Lifting the ban on government employees participating in RSS activities

We believe in an India that includes everyone and does not exclude anybody. That is why we try to approach everyone – RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat

Partha Pratim Mazumder

(parthapratimmazumder1988@gmail.com)

One day, Bharat must stand before the world as a self-confident, resurgent, and mighty nation. Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory through organizing the entire society. It is not a political agenda; it is an ideological sadhana for a Rastra. Verily, this is the one real vision of RSS.

In a significant move, the Modi government retracted the ban on government employees participating in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities, marking a significant shift in policy that dates back 58 years. The original order, issued in 1966, was a reaction to the large-scale anti-cow slaughter protest on November 7, 1966, which saw significant mobilization led by RSS-Jana Sangh. The protest turned tragic, with several deaths due to police firing. Subsequently, on November 30, 1966, Indira Gandhi’s government banned government staff from joining the RSS, likely as a measure to curb the influence and political clout demonstrated by the organization during the protest. The lifting of this ban reflects a change in the political and administrative landscape, acknowledging that the original order may not have been necessary. It signifies the government’s intent to allow government employees more freedom in their personal affiliations and activities, aligning with a broader recognition of individual rights within the civil service framework.

A unique phenomenon in the history of Bharat in the twentieth century is the birth and unceasing growth of RSS. Recently, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Sunil Ambekar, said that a large number of youth in the country are expressing their desire to join the Sangh. They are joining, too. In 2012, Sangh started an online medium, “Join RSS” (online through a website). Under this, every year, one to 1.25 lakh people join Sangh in its various activities through online mediums. This year, until June, 66,529 people contacted Sangh and expressed their desire to join Sangh. Ambekarji also said that by Vijayadashami 2025 (when the Sangh will complete 100 years of the foundation), the target has been set to expand the Sangh’s works and daily Shakhas in all the mandals in rural areas and all settlements in urban areas of the country. Out of the total 58,981 mandals (as per Sangh Structure) in the country, daily Shakhas are run in 36,823 mandals. Similarly, out of 23649 settlements (as per Sangh structure) in urban areas of the country, Sangh’s presence is visible in 14,645 settlements. Today, various organisations inspired by the RSS work in diversified constituencies, such as education, urban slums, tribals, labour, farmers, teachers, students, art and culture, etc. Some of the key frontal organisations of the RSS include Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Sewa Bharati, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Vidya Bharati, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Pragya Pravah, etc.

The RSS’s sphere of influence has been spreading far and wide, not only inside Bharat but also abroad, like the radiance of many splendored diamonds. RSS-inspired international institutions and movements today form a strong presence in social, cultural, educational, labour, developmental, political, and other fields of nationalist endeavour. RSS-initiated movements, be they social-reformist or anti-secessionist, evoke ready responses and approval from the common multitudes as well as from vast numbers of elites of different shades. It has increasingly been recognised that the RSS is not a mere reaction to one or another social or political aberration. It represents a corpus of thought and action firmly rooted in genuine nationalism and in the age-old tradition of this country. No other movement or institution has attracted such vast numbers of adherents, several thousand of them making social work their life’s mission, whose character and integrity are not doubted even by their most virulent critics. As a movement for national reconstruction totally nurtured by the people, Sangh has no parallel in Bharat or elsewhere. The growth of the RSS as a movement for the assertion of Bharat’s national identity acquires added significance when we remember that the birth of the Sangh was preceded by a mental, cultural, and economic onslaught by alien rulers for long decades.

RSS has been active as a social organisation for the past 99 years. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been continuously engaged in the reconstruction of the nation and the service of society for the past 99 years. Due to the RSS’ contributions in times of national security, unity-integrity, and natural disasters, the various types of leadership in the country have, from time to time, praised the role of the RSS. Vijayadashmi 2025 will complete one hundred years of existence. The RSS equates Indian society with Hindu society and calls for the preservation and propagation of Hindu-ness, or the idea of Hindutva. If Hindustan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. Many times, the RSS said that those who consider India their’matrubhoomi’’ (mother land) and want to live with a culture of unity in diversity and make efforts in this direction, irrespective of whatever religion, culture, language, food habit, and ideology they follow, are Hindus. Hence, we need to organise the entire society around a common sutra that unites us all. We should know our identity clearly and tell the world as well. If we know who we are, then we also know who is ours and that our identity is Hindu, and we should say with pride that we are Hindus. RSS has been propagating this value system based on self-knowledge and self-control, not merely because it is necessitated by the present state of the world but even more basically because it is a source of individual joy, social harmony, cultural richness, spiritual advancement, and universal peace.