RSS Does Not Support any Political Party or Individual, but Only Policies: Bhagwat

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Distancing it from the BJP as a political party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said his organisation support policies and not any individual or a political party.

Though he did not name, his apparent reference was the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is believed to be enjoying the backing of the RSS in occupying the top executive post.

Mr Bhagwat also said the RSS would have even backed the Congress if it supported the demand for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “We do not support any political party. We do not participate in election politics. Sangh works to unite society, and politics is divisive. We support policies. For example, we wanted Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, so our swayamsevaks who stood by its construction,” he said, adding that the BJP ticked the box. “If Congress had supported it, our swayamsevaks would have voted for that party,” Bhagwat said.

“We don’t have a special affinity for one party. There is no Sangh party; no party is ours. And all parties are ours because they are Bharatiya parties. We support rashtraneeti (policies), not rajniti (politics). We have our views, and we want this country to go in a particular direction. Those who drive the country in that direction, we will support them,” he said

Mr Bhagwat was speaking at a question-answer session after his address on “100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons” event in Bengaluru to mark the centenary of RSS.

Asked if Muslims are allowed to become part of RSS, Bhagwat replied, “No Brahmin is allowed in Sangh, no one from any caste is allowed, no Muslim is allowed, no Christian is allowed… People from different denominations, Muslims or Christians, can come to Sangh, keeping their separateness out. When you come to Shakha, you come as a son of Bharat Mata. Muslims and Christians come to shakha, but we don’t take their count, we don’t ask who they are.”

Bhagwat also responded to a question raised by several Congress leaders: why is the RSS not a registered organisation? “This answer has been given umpteen times, but those who want to raise questions go on repeating them. Sangh started in 1925. Do you expect us to register with the British government? As for after Independence in 1947, Bhagwat said, “The government did not make it compulsory to register. A legal status is also given to a ‘body of individuals’. We are categorised as a body of individuals and we are a recognised organisation,” he said.

“We were banned thrice, so the government has recognised. If we were not there, who did they ban? And each time, courts dismissed the ban. So many times, questions are asked, statements are made in the Assembly and Parliament, both pro- and anti-RSS. Legally, factually, we are an organisation. We are not unconstitutional… so we need not register. Many things are there which are not registered. Even Hindu Dharma is not registered,” he said. Bhagwat added that the RSS “gets stronger whenever there is opposition.”

He said the RSS aims to organise Hindu society, and not for power but for “the glory of the nation.” Hindus were “responsible” for Bharat, he asserted and went on to reiterate the RSS definition of Hindu as all Indians. There is no “Ahindu” (non-Hindu) in India, he argued, as everyone in India, including Muslims and Christians for instance, are descendants of the same ancestors, and the “core culture of the country is Hindu”.

On what the RSS aims to achieve, he said, “When an organised force is raised in the form of Sangh (RSS), it doesn’t want power. It doesn’t want prominence in the society. It just wants to serve, organise the society for the glory of Bharat Mata (Mother India). Somehow, in our country, people found it very hard to believe, but now they believe.”

He also said the Sanatan Dharma to the RSS was “Hindu Rashtra and the progress of Sanatan Dharma is the progress of Bharat.”

Saying that the path for RSS has not been easy, Bhagwat referred to its banning by governments over the years. “There were two bans; a third as well, but it was not much of a ban. There was opposition, criticism. Swayamsevaks were murdered. In every way, it was tried that we should not thrive, but Swayamsevaks give their all to the Sangh, and don’t want anything in return.”

Reiterating that RSS was not a reactionary body, he said, “It is not in opposition to anything. It is an organisation ‘of’ the society, not ‘in’ the society. Now we have a strong presence in the country, but we are not satisfied, because the whole society has to be organised. Organisation of society through individual development.”

“We want to organise the Hindu society, the whole of the Hindu society — all 142 crore people with so many religious denominations. And some of them came from outside during the course of history,” he said, adding that RSS has started dialogue with those who do not consider themselves Hindus.

The RSS chief’s remarks come in the aftermath of verbal attacks by Congress leaders, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Mr Kharge had recently given his “personal” opinion that the RSS should be banned. Several Congress leaders, including Kharge’s son and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, have recently slammed the RSS.
The RSS chief also spoke on its tax status. He claimed the income tax department and courts have “noted that RSS is a body of individuals,” and exempted it from tax.

Bhagwat was also asked about the Sangh’s views on the national flag, as the Congress often alleges it has not accepted the Tricolour. He said the Sangh adopted its saffron flag in 1925, and the national flag was decided 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, Sangh has always respected, paid respect to and protected the Tricolour,” he said, adding that there was no question Bhagwa vis-a-vis Tricolour. “The Communist Party has a red flag. Congress Party has a Tricolour with charkha. The Republican Party has a blue flag. So we have our Bhagwa and we respect our national flag.”