What the Indian National Congress was to the country before the Independence, the Rahstriya Swayamsevak Sangh has become after the Independence. Like it was unimaginable to think of India without the Congress in the pre-Independence era, it is unimaginable to think about India without RSS in the post-Independent India.
Sceptics’ and critics’ criticism of the RSS notwithstanding, the organisation has made immense contribution in helping to build a strong sense of belonging towards the national identity. Like the Congress sparked the fire of nationalism during the freedom struggle, the Sangh has done the same thing after Independence with the same success.
Whether one likes it or not, it is a fact that the RSS has become a national movement with footprints across the country in every state, including the south and the north-east. It is the largest ‘single entity’ voluntary organisation in the world with about 50 lakh members.
There are other voluntary organisations globally like the Red Cross, with about 10 crore members, but they are not active or closely knit the way RSS volunteers are. The Red Cross membership is token in nature, while that of the RSS is proactive.
The RSS, given its mission and motto, has restricted its activities within India, although its members are spread among the Indian diaspora in different countries across the world.
The biggest success of the ‘Sangh’, as it is commonly known, is having been instrumental in helping the BJP not only to win successive elections at the Centre and in the states, but to set the national discourse. Not surprisingly, the RSS does enjoy a lot of clout and control over the BJP through the network of full-time pracharaks who are deputed to the party for helping it in the organisational work in multiple ways.
The RSS-BJP relationship is unique in the world. While the BJP is counted as part of the bigger ‘Sangh Parivaar’ (the RSS family), it maintains and retains the functional autonomy. The mutual trust between the Sangh and the BJP is best exemplified by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who while heading the government has ensured that the Sangh “is seen” to be important and integral to BJP’s working. Modi is the first Prime Minister who has openly, publicly, and deservingly glorified the role of the RSS in nation building. This is a direct snub to those who have been levelling baseless allegations against the RSS.
The RSS has come a long way during the last 100 years to acquire centre stage in Indian political system and discourse. This is despite the fact that the Sangh does not directly get involved in politics. At the same time, it is not like any hidden force behind the government acting as an “extra constitutional” authority over the elected government. It has ensured to maintain a respectful distance.
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The greatest strength of the RSS is its ability to set the agenda for the national discourse and popularise and strengthen it. The RSS does it by word of mouth without any of its leaders or spokespersons frequenting television studios or social media platforms. Even now, the RSS allows very limited media exposure. This goes with the RSS’ theme and philosophy of “selfless service without self-projection or glorification”.
That is what the volunteers do in the daily 80,000 ‘shakhas’ across the country. The ‘shakhas’ are the morning and evening drill sessions, which involve physical and ideological activity. In fact, the main strength of the BJP lies in these ‘shakhas’ held twice a day and 24x7 without any break. It is here in these ‘shakhas’ that issues are debated and discussed and from here the agenda travels to the family and friends and eventually comes in the public domain.
These ‘shakhas’ help the RSS and through it, the BJP eventually, to gauge the mood at the grassroots, besides propagating its own agenda. Social media is a comparatively recent phenomenon, just a decade old, while the RSS has been consistently progressing for the last 100 years. It has not seen any decline. It has not seen any division within its ranks. It is quite rare that any RSS volunteer would be found involved in any criminal activity. The ‘Sangh’ does help in the individual character building.
The RSS may be the only organisation, which has survived three bans by hostile governments. It was banned first in 1948 in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Second time it was banned during the emergency and for the third time it was banned in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. Every time the governments failed to justify the ban against the organisation as nothing was found against it.
While it is a fact that an overwhelming majority of the RSS volunteers supports the BJP, there are people in other parties, particularly the Congress, who have a soft corner for the organisation (RSS). When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in Gujarat that there were RSS sympathisers within the party ranks, he was not much off the mark. There indeed are. That is because, unlike Gandhi, those Congress supporters do not agree with their leader on his approach to the RSS.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is a social reconstruction movement, which has succeeded in building a national consensus. It believes, and rightly so, that India’s identity has its deep roots in its ancient history and culture. It has succeeded in bringing that discourse in the mainstream and made it widely acceptable.
While the continuous BJP rule at the Centre for three consecutive terms is indeed one of the important success stories for the ‘Sangh Parivar’, but greater than that is the acceptance, acknowledgement and the implementation of its agenda like the abrogation of the Article 370 and the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
That is the power and strength of the RSS and all this has come in 100 years involving generations of selfless workers and leaders, for whom the nation came first.
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