A Past of Struggle, A Future of Tests

The RSS rose from the margins to the mainstream, but its next battles may be harder than its first.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founded in 1925 was not born in a vacuum. Its roots can be traced back to a tumultuous period in Indian history when questions of identity, nationalism and survival loomed large. In its hundred years, the organisation has grown from an obscure Nagpur-based initiative into a network that shapes Bharat’s political, social and cultural life. But even as it celebrates its centenary, it faces challenges that may test it more than the colonial state or the post-independence hostility it once endured.

The RSS’s origins cannot be understood without going back to the late 19th century. In 1886, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University, put forth the ‘two-nation theory’ declaring that Hindus and Muslims were two distinct nations that could never truly coexist. Though initially confined to elite circles, this argument struck deep roots. It dovetailed with the British colonial policy of ‘divide and rule,’ designed to ensure that India would remain fractured even as the Empire prepared to retreat.

Body blow

The partition of Bengal in 1905 which created a Muslim-majority East Bengal and a Hindu-majority West Bengal was the first dramatic application of this logic. For Hindus, it was a body blow. The move triggered an upsurge of nationalist sentiment, boycotts of British goods and a flowering of revolutionary movements. The Swadeshi movement was not just economic resistance but cultural assertion. Yet Muslims largely welcomed the division, seeing in it recognition of their distinct political weight.

In 1906, to articulate their demands, Muslim leaders founded the All-India Muslim League. The Hindu response was slower. In 1915, Madan Mohan Malaviya launched the Hindu Mahasabha as a pressure group within the Congress. At that time, Congress itself was a cacophony of ideological streams consisting of moderates, extremists, constitutionalists and revolutionaries.

However, after Gandhi established his complete control over Congress in the 1920s, the party had to follow his ideas as the only acceptable ideology. His bending backwards to align with Islamic causes such as the Khilafat movement (aimed at preserving the Ottoman Caliphate in distant Turkey) alienated many Hindus who felt their grievances were being brushed aside.

Breaking point

The flashpoint came in 1921 with the Moplah Rebellion in Malabar, Kerala. Ostensibly an agrarian uprising against landlords, it soon took on a communal colour. Thousands of Hindus were killed, forcibly converted and driven from their homes. For nationalists who had swallowed the Khilafat alliance in the hope of cementing Hindu-Muslim unity, the violence was shattering. Gandhi, however, praised the Moplahs as “brave and God-fearing,” refusing to confront the communal dimension head-on.

For many Hindus, this was the final straw. It created fertile ground for a new organisation that would be culturally rooted, unapologetically Hindu and focused less on protests against the British than on building enduring strength from within.

Hedgewar’s vision

In 1925, Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a physician from Nagpur and a former Congressman, founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His stark diagnosis suggested that India’s weakness lay not merely in colonial domination but in Hindu society’s disunity, lack of discipline and readiness to sacrifice. His prescription was radical - build character before building politics.

The RSS chose the ‘shakha’ - a daily neighbourhood gathering of physical training, games and patriotic songs - as its basic unit. Hedgewar’s ambition was not to produce agitators but ‘swayamsevaks’ (volunteers) with spotless character and selfless devotion to the motherland. Politics, he believed, would be the natural by-product of this silent work.

The formula proved durable. Though the RSS itself stayed formally away from electoral politics, its swayamsevaks went on to create the world’s largest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); the biggest student union, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP); the largest workers’ union, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh; and the biggest farmers’ union, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh.

Beyond politics and unions, RSS affiliates built a sprawling ecosystem. Vidya Bharati runs thousands of schools; Seva Bharati delivers social services from health to disaster relief. The Sangh’s reach today is almost civilisational. Its steadfast support for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement cemented its role as custodian of Hindu identity.

The journey has been far from smooth. In 1948, the RSS was banned after Nathuram Godse, a former swayamsevak, assassinated Gandhi. Though the charge of institutional complicity was never proven, the stigma stuck for decades. The Sangh weathered bans again during the Emergency (1975-77) when Indira Gandhi jailed thousands of swayamsevaks. Yet each attempt at its suppression has only broadened its base.

Today, the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister of India are all swayamsevaks. What began as a marginal fraternity has become the mainstream.

If the first century was about survival, growth and legitimacy, the RSS’s second century will be about confronting subtler and more diffuse threats. Foremost among these is cultural Marxism, dubbed in contemporary parlance as ‘wokeism.’

Classical Marxism sought revolution along economic fault lines: bourgeois versus proletariat. When this proved to be ineffective, they invented a new avatar of Marxism that aims to destroy a country’s mainstream culture by exploiting fault lines like race, caste, sex and language. I

n India, they attack Hinduism by subverting institutions like family, religion and the disparaging the feeling of patriotism. Since culture is the very foundation of Bharatiya civilization, it goes without saying that its destruction will endanger the very existence of Bharat. They work hand in hand with another covert power – the so-called ‘American Deep State.’ With immense resources at their command, this shadowy entity tries to arm-twist different countries in the world to implement policies that align with American interests. They cannot tolerate any country that puts its own interest first and dares to protect its independence and self-respect. They try to overthrow such governments by encouraging and promoting anarchist movements in the name of restoring democracy in the country in their crosshairs.

Both cultural Marxists and American hegemons practice a “long march through the institutions” by infiltrating universities, media houses, bureaucracies and even the judiciary. Unlike open enemies, these are adversaries within, eating away like termites. The late General Bipin Rawat, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, hinted at this when he spoke of India fighting a “2.5 front war”(the half being the internal front).

Traditional foes

Overlaying these are two more traditional foes: jihadist Islam and evangelical Christianity. Though competing with one another, all four - cultural Marxists, Western hegemonists, Islamists and evangelicals - find common cause in weakening India. The combined assault is unprecedented. Never before has Indian civilization faced a four-pronged onslaught of this scale.

Although these four forces often compete for global dominance, they converge when it comes to weakening India. Each recognises that without subduing Bharat, their broader totalitarian ambitions cannot succeed. The result is a combined offensive that arguably poses the gravest threat Hindu civilization has ever faced. Against this backdrop, the RSS stands out as the one organisation with the character, discipline and conviction to resist such pressures. Its centenary, then, is not merely a moment of celebration but a reminder that the next hundred years will demand even greater vigilance and service to Bharat Mata.

(The author has penned three books. One of them had exposed Cultural Marxism. His next book is expected to be released in a couple of months. Views personal.)