 Summary of this article
- The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is celebrating 100 years of its unbroken journey.
- No organisation can ensure its endurance unless it steadfastly remains connected with the people.
- While the Left-Liberals used their power to create a legitimacy deficit around the RSS, the organisation, in turn, generated a credibility deficit for them through the ideological awakening of Hindus.
While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is celebrating 100 years of its unbroken journey, its contemporary ideological movements—the Communists-Socialists and the Gandhian-Nehuruvian streams—are facing a crisis of existence. The RSS began in 1925 with a contested idea of a Hindu Rashtra. It lived and expanded in an unsympathetic political and intellectual climate. Many central services, including the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), considered RSS connection as a disqualification. The newspapers and journals had given very little space in its favour. It did not have many intellectuals by its side. However, things progressively changed. The RSS emerged as the most influential organisation in the country with the largest network and support base. The Indian state is now in full solidarity with it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative stamp and coin to highlight its role in national life. |
