Mohan Bhagwat to visit Kanpur amid RSS focus on going beyond caste

Hindustan Times

a day ago

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat will arrive in Kanpur on Saturday on a two-day visit. He is scheduled to attend several meetings and visit two ongoing training camps. These camps aim to prepare volunteers aged 40 or below to work towards fostering a casteless and socially neutral environment.
The RSS initiative comes at a time when the Central government is preparing for a caste-based Census, expected in 2027.
The RSS's second-in-command, Dattatreya Hosabale, has already been in Kanpur for the past two days, providing training to volunteers on building a society that transcends caste distinctions.
The first camp, known as Vikas Varg, is being held at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya School in Nawabganj. It is a regional (Kshetra-level) camp comprising RSS workers from various districts across eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The second camp, Shiksha Varg, is taking place in Meharban Singh ka Purwa — the native place of Samajwadi Party ideologue Harmohan Singh Yadav. Part of his family is now seen to be moving closer to the BJP. This is the first time the Sangh has organised such an event in this traditional SP stronghold.
RSS leaders said Bhagwat would visit and address both training camps. An open session will be held on June 10 at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya School, where people from all sections of society are expected to participate.
During his previous visit to Kanpur in mid-April, Bhagwat had stressed that all castes deserve equal rights, urging swayamsevaks to unite diverse social groups under a singular Hindu identity. He had called on each RSS worker to reach out to every household, both urban and rural, to propagate the Sangh's message.
The ongoing training camps are seen as preparing the ground for that grassroots campaign. Set to continue until June 10, the camps will culminate with deployment of trained workers across towns, settlements and remote villages to engage at least one member from every household and bring them into the Sangh's ideological fold.
Addressing volunteers on Friday, Hosabale said, 'We must build a society that is not based on caste. The RSS has worked in this spirit for decades. As we enter the centenary year of the Sangh, we must remember that swayamsevaks have toiled selflessly—giving their time, money, and blood—to bring the organisation to where it stands today.'
He said the RSS remains globally unique as a movement where workers have collaborated for decades without knowing one another's caste.
In a separate interactive session with trainees, he discussed personal and academic concerns and reiterated that the RSS aims to mould ideal citizens who live by the principle of 'Nation First'.
'One's work is not merely for personal or familial benefit, but for national and global welfare,' he said.
He recounted the lives of senior pracharaks like Bhaurao Deoras, Anant Ram Gokhale, and Ashok Singhal, who had given up promising careers to devote themselves entirely to the service of the nation.
'The Sangh may not engage in conventional activities,' he said, adding, 'but through spiritual discipline, it produces workers who will never abandon a cause that serves the nation. They will go wherever national interest demands and mobilise others to do the same.'