Last week, Delhi’s elites were treated to a three-day lecture series by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat on the occasion of the organisation’s centenary. In his usual unostentatious and candid manner, Bhagwat sought to present the 21st-century face of the organisation to the 1,000-plus audience at the Vigyan Bhawan auditorium.
The RSS leadership uses the phrase “progressive unfoldment” to describe its journey of 100 years. First used by the well-known thinker from the organisation, Dattopant Thengadi, the phrase essentially means that the organisation would not like to be confined to a rigid ideology — it wants to remain open-ended and adaptive to societal changes. While its end objective remains building param vaibhav — ultimate glory — of the Hindu Rashtra, the path to achieving that coveted goal was to be graduality and contemporaneity.
The Sangh’s current leadership — Bhagwat and his next-in-command, Dattatreya Hosabale — strongly believes in this principle of “constant evolution”. While Hosabale called it “evolution unfolding” without compromising core principles, Bhagwat said that everything in the Sangh is changeable, except the fundamental belief that “Hindustan is Hindu Rashtra”.
Bhagwat’s lecture series vividly portrayed the unfoldment in the thought and culture of the organisation. Successive RSS leaders have contributed to the unfoldment. For K B Hedgewar, the founder, the RSS was essentially a mission to build a physically strong and emotionally united Hindu society that would not only secure independence but also ensure that the nation thrives on its own soul power. Guruji Golwalkar, his successor, initiated the process of expanding the organisational network into all walks of national life. While Balasaheb Deoras, the third chief, put more emphasis on dealing with social issues like casteism, untouchability and disharmony within Hindu society, later chiefs propelled the organisation into newer areas like media, culture, literature, and even establishing think tanks.
Bhagwat’s most significant contribution in the past 25 years — first as sarkaryavah and then as sarsanghchalak — has been to bring greater openness to organisational activity. At 100, the RSS seems to have undergone a major transformation from being a shakha-centric organisation to a swayamsevak-centric one. While the shakha — the unique daily meeting — continues to occupy an important place, today’s RSS is recognised more by the thousands of projects and activities its members undertake across multiple sectors. There was a time when the Sangh used to be described as “Sangh yani shakha; shakha yani karyakram” — Sangh means shakha, shakha means the activity within. But today, a more apt description could be: “Sangh yani swayamsevak; swayamsevak yani prakalp” or Sangh means swayamsevak; swayamsevak means the projects he undertakes.
Today, 90 per cent of the Sangh is outside the shakha. That calls for greater engagement and accommodation with the wider society, a need Bhagwat diligently understood and put into action. Deoras and later chiefs like K S Sudarshan used to meet Muslim and Christian leaders. But that was sporadic. Bhagwat took it to the next level through more frequent formal and informal engagements, which gave more reassurance to these leaders. From the famous statement calling upon the Hindus not to “look for a Shivling under every mosque” to the insistence that “the day it is said that we do not need Muslims, that day it will not be Hindutva”, to the categorical assertion that the RSS would not be a party to any future struggle for temples in Kashi and Mathura, Bhagwat demonstrated a new vision of accommodation and acceptance. At Vigyan Bhawan, he emphasised that “no Hindu thinks there will be no Islam”.
Bhagwat wants the centenarian organisation to chart a more open and inclusive course — this has been received well by wider sections of society. Yet, there is scope for debate over some of his averments, both within and outside the RSS. The assumption that religions were nothing more than different “modes of worship” may need further deliberation given the religious strife being witnessed not only in India but globally. Semitic faiths are well-developed ideologies that need significant reform to be assimilated into the mainstream societies of various countries, the lack of which is leading to rising tensions and conflicts in Europe and elsewhere. Bhagwat approvingly quoted Maulana Azad’s statement that “changing religion does not change your community”. But the fact remains that a large number of Muslims did accept Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s formulation over that of Azad.
The other issue that may call for greater debate was Bhagwat’s call to families to have three children. As per the current data, over 10 per cent of Indian families have three children or more. India’s total fertility rate stands at 1.9 as per the UN Population Fund data for 2025. This is significantly below the TFR of 2.1 that is needed to maintain population balance. These figures have to be analysed scientifically. At the current fertility rate, India’s population will reach 1.7 billion by 2065 before starting to decline. Bhagwat’s suggestion that more families should have three children is welcome to the extent of restoring the TFR to 2.1, but going beyond this figure is fraught with the challenge of population explosion.
That’s why Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “greater discussion and awareness on population explosion” in his 2019 Independence Day address. He went on to describe population control as “an act of patriotism”. In the last few decades, states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Odisha and Telangana have promulgated 2-child norm on citizens for government jobs and eligibility for local body elections.
These debates apart, Bhagwat’s vision for Bharat reflects the 21st-century unfoldment of the RSS. At the stroke of its centenary, as the organisation occupies the national centre stage, its voice brims with confidence and the vision expands to include all the 1.45 billion Indians.
Akhand Bharat begins there.
By Ram Madhav
Ram Madhav is an Indian politician and social leader. Dr Madhav is currently the President of India Foundation (IF), a New Delhi-based Think tank. Previously, he has served as the National General Secretary of the BJP from 2014 to 2020 and handles affairs of Jammu and Kashmir for the party.
A renowned strategic thinker and author, Dr Madhav has to his credits a diverse set of publications spanning multiple domains and disciplines. Some of his most recent works include “The New World: 21st Century Global Order and India” ; “Our Constitution Our Pride” ; “The Indian Reality” ; “Partitioned Freedom” ; and “The Hindutva Paradigm” amongst others.
As a political philosopher and geopolitical observer, Dr Madhav has been at the centre of curating many Track 1.5 and Track 2 initiatives placing the India story on global stage. As a prolific speaker, Dr Madhav has addressed various multi national forums across the world.
(The article was originally published in Indian Express on September 06, 2025 as a part of Dr Madhav’s column titled ‘Ram Rajya’. Views expressed are personal.)
