Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that the Sangh was a legally recognised “body of people” and as such, did not require formal registration. The remarks came amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the organisation’s presence in Karnataka’s social and political fabric, wherein state minister Priyank Kharge has repeatedly questioned the organisation’s registration status and sought a ban on its events held in government-owned public spaces.
“RSS was established in 1925, so do you expect us to have registered with the British government?” Bhagwat said, addressing an in-house question-and-answer session during the second day of the scheduled two-day lecture series, titled “100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons” in Bengaluru.
“We are categorised as a body of individuals, and we are a recognised organisation,” he said. Taking a pot shot at the Congress, he said, “We were banned thrice. So the government has recognised us. If we were not there, who did they ban?”
He added that the status thus mandated an associated tax exemption by the income tax department.
He added that official recognition was also proved by successive governments’ actions against the organisation. “We were banned thrice. So the government has recognised us. If we were not there, whom did they ban?,” he said.
Bhagwat also sought to hit out at allegations of discrimination and fundamentalism within the organisation, saying that the Sangh did not support any particular political formations and did not impose any caste or faith-based restrictions on the enrollment of their cadre. “No party is ours, and all parties are ours because they are Bharatiya parties. We support Rashtraneeti, not Rajneeti. We have our views, and we want to take this country in a particular direction. Those who will drive in that direction, we will support them,” he said. He added that the Sangh does not ask the religion or caste of anyone attending its daily shakhas.
“Muslims come to shakha, Christians come to shakha, as all other castes from the routinely called Hindu society, they also come to shakha. But we don’t keep a separate count, and we don’t ask who they are. We are all sons of Bharat Mata. That is how the Sangh works,” he said.
The only criterion for joining that Bhagwat emphasised was self-identification with a larger national identity. “People of different denominations — Muslims, Christians — any denomination, can join the Sangh but keep your separateness out. Your speciality is welcome. But when you come into a shakha, you come as a son of Bharat Mata and a member of this Hindu society,” he said.
“The Sangh’s work is to unite society, and politics by nature is divisive, so we keep out of politics. We support policies, and especially now that we are a force, we will exert our force to support the right policy — not a person, not a party, but policy.”
Citing the Ram Mandir movement as an example of policy-based support, Bhagwat said, “We wanted to have Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. So our Swayamsevaks supported those who stood by its construction. The BJP was there; if Congress had supported that, our Swayamsevaks would have voted for that party also.”
In response to a question on whether the RSS favoured its own flag over the Tricolour, Bhagwat said the group adopted its Bhagwa Dwaj in 1925, when the organisation was set up. “The national flag was designed in 1933. The flag committee had unanimously recommended a traditional bhagwa (saffron) flag. But then (Mahatma) Gandhiji intervened and for some reason, he said three colours, saffron on the top. Since its creation, the Sangh has always respected, paid respect to and protected the Tricolour,” he said.
Bhagwat also pointed out that the Communist Party also had its own red flag , and the Congress had a tricolour emblazoned with a charkha (spinning wheel). “…The Republican Party has a blue flag. So we have our Bhagwa and we respect our national flag,” he said.
Touching on India’s relationship with Pakistan, Bhagwat said peace between the two nations could exist only if the neighbouring country stopped its attempts to harm India. “It is Pakistan which doesn’t want peace with us. As long as it gets satisfaction from causing harm to Bharat, it will keep on doing it,” he said. “If it continues on that path, it will learn a lesson one day,” he added, referring to the 1971 war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Bhagwat has on several occasions said that the RSS considers people of different faiths who are Indians as ‘Hindus’.
Addressing how the Sangh, which is celebrating its centenary, proposes to woo the younger generation, Bhagwat said, “We have made many changes in what we do, but the basics remain the same… If they (young people) are interested in AI and social media, we will have to go there and contact them.”
Meanwhile, reacting to Bhagwat’s remarks on social media, D Raja, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) wrote: “Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks today are yet another rehearsal of the RSS’s favourite act, distortion wrapped as defence.”
“The CPI too was founded in 1925, was banned many times, it is registered, accountable to the Indian Constitution, and transparent, like many other organisations that challenged colonial rule. The RSS chose secrecy then and sustains it now,” he added.
