Many people have wrong ideas about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its chief Mohan Bhagwat told an invited audience of around 1,000 people assembled in Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, on August 26, 27, and 28. Many critics changed their views once they got to know the Sangh better, he said, citing Jayaprakash Narayan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and Pranab Mukherjee. JP was a strident critic of the RSS before he joined hands with it against Indira Gandhi; Azad was appreciative of the RSS’s discipline in its early years and turned critical later; and Mukherjee, a Congress leader, on Mr. Bhagwat’s invitation, addressed an RSS gathering, leaving a lasting imprint for history.
The RSS, founded by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, is turning 100 in October 2025. Mr. Bhagwat, its sixth chief, is turning 75 on September 11, 2025. Mr. Bhagwat spoke for more than four hours over the three days. On the last day, he answered written questions dropped by the attendees over the first two days. He also met diplomats, professionals from various fields, and journalists over the three days and answered questions across the table.
Over time, all politics need remakes. Does the RSS change over time, and if yes, is there anything that is immutable about it, Mr. Bhagwat was asked. There are three articles of faith that do not change, he said. First is the faith in the formation of the individual; second, change has to happen in society, and the system will change itself; and third, “Hindustan is a Hindu rashtra.” “Barring this, everything else can change about the Sangh,” he said.
The Sangh is walking a tightrope between flexibility and permanence on a range of issues, Mr. Bhagwat’s responses suggest. He wants to get more people to follow the Sangh’s views, without losing those who are already in the camp.
Paradox of state power
The moral claims of the RSS — discipline, sacrifice, incorruptibility, etc. — were easier to make when it was distant from power. But the last decade of near absolute control of state power across the country has expanded its influence but also weakened its claim of aloofness. By endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s complete authority over government, Mr. Bhagwat sought to dispel suggestions of discord between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the RSS, and also underscored a degree of separation between the two.
The message in the RSS chief’s speech
“When our volunteers do good work outside, they keep the credit; when they do not work well, we get the blame,” he said half in jest, though not in the context of Mr. Modi. Power is valuable to have, but it also wants a distance from power. “… that is completely wrong. It is simply not possible,” he addressed the question of the RSS running the BJP or the government. “I have been running a shakha for 50 years. If someone gives me advice about a shakha, then I am the expert. But they are running the state, and have been doing so for many years. They are the experts on the state. They know my expertise, and I know theirs.” The distinction between running the state and running the organisation is marked, and could also possibly suggest that the Sangh wants to have its say in the appointment of the new BJP president, which is delayed by several months now. To a specific question on the issue, Mr. Bhagwat’s response was enigmatic. “Had we been deciding, it would not have taken this long!”
“If there are references [in the Manusmriti] that support untouchability or caste discrimination, we do not accept them.. Smriti (social codes) change with time. If a new smriti is needed, then our religious leaders must create one – one that includes all sections, sects, sub-sects, castes, and sub-castes of Indian society, and that guides practical conduct. That is what we believe is necessary”
Mohan Bhagwat
The BJP is the political front of the RSS, and a video on its 100 years noted the electoral successes of the BJP as its own. But the Sangh is open to supporting other parties too, Mr. Bhagwat said. “They have to ask,” he said, recounting an incident from the 1980s when catering arrangements for a National Students’ Union of India (NSUI, the Congress’s student wing) camp in Nagpur went awry. “I was a pracharak in the town then, and Rajiv Gandhi was in charge of the NSUI. The local MP of the Congress called me for help, and our volunteers ensured that canteens were up and running in a matter of a few hours….” “All they need to do is to ask,” he responded to a question on why the Sangh does not support other parties. “From our side, there is no obstruction. The obstruction is from their side. So, respecting their wishes, we step back,” he said. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition and the current supremo of the Congress party, is a strident critic of the RSS.
With justice question back, BJP’s harmony platform faces fresh challenge
‘We, the People’
All politics is about dividing people into members and non-members, citizens and aliens. The Sangh’s conception of the people is cultural and eternal; but then it comes into conflict with the principles of modern nation states. “We are not a federation of communities or societies. We are one people. We, the People…” Mr. Bhagwat said, outlining his conception of a Hindu society that is autonomous from the state. Even before there was a political entity of the Indian state, the Hindu nation existed, he said. “There were many kings and kingdoms, and they even fought wars among them. Still, the nation was one across the land,” he said.
One community with a shared heritage can be spread across different states, and it happens in other parts of the world also. The partition of 1947 divided the territory, but people are the same. When the feeling of shared ancestry returns, “whatever the political or economic arrangements of the time, everyone will prosper, live happily, and peacefully, and friendships will grow. Therefore, waking up from this nightmare of a divided India is necessary… Akhand Bharat is a reality,” he said. On this point, he comes close to thinkers who suggest there can be a common South Asian future.
If all of the subcontinent is one, the Akhand Bharat, why bother about immigration from Bangladesh? It is not a question of cultural oneness but international law and adherence to it, the RSS sarsanghchalak said. “You ask whether stopping infiltrators is right… One must come with permission. If permission is denied, one should not enter. Entering by ignoring laws and regulations is wrong… Therefore, infiltration must be stopped.” Partition cannot be undone, and international borders as they stand today are real and need to be enforced with the power of the state.
Islam and Christianity
Mr. Bhagwat addressed questions related to two of the most contentious aspects of RSS history and ideology — its views on Islam and Christianity, and caste. “From the first day Islam came to India until today, it has remained here and will remain here. Any Hindu who thinks Islam will vanish is not thinking in the Hindu way,” he said, adding that Islam and Christianity were two different forms of worship that should not have any impact on the cultural heritage they share. Still, divisions persist, he said, and this is because of the mistrust between communities. Hindu mistrust in other communities comes from “their lack of self-confidence”, while the Muslims and Christians remain influenced by separatist thoughts.
“We know that Muslims and Christians will connect to a common consciousness of our past… when they reject the narrative that says, ‘because our worship is different, we are separate from this society and culture’”
Mohan Bhagwat
So how to build trust and move forward? Mr. Bhagwat thinks Hindus are now consolidated and strong, and they should feel no insecurity. “… there is no need to look for a Shivling under every mosque,” he said, reiterating a point he made earlier too, in an oblique reference to numerous incidents across the country involving Hindu activists, BJP governments, and the judiciary initiating or advancing claims over mosques. But Hindu claims in three places are distinct and Muslims should respect that, according to Mr. Bhagwat – Ayodhya, Kashi, and Mathura. In Ayodhya, a temple has been built on the site where a masjid was destroyed by a crowd mobilised with the support of the RSS in 1992; Hindu claims over mosques adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura are being litigated.
While the Hindus should make no claims over any more Muslim places of worship other than the three, the Muslims and Christians will have to change their outlook to create trust among Hindus, Mr. Bhagwat said. “We know that Muslims and Christians will connect to a common consciousness of our past… when they reject the narrative that says, ‘because our worship is different, we are separate from this society and culture.’ Muslims and Christians must see that ‘we are not Europeans, we are not Arabs or Turks. We are Indians, our ancestors are Indian’.” When that becomes the language of their leaders, when that is taught, everything will be fine. Hindu society is waiting eagerly for this — it must happen,” he said. Mr. Bhagwat feels talking about Hindu-Muslim unity is redundant. “They are already one.”
Project of Hindu unity
Unity of castes is something that is central to RSS thinking always. The Sangh’s expansion and the BJP’s electoral victories are linked to their increasing support among subaltern castes. Mr. Bhagwat is clear that the Sangh will take any steps necessary to keep that trajectory intact, including a complete rejection of Manusmriti, a two-millennia-old code of conduct covering social norms, duties, laws, and ethics for individuals and communities. Its prescriptions with regard to subaltern castes and women are in conflict with modern values and the Indian Constitution. “… if there are references [in the Manusmriti] that support untouchability or discrimination, we do not accept them. Smriti (social codes) change with time. If a new smriti is needed, then our religious leaders must create one — one that includes all sections, sub-sects, castes, and sub-castes of Indian society, and that guides practical conduct. That is what we believe is necessary.”
Mr. Bhagwat is very sensitive to the upper-caste Hindu sentiments in this regard. They have been the original supporters of the RSS’s Hindutva philosophy, but he tells them concessions for the oppressed classes are their dharma. He addressed opposing views within the Sangh on the issue of reservation. “Injustice was done, so there must be redress. Those who committed the injustice are long gone. Today we may say, ‘We don’t believe in this any more, why should we suffer for it?’ That too is an argument. Both arguments have merit, but that is not the solution. The solution is to empathise with the sentiments of those who have suffered.” He reiterated the slogan he has given for Hindu unity — “one temple, one well, one cremation ground” for all. Several villages across the country continue to report caste violence related to participation in temple rituals and use of water sources and cremation grounds by subaltern classes. Mr. Bhagwat said the RSS campaign on this issue has nudged people in many villages to share these resources, citing examples from Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.
In 2018, during a three-part lecture series as he did last week, Mr. Bhagwat publicly distanced the RSS from certain views of M.S. Golwalkar, particularly those concerning Muslims, as found in the book Bunch of Thoughts. Golwalkar, the second chief of the Sangh, had labelled Muslims, Christians, and Communists as “internal enemies” of India, and suggested that Muslims be denied citizenship rights. The Sangh now explains that they were said in the heat and anxiety of Partition violence, and the organisation does not follow those beliefs. Though the partial public disowning of Golwalkar happened in 2018, the Sangh had deleted those views when it compiled a new anthology titled Sri Guruji: Vision and Mission 10 years earlier in 2008. The new book retained only Golwalkar’s “abiding thoughts” deemed relevant across time, the RSS says.
Opponents of the RSS try to understand it through texts written by its leaders or scriptures such as the Manusmriti. The RSS, meanwhile, was overlooking the text, and reaching out to the subaltern classes of people around the country, an attempt it continues to date. “In our tradition, there are two authorities — shastra (scripture) and loka (the people). In practice, people follow what suits them, not always what is written in texts. That is why there is no single book for Hindus. Over time, people have interpreted texts in ways convenient to them,” he said. So, does the RSS merely follow the people, or does it try to change the people? “We have to take the people along. If we try to change too soon, we try to U-turn a vehicle that is going fast, it can only cause accident,” he said.
Mr. Bhagwat’s challenge in the 100th year of the Sangh is not convincing his critics and opponents — that would be impossible and immaterial. The more material and consequential question for the Sangh and the country is whether he could turn around the Sangh’s own supporters to stop looking for Shivling in every mosque and discard caste discrimination. Its critics too might wish the RSS luck on this count.
This article was Published in the Hindu on September 08, 2025 02:23 am IST
Abouth the Author
VARGHESE K. GEORGE is Resident Editor, The Hindu, in New Delhi. He has previously worked as the newspaper’s U.S. correspondent, based in Washington, DC, and political editor, based in New Delhi. He has written extensively on politics, political economy, society and the foreign policy of India and the U.S., particularly the rise of nationalism in both countries in recent years and its impact on their ties with the world. Prior to joining The Hindu, he was chief of bureau at Hindustan Times. He has also worked for the Indian Express in various roles. His reports have won several awards, including the Ramnath Goenka Journalist of the Year, the Prem Bhatia Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Reporting, the Transparency International Award for fighting corruption and the International Press Institute Award for Excellence in Journalism. His book Open Embrace: India-US ties in a Divided World is an exploration of how hyper nationalist domestic politics are reshaping the strategic priorities of the world’s oldest and the biggest democracies, and their relations. The book draws from his experience of covering domestic politics and foreign policy in both India and the US. Varghese has an M.A. in Modern Indian History (Delhi University) and M.Phil. in International Relations (Jawaharlal Nehru University). Email: [email protected]
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