Ahmedabad: The RSS has decided to collaborate with researchers, authors and opinion-makers on presenting a fact-based “grand narrative” of India to counter attempts to spread misunderstanding about the country abroad and at the domestic level, its senior office-bearer said on Sunday.
This and several other issues, including ways to present a true picture of the Indian society, its Hindu community, its history, culture and lifestyle, were discussed during a three-day meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the top decision-making body of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), held on the outskirts of the city.
Ahead of the centenary year celebrations of the RSS in 2025, expanding the footprints of the organisation — the ideological fountainhead of the BJP — not just numerically, but with the aim of carrying forward the idea of nationalism and unity among community members, was also on the agenda of the meeting, in which 1,252 office-bearers and members took part.
Talking to reporters on the last day of the meeting, RSS sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale said, “In India and abroad, there have been efforts, either out of ignorance or deliberate, to spread misunderstanding on the subjects related to India, which has been carried out since the time of the British till all these years.”
There is a need to change this ideological narrative and encourage a grand narrative of Bharat based on facts. There is a need to present a true picture to the society on the subjects of India, its Hindu community, its history, culture, lifestyle, he said.
“A lot of people ,and not just Sangh members, are presenting their opinion on the issue. They have carried out research, written books; their opinions are published in India and abroad. There is a large section of such people. Through networking and collaboration with them, we shall be able to make India’s narrative dominant in the next three-four years,” he said.
In its annual report presented here on Saturday, the RSS termed religious fanaticism as a serious challenge and also referred to the recent killing of workers of Hindu organisations in Karnataka during the Hijab controversy and in Kerala.
“Series of dastardly acts revealing communal hysteria, demonstrations, violation of social discipline, custom and conventions under the guise of the Constitution and religious freedom, inciting violence by instigating meagre causes, promoting illegal activities, etc, is increasing,” the report said.
Speaking about the report, Hosabale said, “There are certain disciplines about the society…In Haryana, people fought on the issue of aarti. It is not just right to say we have religious freedom. Someone framed a rule about school uniforms, it is not right to say we will not (follow it).” He was apparently referring to the hijab row in Karnataka.
“Everybody has got religious freedom. There is a need to strike a balance about where to implement it and not. It is not right to carry out religious freedom under the garb of Constitution. We have started a discussion keeping this in view. Where to ask for what needs to be understood if one has to live with balance and coexistence,” he said.
Hosabale said that discussions were also held on the expansion of the Sangh as it celebrates its centenary year in 2025. The expansion includes geographical and in terms of activities. The Sangh’s activities have reached across 50 per cent of the mandals across the country, including daily shakhas (branches) and weekly meetings, he said, adding that the Sangh plans to complete its expansion plans in the coming two years.
It plans to expand in city wards and create one ‘adarsh’ (ideal) village in each district of the country, he said. “The aim is not to just increase numerically, but carry forward the idea of nationalism and unity among community members. The number of people volunteering to participate in the Sangh activities have increased in the last few years,” he said.
The RSS office-bearer also talked about the Sangh programme to bring to reality the “grand dream of a prosperous Bharat’’ that people from different spheres of the society dreamt about during India’s struggle for Independence from the Britishers.
Works on post-COVID rehabilitation in the fields of education and employment were also discussed, he said.
On a report in local newspapers about a missionary school asking for an apology from students for chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, he said, “Jai Shri Ram is a way of greeting, and even foreigners visiting India say this. If people oppose it, then children, their parents should question them. It is but natural that society will not tolerate if anything goes against India’s cultural tradition,” he said.