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Nagpur

Bharat vs. India

As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) approaches its 100th anniversary, it stands as one of the most influential forces shaping modern India’s political, social, and cultural trajectory.

By Prof. Zamir Awan | September 2025


The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, commonly known as RSS, is an Indian right-wing Hindutva volunteer paramilitary organization that represents a fascist, extremist, and intolerant movement that has eroded India’s secular fabric and endangered its minorities. The RSS was founded on 27 September 1925 in Nagpur by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a former Congress activist disillusioned with the party’s secular nationalism. Drawing on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s Hindutva doctrine, Hedgewar envisioned a disciplined Hindu society united above caste, class, or linguistic divides.

An organization that regards the Mahabharat as an ultimate source for ideological guidance on matters of politics and Hindutva-led governance at the expense of the Indian Constitution, the RSS, from the word go, is an anti-secular, anti-minority force, vying for a Hindu-led Bharat in place of a secular India. The RSS’s history is a century-long arc of ideological consolidation, political infiltration, and grassroots indoctrination—culminating in its unprecedented dominance during the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi era. From the start, RSS organized itself like a paramilitary—structured shakhas (branches) drilled volunteers in physical training, nationalist songs, and ideological lectures. Hedgewar’s successor, M. S. Golwalkar, hardened its worldview, portraying non-Hindus, especially Muslims and Christians, as alien elements who must either assimilate or accept a subordinate status. This language bore a disturbing resemblance to European fascist movements of the same period.

The RSS’s ideology brought it into repeated confrontation with India’s early leadership. It has been banned three times since independence:

• 1948 – After Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by Nathuram Godse, a former RSS member, the Nehru government declared it a “private army on Nazi lines.” Thousands of cadres, including Golwalkar, were arrested. The ban was lifted only after the RSS pledged loyalty to the Constitution and the national flag.

• 1975 – Indira Gandhi’s Emergency targeted the RSS for its opposition to authoritarian rule.

• 1992 – In the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition, the P. V. Narasimha Rao government banned the RSS and several affiliates.

• For decades, government employees were prohibited from membership in the RSS—a policy only overturned in 2024.

From the late 1940s to the 1980s, the RSS avoided direct electoral politics, focusing instead on cultural mobilization. It built a sprawling family of affiliated organizations, the Sangh Parivar, covering education, labor unions, women’s groups, student bodies, and militant youth wings like Bajrang Dal.

Politically speaking, the RSS influence flowed through the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (founded in 1951) and later the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the RSS provided the ideological and organizational muscle for the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement, culminating in the Babri Masjid’s demolition in 1992. The 2002 Gujarat riots, during Narendra Modi’s tenure as chief minister of the state, were another flashpoint where critics accused the RSS-linked networks of complicity in anti-Muslim violence.

Narendra Modi, a lifelong RSS pracharak (campaigner), became prime minister in 2014. Under his leadership, the RSS shifted from a backstage role to being the ideological nerve center of government. Its cultural symbols, vocabulary, and worldview have penetrated public policy, education, and state institutions.

Critics document a marked rise in hate crimes against Muslims and Christians since 2014. Cow-protection lynchings, “love jihad” conspiracy theories, and open calls for Muslim exclusion from economic life have become disturbingly common. Many perpetrators operate through or alongside the RSS affiliates, often with political cover or tacit state sympathy.


The RSS’s narrative casts Indian Muslims as outsiders and Christians as agents of foreign influence. This ideological framing has contributed to vigilante attacks, harassment of interfaith couples, and the vandalism of churches. In Kashmir, the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 aligned closely with the RSS’s long-held demand to erase the region’s special status, paving the way for demographic and political changes that weaken its Muslim majority character.

Such actions deepen alienation, sow distrust, and erode the fragile pluralism India once championed.

The RSS excels at grassroots mobilization. Its network of schools, cultural associations, and media platforms amplifies narratives that portray minorities as demographic, cultural, and security threats. This creates a climate where hate speech is normalized, sectarian divisions are politically profitable, and dissenters are labeled as anti-national.

The main narrative of the RSS casts Indian Muslims as outsiders and Christians as agents of foreign influence.

With the centenary approaching, the RSS is no longer an underground cultural society. It is the most powerful socio-political machine in India, fused with the ruling party, and shaping the national agenda in ways that risk institutionalizing discrimination.

From Pakistan’s perspective, this is not just an Indian domestic issue but a regional security concern. An ideologically rigid, communal India increases the likelihood of sectarian violence, undermines bilateral dialogue, and jeopardizes the safety of Indian Muslims, Christians, and other minorities.

If the dangers posed by the RSS are to be addressed, the response must be multidimensional:

• Document and Publicize Abuses – Compile verified data on hate crimes, vigilante violence, and institutional bias linked to the RSS ideology.

• Strengthen Legal Protections – Demand stricter enforcement of anti-hate speech laws and legal accountability for political leaders who incite violence.

· Empower Minorities – Support community organizations, legal aid networks, and youth leadership programmes for Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and Adivasis.

• Mobilize Civil Society – Build alliances among secular activists, journalists, academics, and artists to defend constitutional secularism.

• Engage Internationally – Encourage global human rights bodies and democratic governments to monitor and pressure India on minority protections.

• Counter the Narrative – Promote stories of interfaith cooperation, shared heritage, and pluralist values that directly challenge RSS propaganda.

As it turns 100, the RSS represents a paradox: an organization that began as a “cultural volunteer corps” now wields unmatched influence over the world’s largest democracy. For its supporters, it is the guardian of Hindu pride. For its critics, it is a fascist project undermining India’s secular soul.

India and the international community must choose whether to accept the RSS’s vision of a Hindu-first nation or insist on the plural, inclusive republic promised in its Constitution.

From Pakistan’s vantage point, and for all who believe in the equal dignity of communities, the centenary of RSS must not be a celebration—it must be a moment of reckoning.

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