Evolving identity and ideology of RSS: From shakhas to national politics - old thinking, new packaging

By Ram Puniyani 

On 2 October 2025, the RSS will complete 100 years since its founding. The RSS has consistently pursued a Hindutva-oriented politics with the goal of establishing a Hindu nation. The oath that its volunteers take commits them to loyalty toward the Hindu nation. The RSS has rapidly expanded its basic unit, the shakha. In these shakhas, initially only young boys and youth participated, but now people of all ages gather to play Indian games like kabaddi and kho-kho. Alongside, they receive ideological training, referred to as shakha bauddhik. This training program is extensive and of varying durations. 

The RSS is an exclusively male organization; for women, there is a separate auxiliary organization called the Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Notably, even in the name of the women’s organization, the word “woman” is absent.

The lectures delivered in the shakhas glorify Hindu kings like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rana Pratap, while Muslim rulers are depicted as cruel villains. Seeds of hatred toward Muslims are sown here. The RSS is a vast organization with 83,000 shakhas, millions of volunteers, and hundreds of full-time workers (pracharaks), who have deeply altered social attitudes, instilling hostility toward Muslims and, in recent decades, Christians as well.

The centenary celebrations of the RSS began with a three-part lecture series by its chief, Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on 26, 27, and 28 August 2025. Bhagwat has similar lectures planned in three other metropolitan cities. In his Delhi lectures, he addressed speculation about resigning upon turning 75, as Prime Minister Modi also approaches that age. He dismissed any such possibility. He also urged couples to have three children, citing declining population growth—likely an attempt to counter the imagined fear that Muslims will one day form a majority in India.

The central theme of these lectures was to redefine Hindutva in a way that could also encompass Muslims and Christians. Yet, in society, Muslims continue to be marginalized, confined to shrinking spaces, while attacks on both communities have been unrelenting over recent decades, increasing in both frequency and severity. In the new definition, every person living on this land is called Hindu—without reference to religion! The RSS chief declares:

“Hindvi, Bharatiya, and Sanatan are synonyms… the meaning of these words is not confined to geographical boundaries. Our DNA has been the same for the last 40,000 years.”

The definition of “Hindu” has changed across different eras. Initially, it referred to all people living east of the Sindhu (Indus) River. Gradually, however, the term began to encompass all religious traditions that developed in this region—Brahmanism, Nath, Tantra, Siddha, Ajivika, and others—collectively folded into one “Hindu” identity. This classification grew stronger over the last two centuries, though B.R. Ambedkar argued that Brahmanism was the dominant tradition within Hindutva. Today, “Hindu” mainly refers to a religion, though originally it was simply a name for the inhabitants of a geographic area.

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We must remember that Hindutva includes multiple sects. Savarkar, the propounder of the “Two-Nation Theory,” defined Hindu in his book Essentials of Hindutva as:

“A Hindu is one who regards this land, from the Sindhu to the seas, as both his fatherland and holy land.”

Later, in 1990, Murli Manohar Joshi, then BJP president, described all Indians as Hindus—calling Muslims Ahmadiya Hindus and Christians Christi Hindus. This was an early attempt to impose a Hindu identity on minority communities.

Bhagwat now carries this view forward, saying that Hindvi, Bharatiya, and Sanatan are synonyms, interchangeable with one another. Sanatan means eternal. But the sacred texts, rituals, and pilgrimage sites of Hinduism are distinct from those of Muslims and Christians. Followers of Christianity and Islam will not identify themselves as “Hindu.”

Elaborating his perspective, Bhagwat divides Hindus into four categories, aiming to bring non-Hindus under the Hindu banner:

“There are four categories of Hindus—those who identify as Hindu and are proud of it; those who identify as Hindu but are not proud; those who know they are Hindu but never mention it; and those who do not consider themselves Hindu.”

This is a sly attempt to impose aspects of Hindu identity onto non-Hindus. In practical terms, Savarkar’s definition still prevails.

Though RSS ideologues claim Hinduism is tolerant and inclusive, the reality is quite different. In a self-congratulatory tone, Bhagwat asserts:

“A Hindu is one who believes in following his path without denigrating others’ faith, without insulting the beliefs of others. Whoever follows this tradition and culture is a Hindu.”

Mahatma Gandhi also supported such a noble outlook, yet he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, a man who received his early training in RSS shakhas. At another level, these definitions could apply to true adherents of other religions as well.

The claim that the RSS is open to all Hindus appears hollow, since it remains a men-only organization. Its historical narratives are rooted in hostility toward Muslims and Christians. Most RSS thinkers, including Savarkar, uphold the Manusmriti, which sanctions discrimination against women, Dalits, and backward classes. In his lectures, Bhagwat tries to gloss over this by saying these texts were written in specific contexts. Yet exclusion of other religions, lower castes, and women remains central to RSS ideology and activities. The decision to allow Muslims into shakhas was made after much deliberation, and even today their presence there is negligible.

What we do know is the composition of BJP MPs, the political wing of the RSS. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP has not a single Muslim or Christian MP, let alone minister. From the Prime Minister downward, leaders’ speeches are laced with rhetoric hostile to Muslims. In Assam, under the guise of NRC-CAA, efforts continue to disenfranchise Muslims. In Bihar, through SIR, another attempt is underway to strip voting rights from the poor and marginalized.

In effect, these three lectures illustrate the RSS agenda of imposing a Hindu identity on all Indians. Hindu religious identity is being craftily projected as synonymous with national identity.

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The author, formerly a professor at IIT Mumbai, is the president of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism