Updated on: Nov 09, 2025 11:59 am IST
“We were banned thrice; hence government has recognised us. If we were not there, whom did they ban?” said Bhagwat, who leads the ideological parent body of BJP
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has responded to an ongoing debate over why the organisation is not formally registered. “Many things are not registered. Even Hindu dharma (religion) is not registered,” Bhagwat has said, as per news agency PTI on Sunday, November 9.
He also cited the three times the RSS has been banned in the past, “hence the government has recognised us”.
“If we were not there, whom did they ban?” argued Bhagwat, who leads the umbrella organisation that’s the parent body of the ruling BJP, and from which PM Narendra Modi started his public engagement career before moving to fulltime politics.
He also claimed the income tax department and courts have “noted that RSS is a body of individuals”, and exempted it from tax.
Referring to the RSS’s founding 100 years ago, he further argued, “Should we have registered RSS with British government as it was established in 1925?” As for after Independence in 1947, Bhagwat said, “The government did not make it compulsory to register.
