PM Modi hails RSS on eve of centenary, says it identified challenges before India: ‘Plots to break our unity, conspiracies…’

Underlining its various priorities, from cultural awakening to disaster relief, and its work across different sectors, PM Modi equated issues such as a push for Swadeshi goods to reduce economic dependence on other nations as well as a “conspiracy to affect a demographic change” in India to the challenges which the RSS had faced over its 100-year journey and was confronting from its prism of ‘nation first’.

‘Emerging challenges, struggle’

“When the Sangh came into being 100 years ago, the needs and struggles of the times were different. Back then, we needed to break free from centuries of political slavery, to protect our cultural values. But today, a 100 years later, when Bharat is moving towards becoming viksit (developed), and the world’s third biggest economy, and when a large chunk of the country’s poor are moving forward after defeating poverty, new opportunities are emerging across various sectors for our youth, when…Bharat is making its voice heard in the world, the challenges and the struggle are different too,” PM Modi said.

“Economic dependence on other nations, plots to break our unity, conspiracies aimed at demographic change – as a Prime Minister, I want to say with humility that I am very satisfied that our government is rapidly dealing with these challenges… As a Swayamsewak, I am also happy that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh has not only identified these challenges but also prepared a solid roadmap to deal with them,” he added.

The Sangh’s commitment to the ‘Panch Parivartan’ – swabodh (self-knowledge), samajik samrasta (social cohesion), kutumbh prabodhan (awareness regarding family), nagrik shishtachaar (citizen etiquette), and paryavaran (environment) – forms a significant inspiration for each Swayamsevak to tide over the challenges facing the nation and also lay the foundation for an Atmanirbhar Bharat by 2047, PM Modi said.

“Swabodh, that is self-knowledge…pride in one’s cultural heritage after getting freedom from the mentality of slavery… Pride in swabhasha (one’s own language)… Swabodh, that is Swadeshi, being atmanirbhar… Atmanirbhar is not an alternative; it is a necessity… We must make our mantra of Swadeshi a social commitment. We have to make the campaign of ‘Vocal for Local’…a statement which is a source of inspiration,” he stated.

“Today, the country is facing such crises that are direct assaults on our unity, culture and security. Secessionist thinking, regionalism, controversies sometimes over caste, sometimes over language; sometimes divisionary tendencies triggered by outside powers – we have countless such challenges in front of us. Bharat’s soul has always been vividhta mein ekta (unity in diversity). If this is broken, India’s power will be weakened and this is why we have to live this principle,” he added.

There was, PM Modi said, a need to “save social cohesion from the significant challenge of the conspiracy of a change in demography” as well as “from infiltrators.” He said this was a question related to India’s internal security and a peaceful future.

“This is why I have, from the Red Fort, announced the ‘demography mission.’ We have to be cautious of this challenge, face it unflinchingly,” he added.

‘Sangh constantly striving against social evils’

Seeking to underline the RSS’s role in India’s socio-cultural history and terming practices such as untouchability as a disease, the PM sought to highlight its struggle for an equal society which was praised even by Mahatma Gandhi.

“In society, diseases which have embedded themselves over centuries, the feeling of oonch-neech, malpractices such as untouchability, these have been very big challenges for Hindu society. It has been a grave issue against which the Sangh has been working continuously,” he said.

“Once Mahatma Gandhi went to a Sangh Shivir in Vardha. He too saw in the Sangh samta, mamta, samradhta, sambhav, mambhav (equality, motherliness, prosperity, equanimity in and equality of feeling) – all this that he saw, he had praised,” he also said.

PM Modi also showered praise on those who had led the RSS over its 100-year journey. From its founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar till incumbent RSS chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat, every Sarsanghchalak, he said, had fought against discrimination and untouchability.

“…Guruji took the spirit of ‘Na Hindu patito bhavet (Every Hindu is one family)’ forward… Pujya Balasaheb Devvrat ji…used to say ‘If untouchability is not a sin, there is no sin in the world’…Rajju Bhaiyya ji and Sudershan ji too, as Sarsanghchalaks, took this feeling forward. The present Sarsanghchalak, Honourable Mohan Bhagwat-ji, too has put a clear target of unity for society to achieve, and lit its flame from village to village,” he said.

“He (Bhagwat) has said ‘Ek kuan, ek mandir aur ek shamshaan (One well, one temple, one cremation ground)’. The Sangh has taken this to each corner of the country… This is the commitment of a socially inclusive society and the Sangh has been giving new energy to this,” he said.

The RSS, the PM sought to underline further, formed with irrevocable faith in the nation, worked on the path of selfless service to the nation, “forged in the fire of denouncement and penance” and “bloomed through the sangam of Sanskar and sadhna”.

“The Sangh stands by deeming rashtradharma as the param dharma of life, the Sangh is connected to the profound dream of serving Bharat Mata…its ideal is deep and strong roots of culture, the Sangh’s attempt is self-confidence and pride in society, the Sangh’s aim is the light of public service in each heart, the Sangh’s viewpoint is making Indian society the symbol of social justice…that Bharat’s speech becomes stronger on the world stage, its commitment is a secure and bright future for Bharat,” he added.

The Rs 100 commemorative coin released on the occasion features the national emblem on one side and an image of Bharat Mata in Varad Mudra with a lion being saluted by Swayamsevaks on the other. This, PM Modi said, was possibly the first time in the history of independent India that Bharat Mata’s image has appeared on Indian currency. It also features the Sangh’s motto of “Rashtraya Swaha, Idam Rashtraya, Idam Na Mama”.

‘Enduring hardship to alleviate suffering’

The PM underlined that from its inception, the RSS had been synonymous with patriotism and service, recalling its activities to provide relief to refugees from the Partition in 1947 to as recently as the COVID pandemic.

“The enduring hardship to alleviate the suffering of others is the hallmark of every Swayamsevak,” he said, recalling the 1962 war, the 1971 crisis of millions of refugees from East Pakistan arriving in India without shelter or resources and also to many Sikhs during the 1984 riots.

Recalling that former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was deeply astonished by the service he witnessed at Nanaji Deshmukh’s ashram in Chitrakoot, PM Modi also mentioned that former President Pranab Mukherjee was greatly impressed by the discipline and simplicity of the Sangh during his visit to Nagpur.

Even today, the RSS is engaged in providing relief to those affected by calamities such as the floods in Punjab, disasters in Himachal and Uttarakhand, and the tragedy in Kerala’s Wayanad as first responders.