I am hindu

20/09/2018

bajrangi

20/09/2018

proud to be hindu

12/01/2015

One of the oft-repeated theories in the wake of the general election this past May was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power by presenting a single-minded commitment to developing India’s economy. In truth, campaigns, in many parts of the country, were intensely divisive affairs. Many of those who canvassed for votes, and who have since been accorded important positions in the ruling party, often trod treacherously beyond communal boundaries. This dissonance, which was inherent in the attitude of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) towards the election, has now grown further, and it increasingly appears that the government is incapable of deviating from what is quite plausibly its real agenda.

As much as Mr. Modi would like us to believe that it is his plank of a developmental model that continues to hold the primary sway in his policies, his stark reticence in dealing with the acrimonious practices of the BJP’s allied groups seems to paint a different picture. The state, under the BJP, is slowly progressing towards more pervasive involvement in matters of ethical choice such as religion. And, the Sangh Parivar has only been emboldened by the attitude of the new regime. Week after week, its agenda of Hindutva has seen the imposition of new and stridently discordant measures. The latest salvo involves the organisation of programmes of “Ghar Vapsi,” for the conversion (or “reconversion” as the Hindu Right would have it) of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism.

The right wing and conversion

The Dharam Jagaran Samiti (DJS) — an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bajrang Dal — only recently announced that it aims to meet a target of converting one lakh Muslims and Christians into Hinduism every year. Earlier this month in Agra, the DJS reportedly converted some 200-odd Muslims to Hinduism. The event came to light after the supposed converts, many of who are among the most impoverished sections of the society, alleged that they had been misled into believing that they would be offered Below Poverty Line cards by consenting to the conversion. In spite of these contentions, the Sangh Parivar remains unmoved in its agenda. According to a report on the website Scroll.in, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has already made plans to mark the 50th anniversary of the group’s founding on February 6 with a Ghar Vapsi in Faizabad next year. Making matters worse, the VHP has claimed, as The Hindu reported, that those Muslims or Christians who reconvert to Hinduism in such programmes would be allowed to choose a caste for themselves once the VHP has investigated the tradition, faith, and culture of the convert’s ancestors.

Read: The Hindu's Sunday Anchor story: Conversion Confusion

The Ghar Vapsi programmes organised as they are by the Sangh Parivar are an attempted show of strength. They seek the state’s connivance in administering a terrifying form of majoritarianism. But, when we respond to these organised events of conversion, it is crucially important that we view them in the right light. The programmes no doubt carry enormous potential to incite violence and hatred between communities; they are immoral, wicked and capable of producing dire consequences. To that end, we must certainly impose responsibility on the state to curb the creation of an even more fractured society. But we must not see the enforcement of a national anti-conversion law, as some have, as the panacea. Such legislation can produce even greater damage; it would render nugatory our rights to freedom of conscience and religion, and in the process, it would scuttle any genuine attempts at achieving a peaceful, democratic society.

Indeed, the BJP has already been quick to take advantage of the clamour for an anti-conversion legislation. In reacting to rhetorical pressure from the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu, suggested precisely such a law as a solution for the present unrest. Yogi Adityanath, the BJP member of the Lok Sabha for the Gorakhpur constituency, who is a star attraction for the Hindu Right in Ghar Vapsi events, has already fuelled the fire. “This (Ghar Vapsi) has been happening for ages. It is an ongoing process and it will continue to happen,” he told reporters after the recent event in Agra. “If the Uttar Pradesh Government feels the reconversion programme is wrong then the way the State governments of Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat have a law ... a similar legislation should be made in U.P.” He further sought to place the Opposition in an exacting conundrum. If parties feel there should be a law against conversion, he said, “why don’t they support the move of having such a law?”

Read: Propagation without proselytisation: what the law says

Intuitively, Mr. Adityanath’s comments — sans the divisiveness — even appear logical. A law banning the use of coercion in seeking religious conversion seems to be in consonance with general principles of a democratic society. However, our experience with such legislation — as can be gathered from the impact of such statutes in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat — shows us that these laws would inevitably be fraught with interpretive maladies that often strike at the root of our right to religious freedom. What’s more, a legislation of such a nature would be simply unenforceable without applying a duplicitous standard of statutory construal. The better choice, in these circumstances, is to prosecute illegitimate acts of force and coercion, which evoke genuine sentiments of communal hate, through the general operation of the penal law aimed at maintaining public order, while leaving conversions largely unmonitored.

Restricting religious liberty

The illiberal trappings of an anti-conversion law, however, do contain a rare appeal. In fact, the Supreme Court of India has taken a kind viewing towards such laws. In 1977, in Rev. Stainislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (AIR 1977 SC 908), a five-judge bench of the court delivered a verdict on the constitutional validity of two of the earliest pieces of anti-conversion legislation in India: the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam, 1968, and the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967, both of which, with no small dash of irony, restrict, as opposed to promote, religious liberty.

The two statutes are akin in that they both envisage intimation to the District Magistrate every time a conversion takes place, and in that they both prohibit — and impose criminal liability on — conversion or attempt to conversion by the use of force or by inducement (allurement, in the case of the Madhya Pradesh law) or by any other fraudulent means. The definitions prescribed for these terms however are decidedly vague, capricious, and prone to causing substantial harm. The Orissa law, for example, defines force, inclusively, to mean “a show of force or a threat for injury of any kind including threat of divine displeasure or social excommunication.” And inducement is defined even wider, to include “the offer of any gift or gratification, either in cash or in kind,” including “the grant of any benefit, either pecuniary or otherwise.”

Interpreting Article 25

In upholding these laws, Chief Justice A.N. Ray, who delivered the judgment, adopted a muddled approach to interpreting Article 25 of the Constitution. Article 25 states that subject to public order, morality and health, and to the other fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution, all persons are equally entitled to “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.” Justice Ray interpreted the word “propagate,” to mean “to transmit or spread one’s religion by an exposition of its tenets,” but to not include the right to convert another person to one’s own religion. “It has to be remembered that Article 25(1) guarantees ‘freedom of conscience’ to every citizen, and not merely to the followers of one particular religion,” wrote Justice Ray, “and that, in turn, postulates that there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one’s own religion because if a person purposely undertakes the conversion of another person to his religion, as distinguished from his effort to transmit or spread the tenets of his religion, that would impinge on the ‘freedom of conscience’ guaranteed to all the citizens of the country alike.”

“If a person’s right to propagate his religion does not include a right to freedom of speech aimed at seeking conversions, would not such a right be purely illusory ”

Justice Ray’s reasoning, however, clearly conflates the issue. If a person’s right to propagate his religion does not include a right to freedom of speech aimed at seeking conversions, would not such a right be purely illusory? As the constitutional law scholar, H.M. Seervai, observed, in response to the decision in Stainislaus, “to propagate religion is not to impart knowledge and to spread it more widely, but to produce intellectual and moral conviction leading to action, namely, the adoption of that religion. Successful propagation of religion would result in conversion.” Therefore, when a person converts to another religion, based on speech, which aims at producing such conversion, he or she is, in fact, exercising a general right to freedom of conscience.

In confusing a person’s liberty to exercise free conscience for another person’s right to propagate religion, Justice Ray’s verdict produced damaging results. A conclusion that propagation ought to be restricted only to the edification of religious tenets is a reasoning that gratifies the interests of the majority, and the majority alone. Or, as Mr. Seervai observed, “it is productive of the greatest public mischief.”

In the decades that have followed Stainislaus, the Madhya Pradesh and Orissa laws — and similar legislation enacted in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh — have been used by State governments to target conversions to minority religions, in particular, upsetting, thereby even the most basic commitment to secularism.

The decision in Stainislaus is however incorrect not merely due to its tangible consequences. The case relates to a fundamental, and more nuanced, issue of intervention by the state — and its courts — in religious affairs. Anti-conversion laws allow the state the authority to determine what constitutes an illegitimate inducement, and, in doing so, they create a slippery slope. They promote increased governmental involvement in matters that involve pure ethical choices, and they ingrain a deep and dangerous form of paternalism: the state is always watching you, and it has nothing but your best interests in mind. This ought to be a matter of grave concern.

(Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate in the Madras High Court.)

Keywords: Freedom of religion, religious conversions, Agra Bengali Muslim community, Agra conversions, Hindutva organisations, Muslim clerics, Hindu Jagaran Samiti, VHP

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19/12/2014

Organization”) also called Rashtriya Seva Sangh , organization founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889–1940), a physician living in the Maharashtra region of India, as part of the movement against British rule and as a response to rioting between Hindus and Muslims.

Hedgewar was heavily influenced by the writings of the Hindu nationalist ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and adopted much of his rhetoric concerning the need for the creation of a “Hindu nation.” Hedgewar formed the RSS as a disciplined cadre consisting mostly of upper-caste Brahmins who were dedicated to independence and the protection of Hindu political, cultural, and religious interests. Upon Hedgewar’s death, leadership of the group was assumed by Madhava Sadashiv Golwalkar and later by Madhhukar Dattatray Deoras.

The RSS presents itself as a cultural, not a political, organization that nevertheless advocates a Hindu nationalistic agenda under the banner of hindutva, or “Hindu-ness.” The group is structured hierarchically under the guidance of a national leader, while regional leaders are charged with overseeing the local branches. A major emphasis is placed on dedication and discipline, both mental and physical, as a means to restore strength, valor, and courage in Hindu youth and to foster unity among Hindus of all castes and classes. Paramilitary training and daily exercise and drills are part of this discipline. The RSS reveres Hanuman (in Hindu mythology, the commander of the monkey army) and in the organization’s early years made him the centre of its initiation ceremony.

The RSS has historically played a major role in the Hindu nationalist movement. On several occasions it has been banned by the Indian government, led by the Congress Party, for its alleged role in communal violence. Some of the major political leaders of India’s Bharatiya Janatā Party were or still are members of the RSS.

19/12/2014

19/12/2014

आगरा में मुस्लिम समाज के 57 परिवारों के धर्म परिवर्तन के मामले ने राजनीतिक रंग अख्तियार कर लिया है। राज्यसभा में बीएसपी की नेता मायावती ने लालच के आधार पर लोगों को फुसलाने के आरोप लगाए। राज्यसभा में विपक्षी सांसदों ने इस मामले में प्रधानमंत्री के बयान की मांग करते हुए कहा कि सरकार इस मामले में दखल दे। वहीं सरकार ने कहा कि यह राज्य सरकार का मामला है।

गौरतलब है कि आगरा में सोमवार को घर वापसी के नाम पर करीब 57 मुस्लिम परिवारों का धर्म परिवर्तन कराया गया। इसके बाद अब अलीगढ़ में भी ऐसा ही एक और कार्यक्रम होने जा रहा है। आयोजकों ने बताया कि 25 दिसंबर से पहले अलीगढ़ में कई ईसाई परिवार स्वेच्छा से हिन्दू धर्म को अपनाएंगे। बताया जा रहा है कि इस कार्यक्रम में भाजपा सांसद योगी आदित्यनाथ के शामिल होंगे।
बसपा प्रमुख मायावती ने कहा कि यह गंभीर मामला है। इसमें लालच की बात सामने आ रही है। समाजवादी पार्टी की सरकार को इसे गंभीरता से लेना चाहिए। यह बीजेपी और उसके सहयोगी संगठनों का काम है। सांप्रदायिकता फैलाने की कोशिश है। यूपी के साथ देशभर में आग फैलाएंगे।

कांग्रेस के नेता दिग्विजय सिंह ने कहा कि यह कौन से दल ने किया ये बात आप भूल जाइये, प्रलोभन देकर धर्म परिवर्तन करना आपराधिक जुर्म है।

सीपीएम के नेता सीताराम येचुरी ने कहा कि लोगों को गुमराह किया जा रहा है। आरएसएस का यह कहना है कि 90 साल बाद उनको सरकार मिली है। वे कहते हैं कि देश को हिन्दू राष्ट्र के रूप में बदलेंगे। सरकार को इस बारे में जवाब देना होगा।

वहीं एमआईएम नेता असदुद्दीन औवेसी का कहना है कि अब तक इस मामले में गिरफ्तारी क्यों नहीं की गई है। ये सिर्फ राज्य की कानून-व्यवस्था का मुद्दा नहीं है, केंद्र की भी जिम्मेदारी बनती है। बीजेपी ध्रुवीकरण करना चाहती है।

वहीं इस मामले में बजरंग दल के एक कार्यकर्ता के खिलाफ धोखाधड़ी का केस दर्ज किया गया है। बजरंग दल के कार्यकर्ता किशोर बाल्मीकि पर आरोप है कि उसने जबरन धर्म परिवर्तन कराया। यह शिकायत हिन्दू बनाए गए इस्माइल ने दर्ज कराई है। इस्माइल का आरोप है कि किशोर एक महीने से उन पर दबाव डाल रहा था। धर्म परिवर्तन करने वालों में से कुछ लोगों का यह भी कहना है कि उन्होंने दबाव और लालच में आकर ऐसा किया है।

वहीं समाजवादी पार्टी का कहना है कि उनकी सरकार मामले को गंभीरता से ले रही है और इसकी जांच करेगी। आगरा से बीजेपी सांसद का कहना है कि लोगों ने स्वेच्छा से अपना धर्म बदला है। कोई दबाव नहीं था।

19/12/2014

Founding

An RSS volunteer taking the oath in full uniform

Keshav Baliram Hedgewar
RSS was founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who was a doctor in the city of Nagpur, British India.[26] Hedgewar as a medical student in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) had been a part of the revolutionary activities of the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar striving to free India from British rule.[27] He had been charged with sedition in 1921 by the British Administration and was imprisoned for one year.[28]

Hedgewar was educated by his elder brother. He then decided to study medicine in Calcutta, West Bengal. He was sent there by B. S. Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. There he lived with Shyam Sundar Chakravarthy[29] and learned the techniques of fighting from secret revolutionary organisations like the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar in Bengal. He is said to have joined Anushilan Samiti and he had contacts with revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil.[30]

Previously he was involved in such type of revolutionary activities, this fact has been disclosed by so many writers viz. C. P. Bhishikar,[31] M. S. Golwalkar,[32] K. S. Sudarshan[33] and Rakesh Sinha.[34]

After completing his studies and graduating, he returned to Nagpur, inspired by the armed movement. In his memoirs, the third chief of RSS, Balasahab Deoras narrates an incident when Hedgewar saved him and others from following the path of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.[35] Later he left the revolutionary organisations in the year 1925 and formed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

A rare group photo of six initial swayamsevaks taken on the occasion of a RSS meeting held in 1939[36]
Since Hedgewar was primarily associated with the Hindustan Republican Association, he adopted the full constitution of erstwhile HRA and implemented it forcibly in his newly established organisation RSS later on. The RSS first met in 1925 just after two months of Kakori train robbery in a small ground of Nagpur with 5-6 persons on Vijaya Dashami. After the formation of the RSS, Hedgewar kept the organisation away from having any direct affiliation to any of the political organisations then fighting British rule.[37] But Hedgewar and his team of volunteers, took part in the Indian National Congress, led movements against the British rule. Hedgewar was arrested in the Jungle Satyagraha agitation in 1931 and served a second term in prison.[28][27][38]

During World War II RSS leaders openly admired Adolf Hitler.[39] Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, who became the supreme leader of the RSS after Hedgewar, drew inspiration from Adolf Hitler's ideology of race purity.[40] RSS leaders were supportive of the Jewish State of Israel, including Savarkar himself, who supported Israel during its formation.[41] While Golwalkar admired Jews for maintaining their "religion, culture and language".[42]

M. S. Golwalkar

Atal Bihari Vajpayee first swayamsevak to become Prime Minister of India.
Indian independence movement
The RSS portrayed itself as a social movement and refused to consider itself a political party, and did not play any role in many of the efforts in Indian independence movement.[43] When the Congress passed the Purna Swaraj resolution in 1930, Hedgewar asked all the RSS branches to hoist the Indian flag and organize lectures on the need for independence.[44] However, the RSS emphatically rejected Gandhiji's willingness to cooperate with Muslims in the Anti-British struggle.[43] In 1934, Congress passed a resolution prohibiting its members from joining RSS, Hindu Mahasabha or Muslim League.[44]

Golwalkar did not want to give the British any excuse to ban the RSS.[45] When the British Government banned military drills and use of uniforms in non-official organizations, Golwalkar terminated the RSS military department.[45]

Activities during partition
The Partition of India affected millions of Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims attempting to escape the violence and carnage that followed.[46] Noted Gandhian and recipient of the highest civilian award in India, Bharat Ratna, Bhagwan Das commended the role of the "high-spirited and self-sacrificing boys" of the RSS in protecting the newly formed Republic of India, from a planned coup to topple the Jawaharlal Nehru Administration in Delhi.[47][48]

First ban and the acquittal
Following Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 by a former member[23] of the RSS, Nathuram Godse, many prominent leaders of the RSS were arrested and RSS as an organisation was banned on 4 February 1948. A Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to murder of Gandhi was set and its report was published by India's Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 1970. Accordingly Justice Kapur Commission[49] noted that the "RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organisation as such as being responsible for that most diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace. It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS."[49]:165

RSS Leaders were acquitted of the conspiracy charge by the Supreme Court of India and following an intervention by the Court, the Indian Government agreed to lift the ban with condition that the RSS adopt a formal constitution. The second Sarsanghachalak, Golwalkar drafted the constitution for the RSS which he sent to the government in March 1949. In July of the same year, after many negotiations over the constitution and its acceptance, the ban on RSS was lifted.[26]

Decolonisation of Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Goa
After the independence of India, RSS was one of the socio-political organisations who supported and participated in movements to decolonise Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which was at the time ruled by Portuguese colonists. In early 1954, volunteers Raja Wakankar and Nana Kajrekar of the RSS visited the area round about Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman several times to study the topography and also to get acquainted with locals who wanted to switch from being a Portuguese colony to being an Indian union territory. In April 1954, the RSS formed a coalition with the National Movement Liberation Organization (NMLO), and the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD) for the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.[50] On the night of 21 July, United front of Goans, a group, working independently of the coalition, captured the Portuguese police station at Dadra and declared Dadra as free. Subsequently on 28 July, volunteer teams of the RSS and AGD captured the territories of Naroli and Phiparia and ultimately the capital of Silvassa. The Portuguese forces which escaped and moved towards Nagar Haveli, were assaulted at Khandvel and were forced to retreat till they surrendered to the Indian border police at Udava on 11 August 1954. A native administration was set up with Appasaheb Karmalkar of NMLO as the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on 11 August 1954.[50]

The liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli gave a boost to the movement against the Portuguese colonialism in the Republic of India.[50] In 1955, RSS leaders demanded the end of Portuguese rule in Goa and its integration into India. When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru refused to provide an armed intervention, RSS leader Jagannath Rao Joshi led the Satyagraha agitation straight into Goa itself. He was imprisoned with his followers by the Portuguese police. The peaceful protests continued but met with severe repressions. On 15 August 1955, the Portuguese police opened fire on the satyagrahis, killing thirty or so civilians.[51]

War-time activities
The RSS was invited by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to take part in the Republic Day parade of 1963 in recognition of its volunteer work during the Sino-Indian War in 1962.[52] This event helped the RSS improve its popularity and strengthen its nationalist image.[53]

During Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri requested RSS cadres to help control traffic in Delhi, so policemen could be freed for defence duties.[52]

In 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, RSS volunteers offered their services to maintain law and order of the country and were apparently the first to donate blood.[54]

Movement against the Emergency
In 1975, the Indira Gandhi government proclaimed emergency rule in India, thereby suspending the fundamental rights and curtailing the freedom of the press.[55] This extreme step was taken after the Supreme Court of India, cancelled her election to the Indian Parliament on charges of malpractices in the election.[55] Democratic institutions were suspended and prominent opposition leaders including Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan, were arrested whilst thousands of people were detained without any proper charges taken up against them.[56] RSS, which was seen close to opposition leaders, and with its large organizational base was seen to have potential of organizing protests against the government, was also banned.[57] Police clamped down on the organization and thousands of its workers were imprisoned.[27]

The RSS defied the ban and thousands participated in Satyagraha against the ban and against the violation of human rights regulations. Later, when there was no letup, the volunteers of the RSS formed underground movements for the restoration of democracy. Literature that was censored in the media was clandestinely published and distributed on a large scale and funds were collected for the movement. Networks were established between leaders of different political parties in the jail and outside for the coordination of the movement.[58] It said that the movement was "dominated by tens of thousands of RSS cadres, though more and more young recruits are coming". Talking about its objectives it said "its platform at the moment has only one plank: to bring democracy back to India".[59] The Emergency was lifted in 1977 and as a consequence the ban on the RSS too was lifted.

Participation in land reforms
It has been noted that the RSS volunteers participated in the Bhoodan movement organised by Gandhian leader Vinobha Bhave, who had met RSS leader Golwalkar in Meerut in November 1951. Golwalkar had been inspired by the movement that encouraged land reforms through voluntary means. He pledged the support of the RSS for this movement.[60] Consequently, many RSS volunteers led by Nanaji Deshmukh participated in the movement.[1] But Golwalkar has also been critical of the Bhoodan movement, on other occasions for being reactionary and for working "merely with a view to counteracting Communism". He believed that the movement should inculcate a right and positive faith in the masses that can make them rise above the base appeal of communism.[61]

Structure
RSS does not have any formal membership. According to the official website, anyone can become member by joining the nearest "shakha", which is the basic unit.[62] Although the RSS claims not to keep membership records, it is estimated to have 2.5-6.0 million members.[63] The number of shakhas stood at 44,982 at the end of 2013.[64]

Sarsanghchalaks
The Sarsanghchalak is the head of the RSS organisation; the position is decided through nomination by predecessor. The individuals who have held the post of sarsanghchalak in this organisation are:

K. B. Hedgewar (1925–1930. 1931–1940)
Laxman Vaman Paranjpe (1930–1931)
M. S. Golwalkar (1940–1973)
Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras (1973–1993)
Rajendra Singh (1993–2000)
K. S. Sudarshan (2000–2009)
Mohan Bhagwat (incumbent since 21 March 2009)
Shakha

Sangh shakha at Nagpur headquarter
"Shakha" is Hindi for "branch". Most of the organisational work of the RSS is done through the coordination of shakhas or branches. These shakhas are run for one hour in public places. In 2004, more than 51,000 shakhas were run throughout India. The number of Shakas had fallen by over 10,000 since the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government in 2004. However, the number of Shakas has again increased to about 40,000 by mid 2014 after the return of BJP to power in Delhi in the same year.[65][66][64]

The shakhas conduct various activities for its volunteers which include physical fitness activities through yoga, exercises and games. It has other activities which emphasize on qualities like civic sense, social service, community living and patriotism.[67] The volunteers are trained in first aid and in rescue and rehabilitation operations. The volunteers are also encouraged to get involved in the developmental activities of the village or locality.[67][68]

Mission
Golwalkar describes the mission of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as the revitalisation of the Indian value system based on universalism and peace and prosperity to all.[61] Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the worldview that the whole world is one family, propounded by the ancient thinkers of India, is considered as the ultimate mission of the organisation.[69][clarification needed]

But the immediate focus, the leaders believe, is on the Hindu renaissance, which would build an egalitarian society and a strong India that could propound this philosophy. Hence, the focus is on social reform, economic upliftment of the downtrodden and the protection of cultural diversity of the natives in India.[69] The organisation says, it aspires to unite all Hindus and build a strong India, which could contribute to the welfare of the world. In the words of RSS ideologue and the second head of the RSS, Golwalkar, "in order to be able to contribute our unique knowledge to mankind, in order to be able to live and strive for the unity and welfare of the world, we stand before the world as a self-confident, resurgent and mighty nation".[61]

In Vichardhara (en. Bunch of Thoughts) [Golwalkar affirms the RSS mission of integration as:[61]

RSS has been making determined efforts to inculcate in our people the burning devotion for Bharat and its national ethos; kindle in them the spirit of dedication and sterling qualities and character; rouse social consciousness, mutual good-will, love and cooperation among them all; to make them realise that casts, creeds and languages are secondary and that service to the nation is the supreme end and to mold their behaviour accordingly; instill in them a sense of true humility and discipline and train their bodies to be strong and robust so as to shoulder any social responsibility; and thus to create all-round Anushasana in all walks of life and build together all our people into a unified harmonious national whole, extending from Himalayas to Kanyakumari.
— M. S. Golwalkar
Golwalkar also explains that RSS does not intend to compete in electioneering politics or share power. The movement considers Hindus as inclusive of Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, tribals, untouchables, Veerashaivism, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, etc. as a community, a view similar to inclusive referencing of the term Hindu in the Indian Constitution.[70][71][72]

When it came to non-Hindu religions, Golwalkar's (who once supported Hitler's creation of a supreme race by suppression of minorities)[73] view on minorities was that of extreme intolerance. In a magazine article in 1998 some RSS, and its political offshoot BJP's members have been said to have distanced itself from M.S Golwalkar's views though not entirely.[74]

The non-Hindu people of Hindustan must either adopt Hindu culture and languages, must learn and respect and hold in reverence the Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but of those of glorification of the Hindu race and culture...in a word they must cease to be foreigners; Or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment— not even citizens' rights
— M. S. Golwalkar[75]
Affiliated organizations
Further information: Sangh Parivar
Organisations which are inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's ideology refer themselves as the members of the Sangh Parivar.[63] In most of the cases, pracharaks (full-time volunteers of the RSS) were deputed to start-up and manage these organisations in their initial years.
The affiliated organisations include:[76]

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), literally, Indian People's Party (23m)[77]
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, literally, Indian Farmers' Association (8m)[77]
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, literally, Indian Labour Association (10 million as on 2009)[77]
Seva Bharti
Rashtra Sevika Samiti, literally, National Volunteer Association for Women (1.8m)[77]
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, literally, All India Students' Forum (2.8m)[77]
Shiksha Bharati (2.1m)[77]
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, World Hindu Council (2.8m)[77]
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, literally, Hindu Volunteer Association – overseas wing
Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Nativist Awakening Front[78]
Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Nursery
Vidya Bharati, Educational Institutes
Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Organisation for the improvement of tribals
Muslim Rashtriya Manch, Organisation for the improvement of Muslims
Bajrang Dal, Army of Hanuman (2m)
Anusuchit Jati-Jamati Arakshan Bachao Parishad, Organisation for the improvement of Dalits
Seva Bharati, Organisation for service of the needy (founded in 1984)
Bharatiya Vichara Kendra, Think Tank.
Vishwa Samvad Kendra,Communication Wing, spread all over India for media related work, having a team of IT professionals (samvada.org)
Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, a sociocultural organisation with the aim to spread the knowledge of Gurbani to the Indian society.[79]
Vivekananda Kendra, promotion of Swami Vivekananda's ideas with Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi as a public policy think tank with 6 Centres of study
Besides above organizations, many other Hindu organisations take inspiration from RSS's philosophy.

RSS has never directly contested elections, but supports parties that are ideologically similar. Although RSS generally endorses the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), yet at times had refused to do so due to difference of opinion with the party. Also, RSS is open to support any political party that subscribes to its views.[80][81]

Of late, the volunteers of the RSS have also held prominent political and administrative positions in India including the Prime Minister of India, the Vice President of India, the Home Minister and Ministers in the Central Government, Governors and Chief Ministers of various states and the members of elected bodies at the state and the national level and also the Indian ambassador to the US[82][83][84]

Social service and reform
The RSS has advocated the training of Dalits and other backward classes as temple high priests (a position traditionally reserved for Caste Brahmins and denied to lower castes). They argue that the social divisiveness of the Caste system is responsible for the lack of adherence to Hindu values and traditions and reaching out to the lower castes in this manner will be a remedy to the problem.[85] The RSS has also condemned "upper-caste" Hindus for preventing Dalits from worshipping at temples, saying that "even God will desert the temple in which Dalits cannot enter".[86]

Christophe Jaffrelot finds that "there is insufficient data available to carry out a statistical analysis of social origins of the early RSS leaders" but goes on to conclude, based on some known profiles that most of the RSS founders and its leading organisers, with exceptions were Maharashtrian Brahmins from middle or lower class[87] and argues that the pervasiveness of the Brahminical ethic in the organisation was probably the main reason why it failed to attract support from the low castes. He argues that the "RSS resorted to instrumentalist techniques of ethno-religious mobilisation—in which its Brahminism was diluted—to overcome this handicap".[88] However Anderson and Damle (1987) find that members of all castes have been welcomed into the organisation and are treated as equals.[1]

During M. K. Gandhi's visit to RSS Camp accompanied by Mahadev Desai and Mirabehn at Wardha in 1934, he was surprised by the discipline and the absence of untouchability in RSS and commented "When I visited the RSS Camp, I was very much surprised by your discipline and absence of untouchablity." He personally inquired to Swayamsevaks and found that they were living and eating together in the camp without bothering to know their castes.[89]

Bhimrao Ambedkar while visiting the RSS camp at Pune in 1939 observed that Swayamsevaks were moving in absolute equality and brotherhood without even caring to know the caste of others.[90] In his address to the Swayamsevaks, he said, "This is the first time that I am visiting the camp of Sangh volunteers. I am happy to find absolute equality between Savarniyas (Upper cast) and Harijans (Lower cast) without any one being aware of such difference existing." When he asked Hedgewar whether there were any untouchables in the camp, he replied that there are neither "touchables" nor "untouchables" but only Hindus.[91]

It is noted that RSS provides education to people of rural India and socially backward classes living under the poverty.[92]

In 2009, RSS claimed that western brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola were corrupting Indian culture, and introduced the cow urine soda Gau jal. The drink contained cow urine with flavors such as aloe vera and some Ayurvedic herbs. The organization believes that the "cow urine is known to treat up to 80 different incurable diseases, including diabetes".[93]

Relief and rehabilitation
The RSS was instrumental in relief efforts after the 1971 Orissa Cyclone, 1977 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone[94] and in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.[95][96] It assisted in relief efforts during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and helped rebuild villages.[94][97] Approximately 35,000 RSS members in uniform were engaged in the relief efforts,[98] and many of their critics acknowledged their role.[99] An RSS-affiliated NGO, Seva Bharati, conducted relief operations in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Activities included building shelters for the victims, providing food, clothes and medical necessities.[100] The RSS assisted relief efforts during the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.[101] Seva Bharati also adopted 57 children (38 Muslims and 19 Hindus) from militancy affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir to provide them education at least up to Higher Secondary level.[102][103] They have also taken care of victims of the Kargil War of 1999.[104]

In 2006, RSS participated in relief efforts to provide basic necessities such as food, milk, and potable water to the people of Surat, Gujarat who were affected by massive floods in the region.[105][non-primary source needed] The RSS volunteers carried out relief and rehabilitation work after the floods ravaged North Karnataka and some districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh.[106] In 2013, following the Uttarakhand floods, RSS volunteers were involved in flood-relief works through its offices set up at various affected areas.[107][108]

Court Rulings on RSS
The State of Madhya Pradesh Vs Ramshanker Raghuvanshi
Many cases have been reported in post-independence India where RSS volunteers have been discriminated against by the government due to their allegiance to the RSS.[109] In a court case of a teacher who was dismissed from service due to his past links with the RSS, the Supreme Court of India called the government's action as "McCarthyism" and a "violation of fundamental rights".[110][111][112]

A municipal school teacher, Ramshanker Raghuvanshi, was dismissed by the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh in 1974, which stated that he had taken "part in the RSS" activities and thus may have been "not a fit person to be entertained in Government service". The Supreme Court dismissed the arguments of the government and stated that the government had not adhered to the provisions of the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Syed Murtuza Fazalali and Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy observed that "India is not a police state" and pleaded that the "promise of fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution not become a forgotten chapter of history". Delivering the landmark judgment, the Court claimed that it believes "seeking a police report on person's political faith", in the first place, "amounted to the violation of fundamental rights". The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the municipal teacher and ordered his reinstatement.[110][111][112]

State of Karnataka v. Ranganathacharya Agnihotri
Similar decisions were made by the High courts of different states of India in different cases of political persecution of RSS volunteers.[109] One case involved Ranganathacharya Agnihotri, who was selected for the post of Munsiff but was not absorbed into service at least partially because he had been a volunteer of the RSS in his past. When Agnihotri approached to the then High Court of Mysore (now Karnataka High Court), he was reinstated. The Court put forth:

Prima facie the RSS is a non-political cultural organization without any hatred or ill will towards non-Hindus and that many eminent and respected persons in the country have not hesitated to preside over the functions or appreciate the work of its volunteers. In a country like ours which has accepted the democratic way of life (as ensured by the Constitution), it would not be within reason to accept the proposition that mere membership of such peaceful or non-violent association and participation in activities thereof, will render a person (in whose character and antecedents there are no other defects) unsuitable to be appointed to the post of a Munsiff.

—Karnataka High Court
Darshan Lal Jain Vs C R Irani and Others
On 15 January 2000, The Statesman carried a story about the RSS that depicted the RSS as the killer of Gandhi.[113] Subsequently the Delhi unit of the RSS filed a criminal case of defamation against author of the article A. G. Noorani along with the cartoonist and the Managing Director of the publishing house. When two of the accused did not respond to the Court summons, non-bailable warrants were issued in their name by the Court.[114] On 25 February 2002, Noorani wrote an unconditional apology to the court in which he regretted writing the defamatory article against the RSS. On 3 March 2002, The Statesman also published an apology regretting the publication of the article.[115][116]

Others
The RSS also has been banned in India thrice, during periods in which the government of the time posed that they were a threat to the state: in 1948 after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, during the Emergency (1975–77), and after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. The bans were subsequently lifted, in 1949 after the RSS was absolved of charges in the Gandhi murder case, in 1977 as a result of the Emergency being revoked, and in 1993 when no evidence of any unlawful activities was found against it by the tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. [117]

Reception
Field Marshal Cariappa in his speech to RSS volunteers said "RSS is my heart's work. My dear young men, don't be disturbed by uncharitable comments of interested persons. Look ahead! Go ahead! The country is standing in need of your services"[118]

Zakir Hussain, former President of India told Milad Mehfil in Monghyar on 20 November 1949, "The allegations against RSS of violence and hatred against Muslims are wholly false. Muslims should learn the lesson of mutual love, cooperation and organization from RSS.[119][120]

Gandhian leader and the leader of Sarvoday movement, Jayaprakash Narayan, who earlier was a vocal opponent of RSS had the following to say about it in 1977 "RSS is a revolutionary organisation. No other organisation in the country comes anywhere near it. It alone has the capacity to transform society, end casteism and wipe the tears from the eyes of the poor." He further added "I have great expectations from this revolutionary organisation which has taken up the challenge of creating a new India."[57]

Criticisms and accusations
Christophe Jaffrelot, Director of the Center for Studies and Research (CERI), observes that although the RSS with its paramilitary style of functioning and its emphasis on discipline has sometimes been seen by some as "an Indian version of fascism",[121] he argues that RSS's ideology treats society as an organism with a secular spirit, which is implanted not so much in the race as in a socio-cultural system and which will be regenerated over the course of time by patient work at the grassroots. He writes that ideology of the RSS did not develop a theory of the state and the race, a crucial elements in European nationalisms; Na**sm and Fascism"[121] and that the RSS leaders were interested in cultural as opposed to racial sameness.[122]

The likening of the Sangh Parivar to "fascism" by Western critics has also been countered by Jyotirmaya Sharma who labelled it as an "attempt by them to depress indian patriotism and unity". And that such "simplistic transference" has done great injustice to our knowledge of Hindu nationalist politics.[123]

In response to a high-profile gang r**e in Delhi, Mohan Bhagwat, the head of RSS, stated that such incidents only happen in cities, not villages. He further blamed "western values" for the increase in r**es in India. Women's groups have countered that statistics show that r**es in rural India often go unreported.[124] Bhagwat's remarks created a controversy and were criticised by activists and other political parties.[125]

Involvement with riots
The RSS has been censured for its involvement in communal riots.

After giving careful and serious consideration to all the materials that are on record,the Commission is of the view that the RSS with its extensive organisation in jamshedpur and which had close links with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had a positive hand in creating a climate which was most propitious for the outbreak of communal disturbances.
In the first instance, the speech of Shri Deoras (delivered just five days before the Ram Navami festival) tended to encourage the Hindu extremists to be unyielding in their demands regarding Road No. 14. Secondly, his speech amounted to communal propaganda. Thirdly, the shakhas and the camps that were held during the divisional conference presented a militant atmosphere to the Hindu public. In the circumstances, the commission cannot but hold the RSS responsible for creating a climate for the disturbances that took place on the 11th of April, 1979
— Jitendra Narayan in a report on Jamshedpur riots of 1979[126][127]
Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation for human rights based in New York, has claimed that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council, VHP), the Bajrang Dal, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the BJP have been party to the Gujarat violence that erupted after 56 Hindus were burnt alive in a coach of Sabarmati Express train at Godhra station by a Muslim mob.[128] Local VHP, BJP and BD leaders have been named in many police reports filed by eyewitnesses.[129] RSS and VHP claimed that they made appeals to put an end to the violence and to have asked their supporters and volunteer staff to prevent any activity that might disrupt peace.[130]

Religious violence in Odisha
Christian groups accuse the RSS alongside its close affiliates, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal (BD) and the Hindu Jagaran Sammukhya (HJS) of participation in the 2008 Religious violence in Odisha.[131]

A US-based Christian charity working in Orissa claimed that Hindu extremists persuaded mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes.[131] RSS disputed the allegations, calling them "absolutely false" and blamed the Indian National Congress for the violence.[131][132] The violence was triggered by the murder of a senior VHP member Swami Lakshamananda Saraswati.[133] The police have arrested Pradesh Kumar Das, an employee of the World Vision, a Christian Charity, from Khadagpur while escaping from the district at Buguda. In another drive, two other persons Vikram Digal and William Digal have been arrested from the house of Lal Digal, a local militant Christian, from Nuasahi at Gunjibadi, Nuagaan. They have admitted to having joined a group of 28 other assailants.[134] RSS/HJS blamed Mr. Radha Kanta Nayak, a member of Congress party of being responsible for the killing and accused a non-governmental organisation supported by him, World Vision, of being involved in religious conversions.[132]

Involvement in Babri Masjid demolition
According to the report of the Liberhan Commission the Sangh Parivar organised the destruction of the Babri Masjid.[18][135] The Commission said- "The blame or the credit for the entire temple construction movement at Ayodhya must necessarily be attributed to the Sangh Parivar".[136] It also noted that the Sangh Parivar is an "extensive and widespread organic body", which encompasses organizations, which address and bring together just about every type of social, professional and other demographic grouping of individuals.

Each time, a new demographic group has emerged, the Sangh Parivar has hived off some of its RSS inner-core leadership to harness that group and bring it within the fold, enhancing the voter base of the Parivar.[137]

The RSS has denied reliability and questioned the objectivity of the report. Former RSS chief K. S. Sudarshan posed allegations that the mosque was demolished by the government men as opposed to the Karsevaks. The RSS alleges that the commission reports are fabricated and motivated primarily by anti-Indian sentiment than any objective desire to seek justice."[138]

On the other hand, a government of India white paper dismissed the idea that the demolition was pre-organised.[139]