RSS At 100: A Century Of Service, Discipline And Nation-Building

News18

17-07-2025

When Hedgewar founded the RSS on Vijayadashami, India was still in chains, not just politically but mentally. He believed that mere political freedom would be hollow if society itself stayed divided by caste, region, and suspicion. He chose discipline and daily practice, not fiery speeches. The local shakha became the heart of this unique experiment. Even today, before sunrise in towns and villages, thousands of swayamsevaks gather in open fields for drills, games, patriotic songs, and discussions. It is here, far from cameras and microphones, that young boys and men learn values — self-restraint, respect for elders, duty towards society, and a quiet pride in India's ancient heritage. RSS swayamsevaks were never far from the call of freedom. Many swayamsevaks participated in local movements, aided underground nationalist activities, and supported leaders of the wider freedom struggle by quietly organising communities, maintaining discipline in gatherings, and preserving the social fabric during turbulent times.
When the British left India in 1947, they carved it in two, leaving a subcontinent drenched in blood. Amid the horror of Partition, it was RSS swayamsevaks who ran refugee camps, organised food and medicine, protected caravans of fleeing Hindus and Sikhs, and helped countless families rebuild shattered lives. These stories rarely made headlines or history books, but they live on in oral memories of families across Punjab and Bengal who remember that it was often the swayamsevak who stood between them and death.
Independent India brought new trials. In 1962 and 1965, when the nation went to war, thousands of RSS volunteers helped army camps, supplied rations and blood, and cared for wounded soldiers. During the 1975 Emergency, when democracy itself was crushed under Indira Gandhi's iron fist, the RSS network became the underground resistance — printing banned pamphlets, hiding opposition leaders and organising protests. Thousands of swayamsevaks were jailed without trial, yet their resolve never broke. Many would later help restore India's democracy when the Emergency was lifted, shaping political movements that still influence the country today.
Beyond politics, the Sangh's real power lies in its grassroots presence. Today it runs one of India's largest networks of service projects under the Seva Bharati banner. These aren't just urban NGOs with flashy PR but lifelines for the poorest corners of India. From hostels for tribal children to free coaching for underprivileged students, from medical camps in remote hills to food drives in drought-hit regions, RSS swayamsevaks reach where few others do. During the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, the 2004 tsunami or the 2020 COVID crisis, it was often the Sangh's volunteers who arrived first, bringing food, medicines and hope — without waiting for the TV cameras.
What makes the RSS different is not just its scale but its unique human network — swayamsevaks who act as living anthropologists of Indian society. They understand every street, dialect, custom, local tension and hidden need. They map village water shortages, caste equations, and even forgotten temples or folk traditions. They do this not for exploitation but for healing and empowerment. When a flood hits Assam or Kerala, or when riots threaten harmony, the local shakha becomes the first line of response — mobilising help, calming tempers and rebuilding trust.
Taking Cultural Patriotism Global
Contrary to the accusations that critics level at it, the RSS has repeatedly proven that its dream is a united Bharat. Its programmes to break caste barriers — inter-caste dining, marriages, and local mediation — continue to bring communities together. In its ecosystem, parallel organisations which are part of Sangh Parivar, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, nurture future generations in self-reliance and service. Even the Ram Mandir movement — once dismissed by Marxists and Opposition as fringe — was carried forward not through violence but through decades of patient mobilisation, legal battle and peaceful campaigns that culminated in the historic Pran Pratishtha in January 2024. For millions, that temple is not only a place of worship anymore — it is a civilisational statement that India can no longer be shamed into forgetting who it is.
What is less known is how far the Sangh's ideals have travelled. As Indians migrated abroad, the RSS quietly inspired the birth of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) in dozens of countries. Today, from New Jersey to Nairobi, young Indian-origin children gather on weekends to learn yoga, Sanskrit shlokas, traditional arts and festivals. These cultural anchors give diaspora children pride in their identity and keep families connected to India's living traditions. Whether it is raising funds for disaster relief abroad or helping stranded students during lockdowns, the spirit of seva crosses oceans.
Now, as the RSS steps into its next century, its leadership under Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat is clear-eyed about India's modern challenges. The Panch Parivartan — five broad missions — is guiding its future work: protecting the environment through tree plantation and water conservation; strengthening the family as the first school of values; bridging caste and regional divides through daily engagement; promoting healthy, disciplined living; and nurturing civic responsibility in every citizen. These goals sound simple, yet they strike at the root problems of a modern society where consumerism and selfishness often overshadow community and tradition.
The Quiet Promise for Bharat's Future
For its critics, the Sangh remains an enigma — too large to ignore, too rooted to dislodge, too silent to be easily understood. Yet, for millions, it is a source of quiet inspiration: a reminder that nation-building is not the job of governments alone but the duty of every family, every citizen. In its daily shakhas, modest schools, bustling charity kitchens and quiet disaster camps, the RSS has shown that true patriotism is built on discipline, humility and relentless service — not on headlines.
One hundred years ago, Hedgewar or Guru Golwalkar could not have imagined the sheer scale their small experiment would achieve. But they knew that the real power of Bharat lay not in palaces or parliaments but in ordinary people ready to stand together for an idea bigger than themselves. In an age of noise, the Sangh's greatest strength remains its silence — the quiet promise that come what may, there will always be swayamsevaks ready to serve.
A century down, the mission continues. The next hundred years belong to a resurgent Bharat — and the swayamsevak will be there, quietly watching over it, one morning shakha at a time.
Prashanto Bagchi is an International Relations scholar at JNU, a columnist, and the founder of JNU INSIGHTS, an academic Society at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Toshiba Shukla is a noted educationist, author, and a prominent voice in the realm of contemporary Hindutva thought. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
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