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Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
AbbreviationRSS
Formation27 September 1925 (1925-09-27)
FounderK. B. Hedgewar
TypeNon-profit political organisation
Legal statusActive
PurposePromotion of Hindu nationalism and Hindutva[1][2]
HeadquartersDr. Hedgewar Bhawan, Sangh Building Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra – 440 032, India
Coordinates21°08′46″N 79°06′40″E / 21.146°N 79.111°E / 21.146; 79.111
Area served
India
Membership
Mohan Bhagwat
Sarkaryawah (General Secretary)
Dattatreya Hosabale
AffiliationsSangh Parivar
Websitewww.rss.org

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, Rāṣṭrīya Svayaṃsevak Saṅgh, Hindi pronunciation: [raːʂˈʈriːj(ə) swəjəmˈseːʋək səŋɡʱ], lit. 'National Volunteer Organisation')[7] is an Indian right-wing,[8][9] Hindu nationalist[10][11] volunteer[12] paramilitary organisation.[13] It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family"), which has developed a presence in all facets of Indian society and includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling political party under Narendra Modi, the 14th prime minister of India.[8] Mohan Bhagwat has served as the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS since March 2009.[14]

Founded on 27 September 1925,[15] the initial impetus of the organisation was to provide character training and instil "Hindu discipline" in order to unite the Hindu community and establish a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation).[16][17] The organisation aims to spread the ideology of Hindutva to "strengthen" the Hindu community and promotes an ideal of upholding an Indian culture and its civilizational values.[2][18] On the other hand, the RSS has been described as "founded on the premise of Hindu supremacy",[19] and has been accused of an intolerance of minorities, in particular anti-Muslim activities.[20]

During the colonial period, the RSS collaborated with the British Raj and played no role in the Indian independence movement.[21][22] After independence, it grew into an influential Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation, spawning several affiliated organisations that established numerous schools, charities, and clubs to spread its ideological beliefs.[17] It was banned in 1947 for four days,[17] and then thrice by the post-independence Indian government, first in 1948 when Nathuram Godse,[23] an erstwhile member of RSS,[24] assassinated Mahatma Gandhi;[17][25][26] then during the Emergency (1975–1977); and for a third time after the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992. In the 21st century, it is the world's largest far-right organisation by membership.[9] The RSS has been criticised as an extremist organisation and there is a scholarly consensus that it spreads hatred and promotes violence.

  1. ^ Embree, Ainslie T. (2005). "Who speaks for India? The Role of Civil Society". In Rafiq Dossani; Henry S. Rowen (eds.). Prospects for Peace in South Asia. Stanford University Press. pp. 141–184. ISBN 0804750858.
  2. ^ a b Jaffrelot, Christophe (2010). Religion, Caste, and Politics in India. Primus Books. p. 46. ISBN 9789380607047.
  3. ^ Priti Gandhi (15 May 2014). "Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh: How the world's largest NGO has changed the face of Indian democracy". DNA India. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Hindus to the fore". Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Glorious 87: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh turns 87 on today on Vijayadashami". Samvada. 24 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Highest growth ever: RSS adds 5,000 new shakhas in last 12 months". The Indian Express. 16 March 2016. Archived from the original on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)". Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2010. (Hindi: "National Volunteer Organisation") also called Rashtriya Seva Sangh
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Matthew; Garnett, Mark; Walker, David M. (2017), Conservatism and Ideology, Routledge, p. 77, ISBN 978-1-317-52899-9, retrieved 25 March 2021, A couple of years later, India was ruled by the Janata coalition, which consisted also of Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the then-political arm of the extreme right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS – National Volunteers Organisation).
  9. ^ a b Pal, Felix; Chaudhary, Neha (4 March 2023). "Leaving the Hindu Far Right". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 46 (2): 425–444. doi:10.1080/00856401.2023.2179817. ISSN 0085-6401. S2CID 257565310.
  10. ^ Horowitz, Donald L. (2001). The Deadly Ethnic Riot. University of California Press. p. 244. ISBN 978-0520224476.
  11. ^ Jeff Haynes (2 September 2003). Democracy and Political Change in the Third World. Routledge. pp. 168–. ISBN 978-1-134-54184-3. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  12. ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 111.
  13. ^ McLeod, John (2002). The history of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 209–. ISBN 978-0-313-31459-9. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  14. ^ Jain, Rupam; Chaturvedi, Arpan (11 January 2023). "Leader of influential Hindu group backs LGBT rights in India". Reuters. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  15. ^ Chitkara, National Upsurge 2004, p. 362.
  16. ^ Andersen & Damle 1987, p. 2.
  17. ^ a b c d Atkins, Stephen E. (2004). Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 264–265. ISBN 978-0-313-32485-7. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  18. ^ Dina Nath Mishra (1980). RSS: Myth and Reality. Vikas Publishing House. p. 24. ISBN 978-0706910209.
  19. ^ Singh, Amit (31 October 2022). "🌊 Hindutva fascism threatens the world's largest democracy". The Loop. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  20. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (20 September 2022). "What is Hindu nationalism and how does it relate to trouble in Leicester?". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  21. ^ Lal, Vinay (2003). The History of History: Politics and Scholarship in Modern India. Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-19-566465-2. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the paramilitary organization which advocates a militant Hinduism and a Hindu polity in modern India, not only played no role in the anti-colonial struggle but actively collaborated with the British.
  22. ^ Bhatt, Hindu Nationalism 2001, p. 99"RSS was not considered an adversary by the British. On the contrary, it gave loyal consent to the British to be part of the Civic Guard."
  23. ^ Verma, M.L. (2006). स्वाधीनता संग्राम के क्रान्तिकारी साहित्य का इतिहास [On the History of Indian Freedom Movements According to Related Literature] (in Hindi). Vol. 3. Praveen Publications. p. 766.
  24. ^ —Karawan, Ibrahim A.; McCormack, Wayne; Reynolds, Stephen E. (2008). Values and Violence: Intangible Aspects of Terrorism. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4020-8660-1.
    —Venugopal, Vasudha (8 September 2016). "Nathuram Godse never left RSS, says his family". The Economic Times.
  25. ^ "RSS releases 'proof' of its innocence". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 August 2004. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  26. ^ James Larson, Gerald (1995). India's Agony Over Religion. State University of New York Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-7914-2412-X.

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