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Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
K B Hedgewar and the roots of the RSS: A progressive movement that is misunderstood
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been an important component of India since the 1930s. In March 1934, there was a two-day discussion on the RSS's ideology, leadership and activities in the Legislative Council of the Central Provinces & Berar. Again, in February 1947, the Central Assembly debated these issues. The change in the power dynamic in national politics since the 1990s is largely attributed to its organisational and ideological impact. Isn't it ironic, then, that the founder of RSS, K B Hedgewar's vision and action got little space in these conversations? There is, however, an exception. In the pre-Independent period, after his death on June 21, 1940, newspapers and journals across the country, from Modern Review, edited by Ramananda Chatterjee and published from Calcutta, to the Marathi daily Kesari, founded by Gangadhar Tilak in Pune, debated his idea of India for months. At the age of 36, he visualised a movement whose sole objective would be to regain India's civilisational characteristics. He did not initiate a new stream of Hindutva. Rather, for him, the consolidation of Hindus was a means to achieve all-around development of the nation. During his time, the efforts to unite Hindus were based on philanthropy and preaching the ideas of social reformers on the one hand and the politics of the Hindu Mahasabha on the other. Both approaches proved, by and large, to be inadequate to address the basic causes of injustice and discrimination against marginalised castes. In A Dying Race (1908), U N Mukherji vehemently criticised upper-caste and -class Hindus for being insensitive to their own people. This was among the first works that put forth the idea that the reasons for the decline of Hinduism, besides the threats from Semitic religions, were its internal weaknesses. Three years later, B R Ambedkar questioned the claims of the Congress, Hindu saints, socialists and communists in What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables. Hedgewar believed that symbolism and social Fabianism cannot lead to a sense of equality and social cohesion – what the RSS calls samrasta. This was a visible departure from the elitist approach based on high-minded speeches and symbolic programmes like co-dining and co-option of social groups to address socio-cultural problems. Hedgewar realised feudalism was the mother of status-quoism, and the social and political elites had a stake in it. Even the revolutionary claims of socialists and communists against it were confined to speeches and resolutions. Hedgewar turned the table. He did not solicit support or patronage from any major political personality or massive funds during his 15-year leadership of the RSS. He relied on school and college teachers, clerks, graduates and common men, including orphans, to build up a movement. Others considered them just part of a crowd. Hedgewar groomed them as leaders of social and cultural movements. RSS workers actively spread the idea of undoing caste hierarchies. The 'untouchability' question has been dealt with systematically by the Sangh. For this, it silently bore the brunt of conservatives. A conglomeration of saints of all streams and sects, along with the Shankaracharyas in Udupi in 1969, dealt the death blow to the abiding, false perception among a powerful section of religious leaders and upper castes that untouchability had religious sanction. RSS Chief M S Golwalkar was the architect of this great leap forward. The battle against social conservatism — across countries and epochs — has been the most difficult of tasks. Despite Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Obama, the acrimony between Black and White people persists in the US. Apartheid's legacy of inequality continues in some ways today, despite decades-long campaigns against it. The dynamism of an organisation and ideology is rooted in its openness, ability to accept its limitations and introduce corrective measures. The RSS possesses these features. Early on, it carried out surveys in hundreds of villages in Maharashtra to compare the Sangh's intent to foster social change with its actual effect. In 1974, the third Sarsanghachalak Balasaheb Deoras said, 'Untouchability should go lock, stock and barrel.' Mohan Bhagwat gave this principle a practical formulation as a task for the organisation – to ensure 'common wells, common temples and common mortuaries.' In 1910, the Census Commissioner E A Gait issued a questionnaire to determine who was a Hindu. It included questions about those who were deprived of using common wells, ponds, mortuaries and temples. Known as the Gait Circular, it was eventually withdrawn before the 1911 census after protests by Hindu leaders, including Lajpat Rai. Hedgewar was aware of the pitfalls of electoral politics. The RSS remained at a distance from the political activities of the Hindu Mahasabha, which wanted trained swayamsevaks to work for its agenda. Hedgewar's position upset the Mahasabha and the leaders of other Hindu organisations. Critics of the RSS ignore these internal challenges when they view Hindutva as a singular entity. Nathuram Godse was one such disillusioned worker who, along with four Hindutva activists, wrote to Savarkar, blaming the RSS for wasting the energies of Hindu youth. The files of the Mahasabha in the Prime Minister's Museum and Library, Teen Murti (Delhi) have umpteen such examples of clashes between the Sangh and Mahasabha. This is reflected today, too. Many feel the RSS is too liberal on the minority question. Hedgewar avoided binaries both in principle and practice. This is a reason that RSS cadres do not hesitate while helping and serving non-Hindus — from food camps in 1950 and during the India-China war in 1962 to earthquake relief in Latur in 1993 and the plane crash in Ahmedabad in 2025. Stray statements and local incidents must not be seen as emanating from the RSS's philosophy. Using them as such only obstructs healthy dialogue and harms national interest. RSS had a modest beginning. It worked without an office or sign signboard for years. Office bearers were created after three years. Till then, it functioned like a commune. 100 years of the RSS is an occasion for both its critics and admirers to understand the message of Hedgewar: Selflessness and keeping the common person at the centre will keep an ideology and movement alive. The writer is a former Rajya Sabha MP (BJP)
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
SFI's protest before Kerala Raj Bhavan over photos of RSS leaders
Activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the ruling CPI(M), on Monday staged a protest in front of Raj Bhavan here against the alleged display of the photos of RSS leaders at Governor's official residence. A section of protesters tried to run into the campus of the Governor's official residence, but the police swiftly stopped them using force. A section of the media reported recently about the display of photos of RSS founder K B Hedgewar and ideologue Golwalker along with that of Bharat Mata in Raj Bhavan. Raising slogans against Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, the Left student activists held photos of Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar in their hands and insisted on pasting them on the Raj Bhavan compound walls. While being shifted to the police vehicle forcibly, many protesters could be heard saying that Raj Bhavan is not the personal property of the Governor. Earlier in the day, SFI State secretary Sanjeev P S, in a Facebook post, described Mr. Arlekar as an RSS leader and said Raj Bhavan is not his ancestral property. However, he did not say any other details in the social media post. The fresh row erupted days after the Raj Bhavan's usage of Bharat Mata portrait at an Environment Day event was strongly objected to by the leadership of the CPI, the second-largest coalition partner in the ruling LDF. CPI leader and Agriculture Minister P Prasad, who had boycotted the event, said that those in constitutional offices cannot convert government programmes into political events. A similar view was also expressed by CPI(M) leader and General Education Minister V Sivankutty. However, the Governor justified the act and made it clear that 'Whatever be the pressure, from whichever quarters, there will be no compromise whatsoever on Bharat Mata.'
New Indian Express
30-04-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
BJP demands name change for Jinnah Nagar in Palakkad
PALAKKAD: A fresh debate over names is brewing in Palakkad. Amid the row triggered by the BJP-ruled Palakkad municipal council's decision to name an upcoming skill development centre after RSS founder K B Hedgewar, a councillor from the party has demanded immediate rechristening of 'Jinnah Nagar', a commercial area in the heart of the city named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. In an urgent notice to the municipal council on Tuesday, BJP councillor from Ayyapuram East ward Sasikumar M demanded that the area be named after Chettur Sankaran Nair, the only Keralite to have served as the All India Congress Committee president and the sole Indian member of the Viceroy's Executive Council. Jinnah Nagar, a once residential area and now a commercial region, lies adjacent to the bustling Valiyangadi area. It is claimed a resolution passed by the municipality in 1977 had named the locality Jinnah Nagar. The BJP leaders argued that honouring Jinnah by naming a place in India after him is 'deeply inappropriate' and that 'Pakistani symbols have no place in Palakkad'. They claimed Jinnah was responsible for the Partition, which led to widespread bloodshed and the enduring conflict between India and Pakistan. They also cited the Pahalgam terror attack as evidence of ongoing threats linked to the consequences of Partition. 'It is unacceptable that an area in an Indian city still bears the name of a man who advocated the two-nation theory and divided our country,' Sasikumar told TNIE. 'It was in 1977 that the Palakkad municipality took the disgraceful step of naming a major locality after Jinnah. Congress and IUML ruled the civic body at the time. We demand the decision be reversed,' he said. 'We propose the Manjakulam road-Vandikkara street that covers Jinnah Nagar be renamed after Chettur in honour of the prominent freedom fighter, jurist and the only Malayali to head the AICC,' he said. The proposal is expected to be taken up for discussion in the next council meeting.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Political storm over move to name Palakkad school after Hedgewar
The BJP-controlled Palakkad municipality's decision to name a school for disabled children after RSS founder K B Hedgewar has come under criticism from the CPI(M) and Congress. Congress and CPI(M) councillors clashed with their BJP counterparts in the council meeting, which ratified the decision to give Hedgewar's name to the upcoming special school. Palakkad is one of the few local bodies in Kerala controlled by the BJP. Opposition councilors turned up for the meeting with placards reading 'Who is Hedgewar'. BJP leader and municipal chairperson Prameela Sasidharan on Tuesday said, 'There is no change in the decision. BJP is ruling the municipality and we will decide on naming the institutions. The Congress and CPI(M) can protest against the decision.' Pointing to some institutions in Kerala having been named after Variamkunnath Kunhahammed Haji — a leader of the 1921 Mappila rebellion — Sasidharan said, 'The town hall in Malappuram is named after Haji. Was he a freedom fighter? We will decide whose name to be given for the school.' Congress legislator from Palakkad, Rahul Mamkoottathil, said, 'This is an ideological issue. We will counter this move politically and legally. Only through violence can BJP and RSS implement their communal agenda.' Congress state president K Sudhakaran and Opposition leader V D Satheesan will visit Palakkad on Tuesday evening to take forward the protest over the naming of the school after the RSS founder. The CPI(M) also held a protest outside the municipality. Party district secretary E N Suresh Babu, who inaugurated the meeting, said,'We will never allow BJP to name an institute after a traitor. Congress is helping the RSS to implement their agenda. The Congress's agitation on this issue is just drama.' Two weeks ago, Hedgewar was at the centre of another controversy in Kerala when his portrait was displayed during a temple festival. The temple, Sree Krishnaswamy temple in Kollam, is controlled by the state government-run Devaswom board. The board has ordered a probe into the matter.
