The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), often described as a Hindutva gurukul (training ground), specializes in grooming cadres to propagate falsehoods and distort history. On the 50th anniversary of the Emergency (1975–77), RSS leaders and supporters have been claiming that the organization fiercely opposed the Emergency, with its cadres heroically challenging Indira Gandhi’s dictatorial rule and making significant sacrifices during the anti-Emergency movement. The RSS’s English mouthpiece, Organizer (June 24, 2025), portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a symbol of the fight against the Emergency, stating:
“The lesson had been burned into public memory. The Emergency became more than a chapter in history. It became a warning. For Narendra Modi, it was not just a past event. It was part of his personal journey. As Prime Minister, he has often reminded the nation of those dark times… It was about imprisoning free thought, art, and expression. That period left behind not just scars, but reminders. It taught us that freedom is earned, not gifted.”
Let us examine the claim that RSS and its political arm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are committed to liberal democratic values. M.S. Golwalkar, a prominent RSS ideologue revered by PM Modi as the “Guru of Hate,” declared in 1940 while addressing 1,350 top RSS cadres:
“RSS, inspired by one flag, one leader, and one ideology, is lighting the flame of Hindutva in every corner of this great land.”
This philosophical affinity for totalitarianism reveals RSS’s aversion to power-sharing. This was evident in its opposition to the federal structure of the Indian Constitution, a fundamental feature of Indian polity. In 1961, Golwalkar stated:
“Today’s federal form of government not only gives birth but also nourishes the feelings of separatism… It must be completely uprooted, the Constitution purified, and a unitary form of government established.”
The RSS’s claim of fighting the Emergency must be scrutinized through contemporary accounts, including RSS’s own documents. Two narratives—one by veteran journalist Prabhash Joshi and another by T.V. Rajeswar, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief and deputy chief during the Emergency—are particularly significant. They recount how the RSS surrendered to Indira Gandhi’s repressive regime, pledged loyalty to her and her son Sanjay Gandhi, and committed to enforcing the draconian 20-point programme of the Emergency. Many RSS cadres secured release from jail by submitting maafinamas (mercy petitions).
Prabhash Joshi’s account, published in Tehelka on the 25th anniversary of the Emergency, noted a “lurking sense of suspicion, a distance, a discreet lack of trust” regarding RSS’s participation in the anti-Emergency struggle. He wrote:
“Balasaheb Deoras, then RSS chief, wrote a letter to Indira Gandhi pledging to help implement the notorious 20-point programme of Sanjay Gandhi. This is the real character of the RSS… You can decipher a line of action, a pattern. Even during the Emergency, many among the RSS and Jana Sangh who came out of jails gave *maafinamas*. They were the first to apologize. Only their leaders remained in jail: Atal Bihari Vajpayee [mostly in hospital], L.K. Advani, even Arun Jaitley. But the RSS did not fight the Emergency. So why is the BJP trying to appropriate that memory?”
Joshi concluded:
“They are not a fighting force, and they are never keen to fight. They are basically a compromising lot. They are never genuinely against the government.”
T.V. Rajeswar, who later served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim, corroborated this in his book India: The Crucial Years (HarperCollins). He wrote:
> “Not only were they [RSS] supportive of this [Emergency], they wanted to establish contact, apart from Mrs. Gandhi, with Sanjay Gandhi also.”
In an interview with Karan Thapar, Rajeswar revealed that Deoras:
“Quietly established a link with the PM’s house and expressed strong support for several steps taken to enforce order and discipline in the country. Deoras was keen to meet Mrs. Gandhi and Sanjay. But Mrs. Gandhi refused.”
Rajeswar’s book further noted:
“Sanjay Gandhi’s concerted drive to enforce family planning, particularly among Muslims, had earned Deoras’s approbation.”
He also disclosed that post-Emergency, the RSS “had specifically conveyed its support to the Congress in the elections.” Even Subramanian Swamy, a prominent figure, alleged that senior RSS leaders betrayed the anti-Emergency struggle.
Contemporary RSS documents validate Joshi and Rajeswar’s accounts. The third RSS chief, Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras, wrote to Indira Gandhi on August 22, 1975, just two months after the Emergency’s imposition, praising her:
“I heard your address to the nation delivered on August 15, 1975, from Red Fort on radio in jail [Yerawada Jail] with attention. Your address was timely and balanced, so I decided to write to you.”
When Indira did not respond, Deoras wrote again on November 10, 1975, congratulating her on the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning her electoral disqualification by the Allahabad High Court:
“All five Justices of the Supreme Court have declared your election constitutional, heartiest greetings for it.”
He also distanced RSS from opposition movements, stating:
“RSS has been named in the context of Jaiprakash Narayan’s movement. The government has also connected RSS with Gujarat movement and Bihar movement without any reason… Sangh has no relation with these movements.”
With no response, Deoras appealed to Vinoba Bhave, an Emergency supporter favored by Indira Gandhi. On January 12, 1976, he wrote:
“Please suggest a way to lift the ban on RSS so that its members can be released from jails.”
In another undated letter, he pleaded:
“According to press reports, the respected PM [Indira Gandhi] is going to meet you at Pavnar Ashram on January 24. At that time, there will be discussion about the present condition of the country. I beg you to try to remove the wrong assumptions about the PM about RSS so that the ban on the RSS is lifted, and RSS members are released from jails. We look forward to the times when RSS and its members are able to contribute to the plans of progress which are being run in all fields under the leadership of the PM.”
Hindutva ideologue Balraj Madhok, who founded the Jana Sangh on RSS’s directive, admitted in his book Zindagi Ka Safar–3: Deendayal Upadhyay Ki Hatya Se Indira Gandhi Ki Hatya Tak (Dinman Prakashan, 2003, pp. 188–189):
“Sarsanghchalak Shri Bal Saheb Deoras was a MISA prisoner in Pune’s Yerawada Jail… his life was full of comforts. Therefore, he wrote two letters to Indira Gandhi on 22–08-1975 and 10–11-1975 to change her attitude towards the Sangh and lift the ban on it. He also wrote a letter to Shri Vinoba Vinoba Bhave and requested him to try to remove the feeling of opposition towards the Sangh from Indira Gandhi’s mind. These letters were leaked by the government and they were published in many newspapers. This naturally had an adverse effect on the morale of the Sangh volunteers, and the Satyagraha movement became almost dead.”
It is significant that former President Pranab Mukherjee, invited by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as chief guest at a 2018 RSS event, was indicted as a key Congress leader for Emergency excesses.
Shockingly, thousands of RSS cadres continue to receive monthly pensions for alleged persecution during the Emergency. BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, and Maharashtra have awarded pensions of ₹20,000 per month to those jailed for less than two months, and ₹10,000 to those jailed for less than one month during the Emergency period. These rules favor RSS cadres who submitted mercy petitions, often serving minimal jail terms. No such benefits exist for anti-British freedom fighters, as no RSS cadre claimed such pensions. Notably, the Communist youths branded as “Naxals” and killed in fake encounters during the Emergency remain forgotten forgotten. The RSS’s ally, Shiv Sena, a fellow Hindutva group, openly supported the Emergency.
Senior journalist Tavleen Singh, who initially welcomed Modi’s rise in 2014, wrote on the Emergency’s 50th anniversary (Indian Express, June 22, 2025):
“Brutal repression of democratic rights can happen again… There are those who say that since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, an ‘undeclared emergency’ has come into force. I hesitate to make sweeping judgments of that kind, but what has happened is that some freedoms we took for granted have become endangered. This has been done not by throwing Opposition leaders, journalists, and dissidents into jail, but by tweaking the laws to make curbs on freedom legally possible.
"The law that is supposed to prevent Sedition sedition has been tweaked to widen the definition of that word. Laws meant to curb black money have been tweaked as well… and, well, if a dissident does not end up in jail for ‘anti-national activities,’ he could end up rotting in jail some forgotten cell because the Enforcement Directorate charges him of with money laundering. The opposition Opposition leaders who have these charges thrown at them have fought back valiantly because they have political parties behind them, but dissidents and journalists have just learned to keep quiet. Is that good? Is that democracy?”
The writing on the wall is clear. The Emergency was imposed and rescinded using constitutional provisions. Today, under Modi’s rule, India faces a perpetual “undeclared” Emergency, which needs no formal declaration or withdrawal.
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http://du-in.academia.edu/ShamsulIslam. Facebook: https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332. Twitter: @shamsforjustice.
http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/.
Link for procuring Shamsul Islam’s books in English, Hindi, & Urdu:
https://tinyurl.com/shams-books
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