 Summary of this article
- The tremendous success of the RSS, however, lies in that the average Hindu has come to believe that Hindutva is synonymous with Hinduism.
- The most successful movement has been the Ayodhya movement that peaked in 1992, with the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, and then in January 2024, with the inauguration of the temple.
- When you have low caste swayam sevaks, most of the time they are there for sanskritisation and they are sanskritised. There is no pride in what we could call popular Hinduism.
Ambedkar remains—and will continue to be—the biggest roadblock to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) efforts to saffronise the Dalits, says Christophe Jaffrelot, a professor of Indian politics and sociology at King’s India Institute, London, in an interview with editor Chinki Sinha. Despite its all-encompassing reach and deep penetration into Indian society, the RSS has not been able to completely address the question of caste. Jaffrelot acknowledges that the Opposition scored a win by successfully raising the issue of a caste census. The theme of upper caste versus lower caste may very well define the 2029 general elections.
The tremendous success of the RSS, however, lies in that the average Hindu has come to believe that Hindutva is synonymous with Hinduism. The organisation’s achievement is not only that it has completed 100 years—which in itself is quite unprecedented and unparalleled—but also that it has brought India to a point of “no return” in terms of cultural policing.
The RSS has created a “deeper state” comprising loosely affiliated vigilante groups such as the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, which are deeply rooted in Indian society. This deeper state, Jaffrelot argues, will continue to exist and implement the Hindutva agenda even if the BJP loses power in 2029.
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100 Years Of Borrowed Pride Of RSS
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As RSS Celebrates Its Centenary, A Look At Its Past
Q
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) completes 100 years in 2025. If you could talk about how the organisation has changed over the years, the present status given the political situation in India, its adaptability and the future.
A
To complete 100 years for any organisation is a great achievement. In the mid-1920s, when the RSS was formed, there were many European movements of the same kind. None of them has survived. So, you have something very special there, very specific.
You can explain this resilience by pointing out that this movement has always been very cautious, very prudent. They have not taken risks under the British. They did not take part in the freedom movement. Even after Independence, they tried to remain below the radar. They made promises, they made concessions, they made friends among the ruling Congress party. Remember the letters that (Madhukar) Deoras wrote to Indira Gandhi during the Emergency saying, please let us be legal again and we'll support you. Their priority is to continue to expand, to survive.
They have the ability to penetrate society. This organisation is not power-oriented. Political power, or to capture power, is not their priority. The priority is to capture society. This is what makes them resilient, because they penetrate society gradually, slowly, persistently. They have done that by developing the shakha network. You now have probably 70,000-80,000 shakhas and up-shakhas across the country. Beyond that, they have started offshoot unions—the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP), a student union; the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the labour union and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the peasant union. They have gradually started to penetrate different milieus, different social milieus and different socioeconomic milieus. |
