Prime Minister Narendra Modi, presenting himself as the savior of Indian women while speaking in support of the Women’s Reservation Bill 2026, declared that reserving seats for women in legislative bodies is the need of the hour to make Indian democracy more vibrant and participative. He lamented that it was “deeply unfortunate” that the bill had been delayed for decades. He added that despite repeated efforts by previous governments to give women their rightful place in democratic institutions, the bill was never passed. He underlined the fact that for women—who constitute nearly half of India’s population—“committees were made, and bill drafts were introduced, but they never saw the light of day.”
For a man with a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background, Modi’s avatar as a messiah for women needs closer examination.
Without even delving into the glut of sex scandals involving top RSS cadres—exposed by leading RSS ideologues like Balraj Madhok (Zindagi ka Safar 3: Deendayal Upadhyay ki Hatya se Indira Gandhi ki Hatya Tak, 2003) and Hemendra Nath Pandit (The End of a Dream: An Inside View of the RSS Today, 1950)—we need only scrutinize RSS archives to uncover the horrendous, male-chauvinistic, anti-women ideology and practices of the organization.
Inside the RSS: Males Are ‘Volunteers,’ Women Are ‘Servants’
The RSS, founded in 1925, was designed as an exclusive male organization; its cadres were to be known as swayamsevaks (volunteers). The RSS top brass made its intentions clear about treating women as inferior when it decided to launch its women’s wing, the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, in 1936. The nomenclature reveals everything: women members are not called swayamsevaks or volunteers, but sevika (maids or female servants of the Hindu nation). This identity is not merely a technicality—it reflects the RSS’s attitude toward Hindu women, which glorifies their subservient role in society.
According to its website, the Rashtra Sevika Samiti has around three lakh members who pledge to maintain “faithfulness/virginity,” remain “modest” and “steadfast,” and not fall prey to “immorality and evil habits.” RSS male swayamsevaks make no such commitment.
RSS Demands ‘Manusmriti’ as India’s Constitution
The RSS’s anti-woman attitude was glaringly visible on the eve of the ratification of India’s democratic, secular Constitution (November 26, 1949), when it rejected the Constitution and demanded the promulgation of the Manusmriti (Manu Code) as the constitution of India. A perusal of Chapters V and IX shows how Hindu women were to be treated as subhuman.
1. “Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one’s control.” (IX/2)
2. “Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.” (IX/3)
3. “Considering that the highest duty of all castes, even weak husbands (must) strive to guard their wives.” (IX/6)
4. “Women, confined in the house under trustworthy and obedient servants, are not (well) guarded; but those who of their own accord keep guard over themselves, are well guarded.” (IX/12)
5. “Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), ‘(It is enough that) he is a man,’ they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly.” (IX/14)
6. “Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this (world).” (IX/15)
7. “(When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct.” (IX/17)
8. “For women no (sacramental) rite (is performed) with sacred texts, thus the law is settled; women (who are) destitute of strength and destitute of (the knowledge of) Vedic texts, (are as impure as) falsehood (itself), that is a fixed rule.” (IX/18)
Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press, Which Denigrates Hindu Women
Gita Press, Gorakhpur, was awarded the 2022 Gandhi Peace Prize—a prestigious international award instituted by the Government of India in 1995 to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The prize is meant for individuals or organizations that carry forward Gandhi’s ideals. The jury that conferred the award on Gita Press was headed by Prime Minister Modi.
Modi congratulated Gita Press, saying it had “done commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among the people.” Coincidentally, Gita Press was also celebrating its centenary in 2022.
The award to Gita Press was shocking not only to those who cherish Gandhian values, humanism, and civilized norms, but also to all who oppose gender-based persecution. It was a sad day for India’s democratic-secular republic that the Modi government chose to idolize Gita Press, which publishes ‘Hindu’ literature propagating sati and the beating of women. It mass-produces popular religious ‘Hindu’ literature that opposes the remarriage of widowed, divorced, or discarded women, opposes women seeking employment, and even advises against reporting rape—as a perusal of its publications shows. According to this literature, such submission is the way for Hindu women to reach swarg (paradise).
Gita Press has published more than a dozen titles on this subject, the most prominent being: Nari Shiksha (Education of Women) by Hanuman Prasad Poddar; Grahstha Mein Kaise Rahen (How to Lead a Household Life) by Swami Ramsukhdas; Striyon ke Liye Kartawya Shiksha (Education of Duties for Women) and Nari Dharm (Religion of Woman) by Jai Dayal Goindka; and a special issue of the magazine Kalyan on women. These are available in English and other Indian languages. The English titles are popular with non-resident Indians.
Here are some glimpses of what Gita Press publications say about women:
What should a wife do if her husband beats her and troubles her? Swami Ramsukhdas offers this sagely advice to the battered wife and her parents:
“The wife should think that she is paying the debt of her previous life, and thus her sins are being destroyed and she is becoming pure. When her parents come to know this, they can take her to their own house because they have not given their daughter to face this sort of bad behavior.”
And here is another piece of heavenly advice for a rape victim and her husband:
“As far as possible, it is better for a woman (rape victim) to keep mum. If her husband also comes to know of it, he too should keep mum. It is profitable for both of them to keep quiet.”
Can a woman remarry? The answer is straightforward:
“When once a girl is given away in marriage as charity by her parents, she does not remain a virgin anymore. So how can she be offered as charity to anyone else? It is beastliness to remarry her.”
But can a man remarry? No problem:
“A man can have a second wife for an issue in order to be free from the debt which he owes to manes (pitr-rin) according to the ordinances of the scriptures, if there is no issue from the first wife.”
And further:
“A man whose desire for pleasure has not been wiped out can get remarried because if he does not get remarried, he will indulge in adultery and go to prostitutes and will incur a great sin. Therefore, in order to escape sin and maintain decorum, he should get remarried according to the ordinances of scriptures.”
No widow is allowed to remarry. However, she may be allowed to become some male’s concubine:
“If she cannot maintain her character, instead of indulging in adultery here and there, she should accept her affinity for a person and live under his protection.”
Is it proper for a woman to demand equal rights? The sagely answer is unambiguous:
“No, it is not proper. In fact, a woman has not the right of equality with man… it is ignorance or folly which impels a woman to desire the right of equality with man. A wise person is he/she who is satisfied with fewer rights and more duties.”
This literature openly preaches and glorifies the ghastly practice of sati. To the question, “Is sati pratha (the tradition of the wife being cremated with the dead body of her husband on the funeral pyre) proper or improper?” the answer is:
“A wife’s cremation with the dead body of her husband on the funeral pyre is not a tradition. She in whose mind truth and enthusiasm come burns even without fire and she does not suffer any pain while she burns. This is not a tradition that she should do so, but this is her truth, righteousness and faith in scriptural decorum… It means that it is not a tradition. It is her own religious enthusiasm. On this topic, Prabhudatta Brahmachariji has written a book whose title is Cremation of a Wife with her Husband’s Dead Body is the Backbone of Hindu Religion; it should be studied.”
Apart from glorifying sati, Gita Press publications like Nari Dharm produce dozens of shlokas from ‘Hindu’ scriptures to establish that women are incapable of enjoying independence. The book begins with a chapter titled Swatantrata ke liye Striyon ki Ayogeta (Incapability of Women for Independence). Another notable feature of this literature is a long list of rituals for pregnant women to ensure the birth of a “bright, talented, brave and religiously inclined son.”
Unfortunately, the parliamentary opposition, which intends to confront PM Modi over his fake love for women, did not confront him with these facts—due to ignorance of the RSS’s dehumanizing ideology and practices. The moral of the story is that the RSS-BJP government juggernaut, led by PM Modi, is able to fool women—especially Hindu women—not because of any genuine respect for women, but because the opponents are totally ignorant of what the RSS stands for.
For Modi, the ignorance of his opponents is a blessing.
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Twitter: @shamsforjustice.
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