What has the RSS done for the country?

Every Republic Day, anti-RSS groups repeat the claim that RSS swayamsevaks do not respect the tricolour and question why it was not hoisted at the RSS’s Reshimbagh office. Yet, they rarely raise the same question about other religious, cultural organisations or political parties.

A Muslim organisation called Tablighi Jamaat was founded in Mewat, Haryana, with its headquarters at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. Was the tricolour ever hoisted there? Similarly, Shiv Sena’s office, Sena Bhavan, has been near Dadar in Mumbai since around 1975. Was the tricolour hoisted at Sena Bhavan? If so, that is commendable. Then why is this question never raised for either Nizamuddin Markaz or Sena Bhavan?

Before 2002, did political organisations in the country hoist the tricolour at their offices? Why is this question never raised, and why is only the RSS office singled out?

During Republic Day, when house-to-house tricolour yatras are held nationwide, these anti-RSS groups create a media fuss, claiming the tricolour was not hoisted at the RSS headquarters or that swayamsevaks do not respect it—this has become routine. Yet, they stay silent about SIMI, the Popular Front, Indian Mujahideen, or Naxalites.

In reality, RSS swayamsevaks participated individually, not organisationally, in the freedom struggle and honoured the tricolour. In Bihar, they led the hoisting of the flag at the British Secretariat in Patna and the British office in Ramtek. At Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, Murli Manohar Joshi and Narendra Modi honoured the tricolour, even when the then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde required Z-plus security. They accepted the terrorists’ challenge without security and hoisted the flag. These incidents show the deep respect RSS swayamsevaks had for the tricolour.

Swayamsevak Hoists Tricolour

Questions are raised doubting the RSS’s faith in the tricolour and its patriotism. In reality, an RSS swayamsevak hoisted the tricolour in the presence of Pt. Nehru at the Congress national session.

On December 27–28, 1936, the All-India Congress session was held in Faizpur, attended by leaders from Mahatma Gandhi to Pt. Nehru. The session was to begin with Pt Nehru hoisting the tricolour on a 30-foot flagpole. When the knot jammed and the flag did not unfurl, panic spread. As no one could climb the pole, 16-year-old RSS swayamsevak Kisan Singh Rajput swiftly climbed up, freed the flag, and let it fly. The crowd cheered and praised him.

Kisan Singh then sat near Baburao Vaidya, the Sangh Chalak of Shirpur. Though it was decided to honour him, it did not happen then. Later, when RSS founder Dr Hedgewar learnt of the incident, he honoured Kisan Singh with a silver cup at the Ghule branch of the Sangh. In August 1993, the Maharashtra government also honoured him with a citation.

RSS Swayamsevaks participated widely in the freedom struggle and were active in the 1942 Quit India movement. When it began, they hoisted the tricolour on the British office in Patna, Bihar, even facing bullets and martyrdom.

After the “Chale Jao” movement began in Mumbai, it spread nationwide. On August 11, 1942, it started in Patna, where local youth raised slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram” and hoisted the tricolour at the British Secretariat. Enraged police resorted to lathi charges and firing, in which six youths attained martyrdom. Devipada Chaudhary and Jagpati Kumar were RSS swayamsevaks.

After independence, a Shaheed Smarak was built in Patna and renovated by the Bihar government in 1997 near the Secretariat to honour these martyrs. Today, a grand and patriotic memorial stands there in their memory.

RSS in Gramgeeta

In the Indian freedom struggle, Congress led the movement, and workers from many organisations, including RSS swayamsevaks, participated. This is recorded in Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj’s Gramgeeta, which highlights the contribution of RSS and other groups. In his life sketch, it is noted that he visited organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Bharat Seva Dal, and wrestling akharas, giving the call, “Jaga utho balviro, ab tumhari baari hai” (Wake up, young heroes, now it is your turn).

Through his powerful bhajans and nationalist speeches, he added unique energy to the 1942 freedom struggle, especially in the Chimur–Ashti movements. These references highlight the participation of RSS and other organisations. The Quit India Movement saw RSS swayamsevaks taking part individually, not organisationally, in places like Chimur, Ashti, Ramtek, and Nandurbar.

Therefore, claims such as “the tricolour was not hoisted at the RSS office” or “RSS swayamsevaks do not respect the tricolour” are meaningless.

(The writer is a resident of Akola. Views personal.)