Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding the organisation's lack of formal registration. “Many things are not registered. Even Hindu dharma (religion) is not registered,” Bhagwat stated, according to reports on Sunday, November 9.
He pointed to the fact that the RSS has been banned three times in the past, adding, “hence the government has recognised us”. “If we were not there, whom did they ban?” Bhagwat argued. The RSS is the ideological parent body of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his public engagement career with the organisation before entering full-time politics.
Bhagwat made these comments while answering selected questions at an event in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where the Congress-led state government has been restricting the RSS's access to public spaces. State minister Priyank Kharge has been vocally critical, describing the RSS as a “communal” organisation.
Highlighting the RSS's century-long history, Bhagwat questioned, “Should we have registered RSS with British government as it was established in 1925?” Regarding the period after Independence in 1947, he noted, “The government did not make it compulsory to register.”
The RSS chief also addressed the organisation's tax status, stating that the income tax department and courts have “noted that RSS is a body of individuals” and have exempted it from tax.
A day earlier, also in Bengaluru, Bhagwat emphasised that the RSS seeks to organise Hindu society not for power but for “the glory of the nation”.
He asserted that Hindus are "responsible" for Bharat and reiterated the RSS's longstanding definition of Hindu as encompassing all Indians. There is no "Ahindu" (non-Hindu) in India, he argued, because everyone in the country, including Muslims and Christians, are descendants of the same ancestors, and the “core culture of the country is Hindu”.
These remarks were delivered on Saturday during a lecture titled ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons’.
Explaining the RSS's objectives, Bhagwat said, “When an organised force is raised in the form of Sangh (RSS), it doesn’t want power. It doesn’t want prominence in the society. It just wants to serve, organise the society for the glory of Bharat Mata (Mother India). Somehow, in our country, people found it very hard to believe, but now they believe.”
He further declared, “Sanatan Dharma is Hindu Rashtra and the progress of Sanatan Dharma is the progress of Bharat.”
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Acknowledging the challenges faced by the RSS, Bhagwat reflected on its history of bans by various governments. “There were two bans; a third as well, but it was not much of a ban. There was opposition, criticism. Swayamsevaks were murdered. In every way, it was tried that we should not thrive. But Swayamsevaks give their all to the Sangh, and don’t want anything in return.”
Stressing that the RSS is not a reactionary entity, he stated, "It is not in opposition to anything. It is an organisation ‘of’ the society, not ‘in’ the society. Now we have a strong presence in the country, but we are not satisfied, because the whole society has to be organised. Organisation of society through individual development."
"We want to organise the Hindu society, the whole of the Hindu society — all 142 crore people with so many religious denominations. And some of them came from outside during the course of history," Bhagwat said, adding that the RSS has initiated dialogue with those who do not consider themselves Hindus.
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