The RSS is a political body hiding behind the façade of a cultural organisation. It first established ABVP and then played a key role in setting up the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP
NATHURAM GODSE, a pracharak trained by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), shot the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, three times at point-blank range. He did so because Gandhi believed India belonged to people of all religions. By contrast, Godse and his parent organisations, the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, believed the country belonged only to Hindus. Hatred spread against Gandhi and the Indian national movement culminated in his assassination.
Because of this crime, India’s then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Sardar Patel, banned the RSS in 1948. He later wrote, “All their speeches were full of hatred. The ultimate result of this poison was that the country had to sacrifice Gandhiji’s invaluable life.” The ban was lifted after the Sangh promised to adopt a written constitution and function only as a cultural organisation.
Yet the RSS remains a political body behind the facade of a cultural organisation. It first established the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and then played a key role in founding the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which now runs the government at the Centre and in several states.
The Sangh claims its expenses are met through Guru Dakshina collected on Dussehra. For some reason, the Income Tax Tribunal declared this income tax-exempt. The RSS spends freely on its programmes and on running shakhas, many of which are held on government land. The amount spent on its path sanchalans (route marches) is kept secret. It is said that over ₹100 crore was spent on constructing the RSS office in Delhi. All these substantial expenses appear to be beyond government scrutiny.
The claim of being a cultural organisation was accepted by the government and most people, and until now the Sangh has expanded rapidly, establishing lakhs of shakhas and enrolling several lakh swayamsevaks. Jawaharlal Nehru realised the nature of the Sangh very early. But until a few years ago, no political party, including the Indian National Congress, raised questions on these issues, as a result of which the organisation has been acting arbitrarily, disregarding legal provisions and moral values.
During the last few years, Congress has tried to correct this anomaly, and Rahul Gandhi in particular has been raising logical and lawful questions regarding the RSS. He had said that people associated with the RSS were responsible for Gandhiji’s assassination, for which a case was filed against him. As part of this policy of taking on the RSS, Karnataka’s Home Minister Priyank Kharge has now asked the RSS to register itself and be accountable to the Indian state.
In a letter dated June 13 to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he sought detailed information about the organisation’s legal status, financial arrangements, office bearers, compliance with tax rules, and its activities. The RSS officially claims that it has 60,000 shakhas in the country and abroad and crores of swayamsevaks. In his publicly released statement, Kharge said that this is not merely a legal requirement but also has a moral aspect. He wrote, “Given the scale at which its activities are conducted, and its vast influence and reach, the RSS must be made to ensure the highest level of transparency, accountability, and compliance with constitutional provisions.”
This letter was released publicly. In his response, RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat said that they won’t respond to it. This response gives the impression that Bhagwat believes that he and his organisation are above the law and the Indian Constitution.
Anyway, the RSS does not have faith in the Indian Constitution. Three days after the Indian Constitution came into effect, the RSS mouthpiece Organiser wrote in its editorial that the Constitution, drafted by Dr Ambedkar and approved by the Indian Constituent Assembly, is not suitable for our country because it does not include the glorious values of our sacred texts.
A former RSS chief, Rajendra Singh, had said that the Constitution should be rejected. Another chief, K Sudarshan, even said that since the Constitution is based on Western values, it should be replaced by one based on sacred Indian texts.
One of the objectives of the “400 paar” slogan raised in the 2024 general elections was also to achieve the number required in the Lok Sabha to change the Constitution.
The reason Bhagwat considers his organisation above the Constitution may also be the fact that although he holds no official position in the Government of India, he still gets security at the level of the prime minister. Responding to what Priyank Kharge said, Bhagwat stated, “We do not maintain secrecy. Our work is carried out in open grounds. We invite people and tell them about ourselves. All these allegations are merely political and various kinds of tactics are being tried… Hinduism is not registered, and many other institutions are also not registered.” The question is, did these people publicly discuss the plan to demolish the Babri Masjid?
One argument given by Bhagwat in favour of not registering the Sangh was that Hinduism is also not registered! This statement equating Hinduism with the RSS is, in a way, an insult to Hinduism. Hinduism has many sects, such as Nath, Tantra, Shaiva, Siddhanta, and Bhakti. The Hindutva that the RSS propagates is Brahmanism, which is based on caste and gender hierarchy. At the very least, it can be said that this argument does not stand up to scrutiny.
Not surprisingly, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently recommended that the US government impose targeted sanctions on the RSS. The proposed measures include freezing the organisation’s assets and denying visas to its members.
It is not surprising that the demand for the RSS’s registration is being raised. What is surprising is why this demand was not raised earlier. Many government officials sympathetic to the RSS’s ideology are engaged in protecting its interests. The rules related to donations and expenditures alone should be the biggest reason for making registration mandatory. Similarly, attention should also be paid to the RSS carrying out political activities while claiming to be a cultural organisation.
Along with this, the issue of non-compliance with the promises made while requesting the lifting of the ban should also be kept in mind. The time has come to give importance to the Indian Constitution and Indian nationalism and to ask not only the RSS but also all other such organisations, for whom it is required, to register themselves.
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Ram Puniyani is an eminent author, activist and former professor of IIT Mumbai. The views expressed here are the author’s personal and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.
