about RSS so that ban on RSS is lifted and RSS members are released from jails. We are looking forward for the times when RSS and its members are able to contribute to the plans of progress which are being run in all the fields under the leadership of PM.” [xiii]

[All these letters in Hindi are being reproduced from a publication of the RSS at the end of this article.]

Even a prominent Hindutva ideologue Balraj Madhok who as an RSS whole-timer founded Bhartiya Jana Sangh (1951) on RSS command confessed:

“Sarsanghchalak of the Sangh Shri Bal Saheb Deoras was a MISA prisoner in Pune’s Yervada Jail…his life was full of comforts. Therefore, he wrote two letters to the jailed Indira Gandhi on 22-08-1975 and 10-11-1975 to change her attitude towards the Sangh and lift the ban on it. He also wrote a letter to Shri Vinoba Bhave and requested him to try to remove the feeling of opposition towards the Sangh from Indira Gandhi’s mind. These letters were leaked by the government and they were published in many newspapers. This naturally had an adverse effect on the morale of the Sangh volunteers and the Satyagraha movement became almost dead.”

[Madhok, Balraj, Zindagi Ka Safar –3: Deendayal Upadhyay Ki Hatya Se Indira Gandhi Ki Hatya Tak (Journey of Life-3: From the Murder of Deendayal Upadhyay to the Murder of Indira Gandhi), Dinman Prakashan, 2003, pp. 188-189.]

Incidentally, another tidbit from history. Former President of the Indian Republic, Pranab Mukherjee was invited by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat as the chief guest of the graduation ceremony of its new recruits who are fired to work towards their goal to convert India into a Hindu state. Pranab Mukherjee had been indicted as one of the top leaders of Congress for Emergency excesses.

It is shameful that despite these facts thousands of RSS cadres continue to get monthly pension for the persecution during Emergency. The BJP ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have decided to award a monthly pension of Rs 20,000 to those who were jailed during the Emergency period for less than 2 months, and Rs 10,000 to those who were jailed for less than a month. These policy decisions by RSS-backed BJP states have taken care of the financial interest of those RSS cadres who (even) submitted mercy letters completing only one- or two-months’ jail term. For securing such a significant amount in pension, no condition was applied –to the effect that the beneficiary should have been in jail for the whole period of the Emergency!

Interestingly, in sharp contrast, in the case of anti-colonial (British) freedom struggle there has not been even a single person from RSS cadres to have claimed the freedom fighter pension. It may be noted that nobody remembers hundreds of Communist youths, branded as Naxals killed in fake encounters during the Emergency. Interestingly, Shiv Sena, the Hindutva co-traveller of the RSS also openly supported the Emergency.

Tavleen Singh, a senior journalist who had once welcomed Modi’s ascendancy to power in 2014 did not mince words while evaluating Indian democracy on the 50^th anniversary of declaration of Emergency,

 “Brutal repression of democratic rights can happen again, and the answer is that it can, but in a more dangerously subtle way. There are those who say that since Narendra Modi became prime minister, an ‘undeclared emergency’ has come into force. I hesitate to make sweeping judgements of that kind, but what has happened is that some freedoms we took for granted have become endangered. This has been done not by throwing Opposition leaders, journalists and dissidents into jail, but by tweaking the laws to make curbs on freedom legally possible.

“The law that is supposed to prevent sedition has been tweaked to widen the definition of that word. Laws meant to curb black money have been tweaked as well and if a dissident does not end up in jail for ‘anti-national activities’, he could end up rotting in some forgotten cell because the Enforcement Directorate charges him with money laundering. The Opposition leaders who have these charges thrown at them have fought back valiantly because they have political parties behind them, but dissidents and journalists have just learned to keep quiet. Is that good? Is that democracy?”

So, writing on the wall is clear. India had Emergency imposed using some Articles of the Indian constitution and same was rescinded. Presently without Indira Gandhi and Congress government we have perpetual ‘undeclared’ Emergency under Modi rule. It needs not to be withdrawn as was never declared!

[i] ‘National Emergency 1975: The murder of the Indian republic on June 25,  https://organiser.org/2025/06/24/298840/bharat/national-emergency-1975-the-murder-of-the-indian-republic-on-june-25/

[ii] Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi), Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, nd., vol. I, p. 11.

[iii] Ibid. vol. III, p. 128.

[iv] http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main13.asp?filename=op070205And_Not_Even.asp

[v] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/rss-backed-indira-gandhis-emergency-ex-ib-chief-264127-2015-09-21

[vi] Ibid.

[vii] https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/ib-ex-chiefs-book-rss-chief-deoras-had-backed-some-emergency-moves/

[viii] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-backed-Emergency-reveals-former-IB-chief/articleshow/49052143.cms

[ix] https://medium.com/@hindu.nationalist1/double-game-of-senior-rss-leaders-during-emergency-74abc07a4fa8

[x] Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, Hindu Sangathan aur Sattavaadi Rajneeti, Jagriti Prkashan, Noida, 1997, 270.

[xi] Ibid., 272-73

[xii] Ibid. 275-77.

[xiii] Ibid. 278.

(The author is a former professor of Hindi, Delhi University and a scholar on recent Indian modern history)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

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Soon after ABVP submitted its “memorandum to the administration” of the state-run Chaudhary Charan Singh University – a major educational institution in western UP – the institution obliged and decided to debar Panwar from all examination work for life. “She has been debarred from setting papers for life,” Dhirendra Kumar Verma, the registrar of the university, told The Wire on April 5.

The unseemly controversy surrounded the private MA political science final-year examination on the paper ‘State Politics in India,’ conducted on April 2 in the colleges affiliated to the CCSU. The ABVP objected to two questions that were about its parent organisation, the RSS.

In this paper, question number 87 asked which of the following were considered anomic groups – those alienated from society. Among the options were “Dal Khalsa, Naxalite Groups, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh.”

Yet another question, numbered 93, was a match-the-following test. The question seemed to link the RSS to the rise of religious and caste identity politics. The other options linked the BSP to Dalit politics, Mandal Commission to OBC politics and Shiv Sena to politics of regional identity.

1. Rise of backward politics
   B. Rise of Dalit politics
   C. Rise of Religious and Caste identity politics
   D. Rise of regional identity politics
2. Shiv Sena
   2.⁠ ⁠RSS
   3.⁠ ⁠BSP
   4.⁠ ⁠Mandal Commission

The correct answer was A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1

Reputed for its disruptive even violent activities in Delhi University (DU) and elsewhere too, the ABVP said the questions had described the RSS as the reason for the emergence of religious and caste politics on the basis of the available options.

“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been an apolitical, social, cultural and dedicated organization in the national interest on the basis of equality and national unity for the last 100 years,” the ABVP said. The wing of the RSS dubbed that the professor’s act was “anti-national” and demanded strict legal action by suspending the examiner who set the question paper in the “interest of students and the nation.”

A copy of the memorandum, shared by the ABVP’s Meerut wing, quoted by The Wire, stated, “The way Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been added in the above question, it seems that the examiner who set the question paper, being afflicted with some anti-national ideology, has worked to tarnish the image of the Sangh among the students in the society and create a wrong narrative, whereas doing so is not in the national interest.”

The ABVP also threatened to launch a large protest if the university did not act against the examiner. Registrar Verma said that a team of the university’s vice-chancellor concluded that the questions found “objectionable” by the students were “controversial.”  Professor Panwar, who teaches at Meerut College, was asked for a clarification, following which she submitted a written apology.

“She expressed regret and said that it was not her intention. She said she set the questions as there was a chapter on it,” said Verma. The registrar said no further action was taken against her. “She apologised for the mistake. What else could she do,” said Verma.

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The post Two Questions ‘anti-national’, says ABVP UP professor barred for life from setting exam papers appeared first on SabrangIndia.

To traverse that road map, the RSS and its founders adopted a twin strategy from the beginning. The Hindu Mahasabha was dedicated to develop its footprints and the RSS to penetrate different sections of society by building a cadre based organisation. This twin strategy continued from the days of Hindu Mahasabha through Jana Sangh and consolidated in the BJP era.

There is something to be learnt by all those who wanted to transform India built on a constitutional secular democratic republic to a people’s democracy (Marxists). To first and foremost is, to preserve constitutional democracy. This requires setting out goals with clarity, identifying ‘enemies’, chalking out a strategy to weed out those that harm society, and lay the foundation of achieving respective goals.

On all these fronts the RSS has travelled a long way and its implications and consequences are before us to see. I am not going to recount all those here except emphasising only one aspect. A political tactical line is not the patented right of the Left or Communist Parties. Any party that aspires to rule any country will ultimately will evolve its own tactics which includes accepting a united front as a tactic whenever such a force is weak.

The RSS has fought hard to come out of the woods and stay relevant within an Indian political context at a time when free India was being built on the basis of the universal values inscribed in Preamble of the Constitution.

The historiography of the RSS will be enriched if one critically looks into the role that this exclusivist organization played during Partition, more particularly in western and eastern parts of India, the two regions affected tragically by a sudden change in demography.

In the immediate aftermath of Independence and Gandhi’s assassination by one of its followers (January 30, 1948), the RSS went into political oblivion. Since then, it has worked patiently among the masses defusing its ideology in the name of being a ‘cultural and charitable organisation’ and at the same time, resorted to united front tactics with the then Congress and constituent partners of the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal.

Despite such occasional encounters with positions of power, the RSS felt that mass politics required far more pragmatic approach and transformed its political arm Jan Sangh into the re-incarnated, BJP. Even then, instead of coming up with its own original ideological road map as prescribed by Golwalkar, the RSS guided the BJP to traverse the path of Gandhian socialism and what not. Despite this, it could not achieve effective pace in political growth and relevance. It therefore came out open in the public, again, with a twin strategy.

The first strategy was focused on framing a debate on the lines of pseudo secularism primarily aimed at undermining one of the key pillars of the basic structure of the Constitution. Coupled with this, the second strategy was to publicly own up to the RSS’ core agenda of militarising Hindus and Hinduising society, and, in fact, building a new kind of civil society around this twin strategy. Demonising constitutionalists and free thinkers and transforming ‘Maryada Purushottam Ram into warrior on alien or alienated sections of society’ both were pivotal in the RSS spectacular rise to power.

The RSS, therefore, never faltered in identifying its enemies, nor resorted to a nuanced approach while dealing with them. In this journey, the RSS clearly held Communists in India to be among its prime enemies.

This was academically acknowledged by the Left in general and the CPI (M) in particular, decades ago. In a document released within in the lead up to the 2019 general elections, titled, In Defense of constitution and democracy, the party stated, “It is for this reason, and also for an alternate policies in the economic sphere promoted and practiced by CPI (M) led state governments, that the BJP Modi led Hindutva platform has openly declared the left and the CPI (M) in particular as its main ideological foe.”

Based on the road chalked out in In Defense of constitution and democracy, the CPI (M) in its Central Committee meeting held in December 2018 concluded, “The Political Resolution has pointed out that our line is not of equidistance between the BJP and the Congress. Hence in states where the main contest will be between the BJP and the Congress, such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and others) we should fight just one or two seats and campaign generally for the defeat of the BJP.” The resolution also called on the cadre to “contribute towards maximizing the pooling of anti-BJP votes based on our political line”.

Subsequently, while analysing the 2019 general election results, the Central Committee was not hesitant in cautioning the Congress party when it said, “The Congress party failed to put in place, on the ground, the unity of opposition secular parties when it was campaigning for in the run-up to the elections. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress contested independently.”

The review further observed in “Overarching Hindutva Identity that “The BJP-RSS orchestrated an overarching Hindu identity during the campaign which cut across, to some extent, the social and ethnic divides amongst the people.  This was accompanied by micro-level social engineering to successfully combat the dominant caste based social alliances which were forged in some states. The BJP identified the non-dominant castes and individual tribal communities for targeted messaging and propaganda. This was accompanied by physically contacting voters by the RSS and its network, consolidating the BJP’s outreach.” This was observed in documents from the 2019 October Central Committee meeting.

Further the CPI (M) also observed that “The BJP is aggressively working to establish a unitary State structure in India. This is required for them to advance the RSS’s fascist agenda of converting the secular democratic Republic into its ideological political project of `Hindu Rashtra’ (This should appropriately be read as “Hindutva Rashtra”)”.

The document identified four key challenges,

“a) The BJP has won this decisive victory on the basis of unprecedented money power and full support of the international and domestic corporates.  The trajectory of anti-people economic reforms favouring the big business and the rich are bound to intensify by imposing greater miseries on the vast majority of the people.  The Party will take the lead in rallying the maximum sections of the people in struggles against such economic assaults.

“b) The consolidation of the Hindutva communal polarisation will lead to greater attacks on the rights of the religious and linguistic minorities, worsening their security concerns and livelihood.  The safeguarding and strengthening of secularism, as enshrined in our Constitution, will be taken up by the Party drawing in the broadest sections in these struggles.

“c) The penetration of the RSS in all Constitutional authorities that happened during the last five years is bound to further intensify.  This will lead to undermining such Constitutional authorities in order to facilitate the transformation of the Constitutional Republic into the ideological project of the RSS, “Hindutva Rashtra”.  The defence and strengthening of all Constitutional authorities will be championed by the CPI (M) along with all other forces willing to join these struggles. 

“d) The focus of the BJP’s victory was based on the need to establish a `security’ state in India, the infringement upon the rights of individuals specifically the right to dissent will sharpen.  Already ominous indications are evident. The assaults by private armies under one pretext or the other against Dalits and religious minorities will intensify. The rights of working people and religious, linguistic minorities will come under attack leading up to witch-hunting.  The CPI (M) will take the lead in mobilizing the broadest segment of our people who cherish democratic rights and civil liberties to meet these challenges squarely.”

Further, the party also discussed at its Central Committee meeting in January 2020, the intensified challenges from the RSS and stated that,

“The situation in Kashmir continues to remain far from normal even after five months. Apart from the merciless denial of elementary human and democratic rights of the people, the situation has devastated the J&K economy, imposing further misery on the people. All these measures are clearly aimed at consolidating Hindutva communal polarisation and seeking to replace the secular democratic Indian Constitution with the RSS fascist agenda of “Hindu Rashtra”.

It is on this understanding that the CPI (M) adopted its Tasks on Cultural Front document in August 2020 wherein it identified the twin dangers being faced by the country.

The Tasks on Cultural Front clearly stated, “Both neo-liberalism and communalism, domestically, thus seek the homogenisation of public tastes.   The former is to strengthen its cultural hegemony and to reap super profits. The latter, in addition to this, is to pave the way for the establishment of a rabidly intolerant fascist State – the RSS vision of `Hindu Rashtra’.

The RSS’ slogan of “one country, one people, one culture” can acquire a real status and meaning only through such homogenisation, negating the very fundamental foundations of India’s rich cultural diversity.  Further, both neo-liberalism and communalism seek to divert the attention of the people away from day-to-day problems and importantly weaken their struggle against the existing exploitative order.”

The Party also warned secular and democratic forces that the BJP, utilised the period of the pandemic and the consequent disruption of normal life and activities due to lockdown restrictions etc. to advance the core RSS agenda of converting India into their conception of a rabidly intolerant fascist `Hindutva Rashtra’.

The CPI (M) acknowledged that the establishment of such a `New India’ is not a product of this Modi government alone. It has a history of nearly a century – from the founding of the RSS in 1925, Savarkar’s theses on Hindutva and its ideological construct and the RSS’ organisational structure –all with the goal of a fascist `Hindu Rashtra’ by Golwalkar in 1939.

Armed with this understanding, the Party went in to preparations for its 23^rd Congress at Kannur, at which the Political Resolution in the opening chapter itself assessed that, “The period since the 22nd Congress has seen the further consolidation of the BJP, which being in government is aggressively pursuing the Hindutva communal agenda of the fascist RSS. It has mounted a multi-pronged attack through the pursuit of rabid neo-liberal reforms strengthening the communal-corporate nexus, looting of national assets, promoting crony capitalism, legalising political corruption and imposing full-fledged authoritarianism.”

While observing the qualitative change in the political landscape off the country, the Political Resolution also stated, “Para 2.2: Since then, there has been the intensification of the above right wing offensive. However, with the return of the Modi government with a larger number of seats and vote share began the aggressive furthering of the Hindutva communal agenda of the fascist RSS. What is unfolding, particularly, in the post 2019 period, is on the lines laid down in the CPI-M Party Programme:

“The Bharatiya Janata Party is a reactionary party with a divisive and communal platform, the reactionary content of which is based on hatred against other religions, intolerance and ultra-nationalist chauvinism. The BJP is no ordinary bourgeois party as the fascist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh guides and dominates it. When the BJP is in power, the RSS gets access to the instruments of State power and the State machinery. The Hindutva ideology promotes revivalism and rejects the composite culture of India with the objective of establishing a Hindu Rashtra.” (Para 7.14)

“The threat to the secular foundations has become menacing with the rise of the communal and fascist RSS-led combine and its assuming power at the Centre. Systematic efforts are on to communalise the institutions of the State, the administration, the educational system and the media. The growth of majority communalism will strengthen the forces of minority communalism and endanger national unity. The support of sections of the big bourgeoisie for the BJP and its communal platform is fraught with serious consequences for democracy and secularism in the country.” (Para: 5.7)

“Party should fight against all forms of intrusion of religion in the economic, political and administrative life of the nation and uphold secular and democratic values in culture, education and society. The danger of fascist trends gaining ground, based on religious communalism must be firmly fought at all levels.” (Para: 5.8)

Political Resolution of CPI(M)’s Kannur (23rd) Congress also identified the emerging class contradictions in India in the aftermath of the farmers united struggle that forced a retreat by BJP government as follows: “Para 2.123: Class Implications- New class conflicts have emerged during the course of this struggle, between the big bourgeoisie in collaboration with international finance capital and the entire peasantry, including sections of the rich peasants.

“Para 2.124: Secondly, conflicts amongst the ruling class partners are also emerging between the big bourgeoisie, on the one hand, and the non-big bourgeoisie, particularly those belonging to the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, on the other.

“Para 2.125: Thirdly, BJP’s drive to establish its complete political hegemony in the country by destroying the federal structure of our Constitution and, in its place, erect a unitary State structure is creating conflicts between the Central government and elected state governments. Some regional parties, who head state governments, who were supporters of the BJP in Parliament and those who vacillated and remained largely neutral in their support to the BJP in Parliament, are being forced by this hegemonic drive of the BJP to come out in opposition, particularly during this kisan struggle.

“Para 2.126: The emergence of such conflicts amongst the ruling class partners creates possibilities that must be utilised by the exploited classes, particularly the working class, poor peasantry and agricultural labour, to intensify the class battles against the bourgeois-landlord order.”

“Para 2.127: Such possibilities for advancing the class struggle have emerged with the growing coordination between the working class trade union movement, the peasantry and the agricultural labour. Such developments began much earlier and since 2018 made significant advances through joint movements of these sections. This growing unity in struggles must be strengthened further in the coming period.”

It is in this backdrop, coupled with a solid ideological footing and absorbing the international experiences in fighting fascism, that it was decided to implement the Party’s 23^rd Congress directions and the CPI-M worked towards formation of INDIA block which played a crucial role in halting the roller coaster ride of the BJP to Parliament.

The CPI (M) has a programmatic understanding which clearly states that the BJP is ideologically guided by the RSS which has fascist characteristics.

In Telugu there is a saying. You can’t sow rice and reap wheat. Thus the ideological mentoring of RSS which sows fascist tendencies cannot result in any other outcome except that of transforming the country into a fascist Hindu Rashtra, armed with a militant Hindutva ideology.

This is what the understanding with which former General Secretary, CPI (M), Sitaram Yechury led the Party and this is the background in which the present Polit Bureau coordinator, Prakash Karat, acknowledged and hailed the contribution of Sitaram Yechury in expanding the Party’s understanding of the RSS and its fascist efforts to transform our constitutional secular democratic republic into fascist Hindu Rashtra. Whether in strength or in weakness, the RSS has never wavered in naming its enemies with determination.

Today, at this crucial hour, the question before the Party which is organizing its 24^th Congress at Madurai is whether it will further strengthen the ideological contribution of Sitaram Yechury or whether it steps back and wavers in naming the principle class enemy, which is the BJP guided by the fascist RSS.

Will the CPI-M lose ground, step back and retreat into its self-created binary confusion? The formulation on whether to give primacy to struggles against globalisation or to struggle or to strive and struggle to protect the constitutional secular democratic republic (and thereafter) to transform it into people’s democratic republic?

That is the crucial poser that presses for an answer.

(The author, Y Venugopal Reddy, is cultural critic and practicing as advocate at Hyderabad and had contributed a series of articles in the run up to 22^nd Congress of CPI (M) at Hyderabad)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

Part 1, 2 and 3 can be read here

Evolution of CPI(M)’s approach towards Hindutva Politics: A Reading of its own documents – Part 1

Evolution of CPI(M)’s approach towards Hindutva Politics: A Reading of its own documents – Part 2

Evolution of the Left [CPI (M)] approach towards Hindutva politics: A Reading of its own documents – Part 3

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Its role in shaping BJP, its political progeny, can easily be discerned from the writings and actions of RSS. One recalls that it was Shyama Prasad Mukherjee of Hindu Mahasabha, who collaborated with RSS to float the previous avatar of BJP, Bhartiya Jansangh. The then RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar, (Guruji) regarded as the major ideologue of RSS; time and again outlined the role of RSS trained swayamsaevaks and Pracharaks, while being in Jana Sangh or BJP.

Golwalkar writes “For instance some of our friends were told to go and work for politics that does not mean that they have great interest or inspiration for it. They don’t die for politics like fish without water. If they are told to withdraw from politics, then also there is no objection. Their discretion is just not required.” (Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruji Samagar Darshan (collected works of Golwalkar in Hindi, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, volume. 3, p. 33) tells us clearly that Jansangh or BJP was supposed to follow the instructions of RSS.

Further Guruji says, “We know this also that some of our swayamsevaks [cadres] work in politics. There they have to organize according to the needs of work: public meetings, processions etc., have to raise slogans. (Same as above Vol 4, page 4-5)

RSS nurtured and trained its swayamsevaks on these lines and later floated many organizations. Nathuram Godse the killer of Mahatma Gandhi was also a trained pracharak of RSS. RSS at that time did not keep any records of membership so it could wash its hands off from this murder. Nathuram Godse’s family believes that the assassin, a staunch member of the RSS was neither expelled from the Sangh nor did he ever leave the organization.

Shamsul Islam, eminent scholar of Hindu Nationalism, points out, “The central publication house of the RSS, the Suruchi Prakashan, Jhandewalan, New Delhi, published, Param Vaibhav Ke Path Par (1997) which gave details of more than 40 organizations created by the RSS for different tasks. The BJP as a political organisation figures prominently in it at number 3, with the ABVP, Hindu Jagaran Manch, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and Sanskar Bharti etc.)

Similarly the prayer and pledge of RSS make it clear that they make its followers commit to Hindu nation. Its Prathana (Prayer) says “You/O God almighty, we the integral part of the Hindu Rashtra salute you in reverence/For Your cause have we girded up our loins/Give us Your Blessings for its accomplishment.”  (RSS, Shakha Darshika, Gyan Ganga, Jaipur, 1997, p.1) The pledge is also equally forthright in this “I become a member of the RSS in order to achieve all round greatness of Bharatvarsha by fostering the growth of my sacred Hindu religion, Hindu society, and Hindu culture. (Page 66 above)

The masquerading of RSS as a cultural organization does help it to expand by appealing to the emotions of many. Major leaders of the freedom struggle were very clear about the nature of RSS. “A member of Gandhi’s entourage had praised the efficiency, discipline, courage and capacity for hard work shown by RSS cadres at Wagah, a major transit camp for Punjab refugees. Gandhi quipped back, ‘but don’t forget, even so had Hitler’s Nazis and Fascists under Mussolini’, Gandhi characterized RSS as a communal body with a totalitarian outlook’ (Pyarelal, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase, Ahmedabad, page 440)

Nehru did regard RSS as having traits of fascism. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, had stated that “The RSS is strictly secret as regards its organization. It has consequently developed along fascist lines and is definitely a potential menace to public peace. (Dr. Rajendra Prasad to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, 12 December 1948)

Sardar Patel  wrote “As regards the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha, the case relating to Gandhiji’s murder… about the participation of the two organizations, but our reports do confirm that, as a result of the activities of these two bodies, particularly the former, an atmosphere was created in the country in which such a ghastly tragedy became possible… The activities of the RSS constituted a clear threat to the existence of the Government and the State. Our reports show that those activities, despite the ban, have not died down. Indeed, as time has marched on, the RSS circles are becoming more defiant and are indulging in their subversive activities in an increasing measure. ” [Letter 64 cited in Sardar Patel: Select Correspondence19450-1950, vol. 2, Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1977, pp. 276-277.]

We also recall that RSS has been banned thrice, and wriggled out of those bans by wearing the façade of Culture. As we know the ban on Government servants taking part in politics is to ensure that our bureaucracy remains committed to the values of the constitution and not be politically partisan. This ban on Government servants participating in RSS activities has been there for over 50 years. It is the third time that this was done.

In between Janata Party and Atal Bihari Vajpayee were also at the helm of political affairs but this ban was not lifted. Mr. Modi has been in power for the last 10+ years. Why is he taking this decision now? Is it after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has been making oblique criticism of the supreme leader? There is a need for cultural activists and social scientists to assess the contribution of RSS to Indian culture. This mask of RSS being a cultural organization needs to be undone and its political agenda grasped for protection of Indian Constitution and democracy. As such it seems that it is a Supra-political outfit.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

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“RSS is a cultural organisation and we are a political organisation…It’s (RSS is) an ideological front. The RSS and the BJP have their own areas of working very clearly established”. [https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/j-p-nadda-interview-bjp-modi-9337032/]

It was not for the first time that this lie was spoken about relationship between RSS and BJP. Organiser, English mouthpiece of the RSS, in its editorial of February 6, 2000 relied on this lie when wrote:

“The RSS is not a political party. It does not take part in elections nor its office bearers are supposed to become office bearers of any political party. The RSS has no election symbol nor its leadership or members have ever endeavoured to seek political office. It is a social-cultural organization trying to inspire all national activity.”

We must compare this claim of the RSS with the following two statements of Golwalkar, who headed the RSS after the death of KB Hedgewar, and is considered the greatest ideologue of the organization till date. The first statement tells us about the kind of personnel who are sent to manipulate politics and what is expected of them by the RSS. While delivering a speech on March 16, 1954, in Sindi, Wardha, he said,

“If we say that we are part of the organization and accept its discipline then selectiveness has no place in life. Do what is told. If told to play kabaddi, play kabaddi; told to hold meeting then meeting….For instance some of our friends were told to go and work for politics that does not mean that they have great interest or inspiration for it. They don’t die for politics like fish without water. If they are told to withdraw from politics then also there is no objection. Their discretion is just not required.”

[Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruju Samgr Darshan (collected works of Golalkar in Hindi), Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur (RSS publication house), vol. III,  n. d., p. 32.]

The second statement is also very significant and clearly highlights the high level of political ambitions of the RSS. While addressing the leading RSS cadres at Indore on March 5, 1960 he said:

“We know this also that some of our Swayamsevaks work in politics. There they have to organize according to the needs of work public meetings, processions etc., have to raise slogans. All these things have no place in our work. However, like the character in a play whatever role has been assigned should be portrayed with best of capability. But sometimes Swayamsevaks go beyond the role assigned to a performer (nat) as they develop over-zealousness in their hearts, to the extent that they become useless for this work. This is not good.” [Ibid, vol. IV, pp. 4-5.]

We find here Golwalkar referring to the Swayamsevaks loaned to political satellite as ‘nat’ or performers who are meant to dance to the tunes of the RSS. This fact should not be missed here that Golwalkar’s above design of controlling the political arm was elaborated in March 1960 almost nine years after the establishment of Jan Sangh (the forerunner of the BJP) in 1951.

BJP NOT INDEPENDENT OF RSS

The RSS leadership keeps on harping that BJP is an independent political organization and does not work under the dictates of the RSS. It is pertinent that one compares this information with the facts available in the official publications of the RSS. The central publication house of the RSS, the Suruchi Prakashan, has published a book, Param Vaibhav Ke Path Par (The Road to Glory) in 1997 giving details of more than 40 organizations created by the RSS for different tasks. The BJP as a political organization figures prominently in it, clubbed with the ABVP, Hindu Jagaran Manch, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch and Sanskar Bharti.  The preface of the book itself declares that,

“Without the knowledge of the different kinds of activities of the Sawyamsevaks (the volunteers of the RSS) the introduction of the RSS is incomplete. Keeping this in mind it has been attempted in this book to produce the brief information about the diverse activities of the Sawyamsevaks. This book covers the organizational status till 1996…We believe that this book will prove to be of use for those who want to understand the RSS with the Swyamsevaks.”

[Sapre, Sadanand D., Parm Vaibhav Ke Path Per, Suruchi (central publication house of RSS), Delhi, 1997, p. 7.]

In this book the BJP figures at number 3 in the list of prominent organizations created by the RSS. This book gives details of the creation and development of Bhartiya Jan Sangh (the forerunner of the BJP) and then BJP by the RSS for purposes laid down by the latter. It is to be noted that PM of India and his senior ministers, most of the present BJP chief ministers and Governors publically declare to be RSS cadres. JP Nadda too proudly declares to be a member of RSS.

We will have to find out the answer why suddenly Nadda declares independence of BJP from RSS. In fact, such a situation was visualized by Golwalkar in 1960 itself when he stated that “sometimes Swayamsevaks go beyond the role assigned to a performer (nat) as they develop over-zealousness in their hearts, to the extent that they become useless for this work. This is not good.” Mohan Bhagwat and his key confidants leading RSS today is no match to Golwalkar who could control its political child, BJP. Modi (trained by Golwalkar as a political leader), a Vishwa guru, Hindu hirday samrat and Hindutva icon has made RSS led by Hindutva minions redundant. RSS is paying for creating a Leviathan (a natural corollary of combining religion with politics) to its own peril. Golwalkar declared as early as 1940 that “RSS inspired by one flag, one leader and one ideology is lighting the flame of Hindutva in each and every corner of this great land”. [Golwalkar, MS, Shri Guruju Samgr Darshan, vol. I, p. 11] Modi fulfils this dream of RSS fully. Hindutva zealots celebrated when Modi marched on demolishing secularism, constitutional reservations, national institutions and communal harmony but forgot that if it had to be ONE LEADER Mohan Bhagwat and his Hindutva Empire too had to go!

( Link for some of S. Islam’s writings in English, Hindi, Urdu and translations into Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati and video interviews/debates: http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam )

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Sabrangindia.

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India came face to face with this inherent trait of RSS when it’s Supremo Mohan Bhagwat in a speech at Hyderabd (April 28, 2024) while reacting to a video (in which a RSS luminary called upon to finish off constitutional Reservation) stated

“Ye galat baat hai, asatya hai (This is wrong, false)…“The Sangh has been supporting all reservation as per the Constitution since the beginning. And, the Sangh says that it should continue as long as those for whom it exists feel that it is necessary…It (reservation policy) should continue as long as discrimination exists in society.”

[‘Lok Sabha elections: RSS joins BJP quota firefight as unease grows’, The Telegraph on Line, Kolkata, April 28, 2024.]

When the founding fathers of the Constitution of independent India made provisions for reservations to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, the most prominent ideologue of RSS and 2^nd Supremo of the organization, MS Golwalkar strongly reacted by alleging that the rulers “were digging at the roots of Hindu social cohesion and destroying the spirit of identity that had kept all the various sects in a harmonious whole in the past”.

[Cited in N. L. Gupta, RSS and Democracy (Delhi: Sampradayikta Virodhi Committee, nd., p. 17] He refused to admit that Hindu social system was at the root of the neglect of the lower castes. [Golwalkar, MS., Bunch of Thoughts, selection of writings/speeches/interviews, Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana, Bangalore, 1996 [3^rd edition], p.363.]

When Golwalkar was asked: “What about the protection to Harijans guaranteed in the Constitution and its subsequent extension?” His reply was:

“Dr. Ambedkar had envisaged the special privileges for ‘Scheduled Castes’ for only 10 years from the day we became a Republic in 1950. But it is going on, being extended. Continued special privileges on the basis of caste only, is bound to create vested interests in them in remaining as a separate entity. That would harm their integration with the rest of the society [Hindu society]. [Golwalkar, MS., Spotlights, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1974, p. 16.]

For Golwalkar, the real issue was not how to undo the injustice done to the depressed castes [Sudras/Dalits] for thousands of years in the past but “take extra care to see that their separateness is not given fillip.”

[Golwalkar, MS., Spotlights, Sahitya Sindhu, Bangalore, 1974, p. 184] He never accepted the fact that lower Castes were being maltreated in India. While reacting to a big carnage of Dalits in a part of India he wrote on October 14, 1972:

“There is a trend these days to give Harijan-non-Harijan colour even to ordinary happenings, probably out of political motivation and digging a rift in the oneness and solidarity of the people. For immediate benefits-even these doubtful-to sacrifice the lasting good of the people as a whole that is the unfortunate aspect of the trends obtaining now a days. In our work, we have to steer clear of this poisonous trend and do our best to clarify the atmosphere.” [Golwalkar, MS., Shri Guruji Sanmgr Darshan, (selection of his writings/speeches in Hindi), vol. 7, Bhartiya Vichar Sadhna, Nagpur, 1974, p. 244.]

Golwalkar’s hatred for Dalits was outcome of his firm belief in Casteism under which they did not enjoy even right to life. For him Casteism was synonymous with the Hindu nation. According to him, the Hindu people are none else but,

“[The] Virat Purusha, the Almighty manifesting himself…According to purusha sukta sun and moon are his eyes, the stars and the skies are created from his nabhi [navel] and Brahmin is the head, Kshatriya the hands, Vaishya the thighs and Shudra the feet. This means that the people who have this fourfold arrangement, i.e., the Hindu People, is [sic] our God. This supreme vision of Godhead is the very core of our concept of ‘nation’ and has permeated our thinking and given rise to various unique concepts of our cultural heritage. [Italics as in the original]

[Golwalkar, MS., Bunch of Thoughts, pp. 36-37.]

This was nothing but a re-phrasing of Manu’s inhuman anti-Sudra codes. Golwalkar refused to accept that Casteism was a bane to Hinduism or hindered the feeling of unity among Hindus.

“Persons interested in calumniating Hindus make much of the caste system, the ‘superstitions’, the want of literacy, the position of women in the social structure, and all sorts of true or untrue flaws in the Hindu Cultural Organization, and point out that the weakness of the Hindus lies solely in these.”

[Golwalkar, Bunch of Thoughts, pp. 61– 62.]

Ambedkar, who witnessed RSS growing and was familiar with its destructive tendencies, was of the firm opinion that the ideology of Hindutva practised by RSS was nothing but a ploy by privileged caste Hindus to maintain control over society and its resources. He wrote:

“They have a trait of character which often leads the Hindus to disaster. This trait is formed by their acquisitive instinct and aversion to share with others the good things of life. They have a monopoly of education and wealth, and with wealth and education they have captured the State. To keep this monopoly to themselves has been the ambition and goal of their life. Charged with this selfish idea of class domination, they take every move to exclude the lower classes of Hindus from wealth, education and power…This attitude of keeping education, wealth and power as a close preserve for themselves and refusing to share it, which the high Caste Hindus have developed in their relation with the lower classes of Hindus, is sought to be extended by them to the Muslims. They want to exclude the Muslims from place and power, as they have done to the lower class Hindus. This trait of the high Caste Hindus is the key to the understanding of their politics.”

[Ambedkar, BR., Pakistan or the Partition of India, Government of Maharashtra, Bombay, 1990 (reprint of 1946 edition), p. 123.]

How brazenly the RSS has been opposing Reservation was made clear in 1981 when its cadres played most nefarious role in opposing Reservation to  socially and economically backward Castes in Gujarat introduced by Congress ministry headed by Madhavsinh Solanki. More than 100 people were killed including 2 police officials. It is interesting to note that like today the debate of Reservation was turned in spreading poison against local Muslims who were killed with impunity.

Related:

RSS & BJP have already caused enough damage: In conversation with path-breaking novelist Devanur Mahadevan

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