New Delhi: India should not be dependent on others to defend itself and nobody should be able to conquer it even if multiple powers come together, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said in an interview to the Organiser.
The comment holds significance in the context of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. The RSS mouthpiece, though, has clarified in the interview that it took place in the backdrop of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha—a meeting of the national council, the highest decision-making body of the RSS—which was held earlier this year in March, before the Pahalgam attack.
“We must strive for strength. As we pray through the daily Prarthana: ‘Ajayyam cha viśvasya dehīśa śaktim’ — ‘Grant us such a strength that globally we are invincible’. True strength is internal. For national security, we must not be dependent on others. We should be able to defend ourselves. No one should be able to conquer us—not even if multiple powers come together. There are evil forces in the world who are aggressive by nature,” Bhagwat had said while sharing the RSS’s vision for national security, military strength, and economic power of India.
Brute power, he added, can be directionless, leading to blatant violence, and therefore power should be combined with righteousness, and when no option is available, wickedness has to be eradicated forcefully. “We have no option but to be powerful as we have been witnessing the wickedness of the evil forces on all our borders.”
Bhagwat spoke at length on a host of issues including the completion of 100 years of the Sangh, the role of women in the RSS, the journey of the organisation etc.
At a time when the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has taken on the Centre over the three-language formula proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, the RSS chief also said that the Sangh “provides a thread to put all diversities in one garland of unity”. He was responding to the question of how the Sangh promotes inclusivity, given India’s linguistic, religious, and cultural diversity.
“Come and see yourself, people from all languages, sects, and backgrounds work together in the Sangh, with great joy. The Sangh songs are there not just in Hindi but in multiple languages… While retaining their unique identity, everyone is working by upholding the sense of one nationhood,” he said.
‘Someone will worry about Hindus only when…’
Answering a question on Hindus facing exploitation in neighbouring countries including Bangladesh and violence being inflicted on them, Bhagwat said “someone will worry about Hindus, only when Hindus are strong enough”.
“As Hindu society and Bharat are intertwined, a glorious nature of Hindu society will bring in glory for Bharat. Only such a strong Hindu society can present a model for taking along the people of Bharat who do not consider themselves Hindus, as at one point they were also Hindus. If the Hindu society of Bharat becomes strong, automatically Hindus will gain strength globally. This work is going on, but it is not yet complete,” he said.
The Sangh chief went on to say that “slowly but surely, that situation is evolving”. “This time the way anguish against the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh has been expressed, this is unprecedented. Even local Hindus now say: ‘We won’t flee. We’ll stay and fight for our rights’.”
Asked about how the Sangh has been functioning as per the thoughts of founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Bhagwat said: “The original thoughts of Dr Hedgewar, Sri Guruji, or Balasaheb are not distinct from the eternal (Sanatan) tradition and culture. The Sangh method of functioning has been firmed up after deep contemplation and experiences based on actual experimentations of the karyakartas,” he said.
“We are principle centered. We may take inspiration and follow the direction given by great personalities, but in every Desh-Kaal-Paristhiti (time and situation), we must carve our own path. This calls for constant discernment between what is eternal (nitya) and what is situational (anitya). What is nitya in the Sangh? Balasaheb once said, ‘Hindustan is a Hindu Rashtra’. Apart from this, everything else in the Sangh is transient. The entire Hindu society is the accountable, custodian of this nation. The nature and sanskriti of this country is Hindu,” Bhagwat added.
Therefore, this is a Hindu Rashtra, everything is to be done while maintaining this core, he added.
Bhagwat said a Sangh Swayamsevak, while taking the oath, explicitly states that he is working for “the all-round development of the Hindu Rashtra while protecting the sacred Hindu Dharma, Hindu Sanskriti and Hindu society”.
The definition of ‘Hindu’, he further said, is also comprehensive, “there is enough scope in it to maintain the fundamental framework and direction and still make necessary changes as per the need of time and situation”.
“Therefore, there is complete freedom to express diverse and conflicting opinions during discussion. Once a decision is reached by building consensus, everyone keeps aside individual opinion by merging it in the collective decision. The decisions taken are accepted as theirs by everyone. Hence, everyone has a freedom to do work and still maintain the direction with all others. The eternal is preserved; the transient evolves with time, space, and context,” he added.
The daily shakha in modern times
Answering questions on the role of RSS shakhas and whether the model of the daily shakha is still relevant amid changes in society and lifestyle, Bhagwat said, “While the programmes in a shakha may have alternatives, the essence of a shakha is—coming together, cultivating collective virtues, and reigniting the resolve on a daily basis that we are working for the param vaibhav (ultimate glory) of Bharat Mata. This is the root, meeting, cooperating with each other is fundamental. This is the basis, it is irreplaceable.”
The shakha is irreplaceable, the Sangh chief maintained. “It provides an environment for inculcating individual and collective virtues. While the time and attire of shakha may change (and that’s already allowed), there is no alternative to Shakha. Shakha is never irrelevant,’ Bhagwat said, pointing out that people from advanced countries are studying RSS’s shakha model.
“Every ten years we contemplate whether there is any other alternative. I have been present in such contemplations for six-seven times, but till date, no viable alternative has yet emerged,” he added.
Asked to comment on the participation of women in the RSS, Bhagwat said the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, the women’s wing of the RSS, works for women and even though shakhas are designed for men, women attend and observe freely. He also said that women have representation and actively participate in the meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha.
“In the early days of the Sangh, around 1933, it was decided that the work of personality development and social organisation among women would be done by the Rashtra Sevika Samiti. It continues to function effectively,” said Bhagwat.
“Whenever the Samiti expects the Sangh to work among women (for shakha work), then only we will think about it…the Sangh doesn’t function only on the basis of male karyakartas, mothers and sisters support the work fully, only then the Sangh functions,” he added.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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