Citizenship Amendment Act comes into existence, opening a path for discrimination against Muslims, triggering massive violence across the NorthEast
09 November 2019
Supreme Court of India hands the Babri Masjid site to Hindus despite acknowledging that demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 was a crime, as was its defiling by forcibly installing a Hindu idol there in 1949
05 August 2019
Articles 370 and 35A of Indian Constitution that provided a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir revoked, fulfilling a long-standing demand of the RSS-BJP
20 June 2019
Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had exposed Narendra Modi’s complicity in the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, is sentenced to life imprisonment in a fabricated case of custodial kiling; the judge refused to allow Bhatt to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, nor allow the defense to bring any witnesses
26 May 2014
Narendra Modi becomes PM
23 May 2019
BJP wins landslide election
16 May 2014
Modi wins 2nd term
May 2004
Vajpayee loses Lok Sabha election; Manmohan Singh becomes prime minister
September 2002
Narendra Modi becomes the chief minister of Gujarat
February-March 2002
At least 2,000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat in a pogrom carried out by RSS-BJP-VHP affiliated mobs after Modi blames Muslims in Godhra for a train fire that killed 59 passengers, including kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya
23 January 1999
Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons burnt to death as they slept in their car by Bajrang Dal criminals
16 February 1998
BJP emerges as the single largest party in Lok Sabha election again, with its highest-ever 182 seats; Vajpayee forms a coalition government with a majority
27 April 1996
For the first-ever time, BJP emerges as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha election-winning 161 seats. Vajpayee becomes prime minster but resigns after 13 days as he fails to get a majority
6 December 1992
RSS-BJP-VHP-Bajrang Dal vigilantes raze Babri Masjid to the ground; BJP leaders including Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti are booked for making communal speeches leading to the demolition
June 1991
Congress emerges as single largest party in Lok Sabha election, BJP reaches three-figure for the first time with 120 Lok Sabha seats
1991
Durga Vahini, an “arm” of the Bajrang Dal, is founded under Sadhvi Rithambara, a self-styled female monk who had emerged as a principal rabble-rouser against the Babri Masjid
10 November 1990
BJP emerges as third-highest party in Lok Sabha election with 85 seats; lends outside support to Vishwanath Pratap Singh who replaces Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister
30 October / 2 November 1990
16 Kar Sevaks are killed in police firing after they attack Babri Masjid
23 October 1990
Then Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav’s government arrests Advani and stops Rath Yatra
25 September 1990
Then BJP President Advani launches a Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in favor of Ram temple
2 December 1989
BJP withdraws support from central government leading to V. P. Singh’s resignation
9 November 1989
VHP lays the foundation of a Ram temple on land next to the Babri Masjid following permission from then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government
February 1986
Faizabad District Judge Hari Shankar Pandey orders unlocking of the Babri Masjid and allows worship by Hindus
1984
VHP launches its movement to claim Ayodhya’s Babri Masjid as the birthplace of Lord Ram
Bajrang Dal is founded as a youth wing as a vigilante outfit for cultural indoctrination
December 1984
BJP is decimated winning only two seats in Lok Sabha election that were called by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi after the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi; Congress under Rajiv wins 400 plus seats
1983
VHP organizes “ekatmata yatra” with the purpose of forging “Hindu unity” against Islam and Christianity
January 1980
Janata Party wins only 31 seats which include RSS/former BJS MPs, as Indira Gandhi wins a landslide in Lok Sabha elections and returns as prime minister
6 April 1980
Bharatiya Janata Party is formed by RSS/former BJS members splitting from Janata Party on the issue of dual membership
1979
Janata Party breaks apart after former BJS leaders such as Vajpayee and Advani refuse to disavow their connections with the RSS; Charan Singh becomes prime minister with outside support from Indira Gandhi’s Congress party but his government collapses after 24 weeks as Indira Gandhi withdraws support
23 March 1977
Janata Party wins the Lok Sabha elections in a landslide with RSS/former BJS leaders winning the largest number of seats at 93 of all constituents of Janata Party; Morarji Desai is named prime minister; for the first time, RSS/former BJS members Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani become national ministers
23 January 1977
Janata Party is formed as Bharatiya Jana Sangh merges into it after Indira Gandhi calls Lok Sabha election
1975-77
RSS chief Deoras writes an apology to Indira Gandhi from prison; Atal Behari Vajpayee is allowed on parole after reportedly promising good behavior
25 June 1975
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights; many opposition leaders, including JP and from the RSS-BJS, are arrested
1974
JP brings Bharatiya Jana Sangh into his mass movement, bringing legitimacy to RSS for the first time since Gandhi’s assassination
JP forms Lok Sangharsh Samiti as the platform leading his mass movement against Indira Gandhi and names RSS’s Nanaji Deshmukh as his successor if he is arrested
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi clamps Emergency suspending constitutional rights; many opposition leaders, including JP and from the RSS-BJS, are arrested
5 June 1973
Golwalkar passes away at Nagpur; Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras becomes RSS’s third sarsanghchalak, or supreme leader
26 February 1966
Savarkar passes away
1964
Vishwa Hindu Parishad is founded by Golwalkar in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda as president
21 October 1951
Bharatiya Jana Sangh is formed with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as president
November 1949
RSS mouthpiece Organizer criticizes Indian Constitution writing: “…In our constitution there is no mention of that unique constitutional development in ancient Bharat. To this day his laws as enunciated in the Manusmriti excite the admiration of the world and elicit spontaneous obedience and conformity. But to our constitutional pundits that means nothing"
July 1949
Ban on RSS is lifted after Golwalkar promised then Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel that RSS would have a written constitution, forego politics and “remain devoted purely to cultural work”, and respect the Indian tricolor
10 February 1949
Savarkar is acquired of charge of conspiracy in Gandhi’s assassination
December 1948
Golwalkar is arrested after RSS announces a movement against its ban
5 February 1948
Savarkar is arrested and charged with conspiracy for Gandhi’s assassination
4 February 1948
Indian government bans RSS; its ban notification saying the RSS was carrying out “undesirable and even dangerous activities” and that RSS members had “indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunition. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect firearms, to create disaffection against the government and suborn the police and the military. These activities have been carried on under a cloak of secrecy …”
30 January 1948
Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a former RSS member
15 August 1947
India is partitioned and India and Pakistan become free nations
14 August 1947
RSS mouthpiece Organizer rejects Indian tricolor saying the tricolor will “never be respected and owned by Hindus… a flag having three colors will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country”
January 1947
British government bans RSS but rescind it after four days
1943
Hindu Mahasabha joins hands with Muslim League to form a government in NWFP
1942
Hindu Mahasabha boycotts Quit India; Savarkar writes a memo, “Stick to your Posts”, saying Mahasabha members who were “members of municipalities, local bodies, legislatures or those serving in the army to stick to their posts” and not join Quit India
26 July 1942
Hindu Mahasabha’s Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, a minister in Bengal under Fazlul Haq’s ruling coalition, writes to British Government expressing solidarity and with advice on how to suppress Quit India Movement, saying: “Anybody, who during the war, plans to stir up mass feeling, resulting internal disturbances or insecurity, must be resisted by any Government that may function for the time being”
1941
With Savarkar’s approval, Hindu Mahasabha joins the Krishak Praja Party-led Progressive Coalition ministry of Fazlul Haq in Bengal
21 June 1940
Hedgewar passes away; M. S. Golwalkar becomes RSS’s second Sarsanghchalak or supreme leader
1940
Savarkar declares open support for Hitler’s treatment of the Jews at Hindu Mahasabha annual conference, saying: “There is no reason to suppose that Hitler must be a human monster because he passes off as a Nazi or Churchill is a demi-God because he calls himself a Democrat. Nazism proved undeniably the saviour of Germany under the set of circumstances Germany was placed in”
1939
M. S. Golwalkar publishes “We or our nationhood defined”; In it he writes: “To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic Races — the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for Races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by”
1937
Moonje establishes Bhonsala Military School in Nasik; Governor of Bombay State, Sir Roger Lumley, lays the foundation stone of its main building
Savarkar is elected president of Hindu Mahasabha, openly supports two-nation theory in his presidential address saying: “There are two antagonistic nations living side by side in India… India cannot be assumed today to be a Unitarian and homogenous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations in the main: the Hindus and the Muslims”
1935
Moonje establishes Central Hindu Military Education Society at Nashik claiming its “training is meant for qualifying and fitting our boys for the game of killing masses of men with the ambition of winning victory with the best possible causalities of dead and wounded while causing the utmost possible to the adversary”
1934
All India Congress Committee passes a resolution forbidding Congress members from becoming members of the RSS, Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League
Moonje and Hedgewar discuss plan to militarize Hindus along Italian and German lines; Moonje tells Hedgewar: “This ideal cannot be brought to effect unless we have our own swaraj with a Hindu as a dictator like Shivaji of old or Mussolini or Hitler of the present day in Italy or Germany... But this does not mean that we have to sit with folded hands until some such dictator arises in India. We should formulate a scientific scheme and carry on propaganda for it”
1931
Hindu Mahasabha leader Balakrishna Shivram Moonje tells fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini he is impressed with a fascist youth organization that indoctrinated boys as young as six years old
1930
Hindu Mahasabha decides to not join Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience Movement
1929
Hedgewar writes to RSS shakhas to worship the bhagwa (saffron) as the national flag, following a resolution by Indian National Congress that called upon Indians to observe January 26, 1930 as Independence Day by displaying and honoring the Tricolor
1928
Savarkar’s pamphlet is reprinted as “Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?”
1925
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is formed by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar
1924
Malaviya defends organized conversions of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism calling it “reconversion”
1923
At Mahasabha’s annual session at Varanasi Madan Mohan Malaviya claims the population of Hindus was decreasing, saying, “if Hindus cease to exist, who will protect the sacred thread (janeu), religion, Vedas, Puranas, cows and Brahmins?”
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar writes “Essentials of Hindutva”, an ideological pamphlet that argues against Hindu-Muslim compatibility and says India belongs to Hindus
1921
Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha changes name to Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha
1915
Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha is formed at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and Madan Mohan Malaviya is named president; Malaviya emphasizes Hindu solidarity and social reform
1909
Punjab Hindu Sabha, the forerunner to Hindu Mahasabha, is founded; it claims as its objective the safeguarding of the interests of the Hindu community