Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}

| name = Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

| logo = Bhagwa Dhwaj.png

| logo_size = 160px

| logo_caption = [[Bhagwa Dhwaj]] or saffron flag, an official symbol of RSS

| image = [[File:Path Sanchalan Bhopal-1.jpg|250px]]

| caption = Path Sanchalan (marching) in [[Bhopal]]

| abbreviation = '''RSS'''

| formation = {{start date and age|1925|09|27|p=y|df=yes}}

| type = [[Right-wing politics|Right-wing]]<ref name="JohnsonGarnett2017">{{citation|last1=Johnson|first1=Matthew|last2=Garnett|first2=Mark|author-link2=Mark Garnett|last3=Walker|first3=David M|title=Conservatism and Ideology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRE4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT77|access-date=25 March 2021|url-access=limited|year=2017|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-52899-9|page=77|quote=A couple of years later, India was ruled by the Janata coalition, which consisted also of Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the then-political arm of the extreme right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS – National Volunteers Organisation).}}</ref><br /> [[Volunteer]]{{sfn|Andersen|Damle|1987|p=111}}<br />[[Paramilitary]]<ref name="Curran1950"/><ref name="Bhatt2013"/><ref name="McLeod2002"/><ref name="Horowitz"/><ref name="Margolis2000"/>

| status = Active

| purpose = [[Hindu nationalism]] and [[Hindutva]]<ref name="Embree2005">{{cite book |first1=Ainslie T. |last1=Embree | author-link = Ainslie Embree |chapter=Who speaks for India? The Role of Civil Society |editor1=Rafiq Dossani |editor2=Henry S. Rowen |title=Prospects for Peace in South Asia |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|year=2005 |isbn=0804750858 |pages=141–184}}</ref><ref name="Jaffrelot 2010"/><br/>

| headquarters = Dr. Hedgewar Bhawan, Sangh Building Road, [[Nagpur]], [[Maharashtra]] - 440032

| language = ''None''

| leader_title = [[List of Sarsanghchalaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|Sarsanghchalak]] (Chief)

| leader_name = [[Mohan Bhagwat]]

| leader_title2 = Sarkaryawah (General Secretary)

| leader_name2 = [[Dattatreya Hosabale]]

| key_people =  

| main_organ =  

| affiliations = [[Sangh Parivar]]

| volunteers =  

| bodystyle = MNRR

| slogan =  

| founder = [[K. B. Hedgewar]]

| coordinates = {{coord|21.146|N|79.111|E|display=inline,title}}

| origins =  

| area_served = India

| method =  

| membership = {{plainlist|

| website = {{URL|https://www.rss.org}}

The '''Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh''' ({{small|[[Abbreviation|abbr.]]}} {{Abbr|'''RSS'''|Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangathan}}; {{IAST|Rāṣṭrīya Svayaṃsevak Saṅgh}}, {{IPA-hi|raːʂˈʈriːj(ə) swəjəmˈseːʋək səŋɡʱ|hindi}}, {{Literal translation|National Volunteer Organisation}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/919613/Rashtriya-Swayamsevak-Sangh|title=Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)|quote=(Hindi: "National Volunteer Organisation") also called Rashtriya Seva Sangh|access-date=10 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026173245/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/919613/Rashtriya-Swayamsevak-Sangh|archive-date=26 October 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> is an Indian [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]],<ref name="JohnsonGarnett2017" /> [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]]<ref name="Horowitz">{{cite book|last1=Horowitz|first1=Donald L.|title=The Deadly Ethnic Riot|year=2001|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|isbn=978-0520224476|page=[https://archive.org/details/deadlyethnicriot00horo/page/244 244]|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlyethnicriot00horo/page/244}}</ref><ref name="Haynes2003">{{cite book|author=Jeff Haynes|title=Democracy and Political Change in the Third World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdWAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA168|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-54184-3|pages=168–|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423174835/https://books.google.com/books?id=YdWAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA168|archive-date=23 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> volunteer{{sfn|Andersen|Damle|1987|p=111}} [[paramilitary]] organisation.<ref name="McLeod2002">{{cite book|last1=McLeod|first1=John|title=The history of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DAwmUphO6eAC&pg=PA209|access-date=11 June 2010|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31459-9|pages=209–|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424015646/https://books.google.com/books?id=DAwmUphO6eAC&pg=PA209|archive-date=24 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the [[Sangh Parivar]] ([[Hindi]] for "Sangh family"), which has developed a presence in all facets of Indian society and includes the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]], the ruling political party under the Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]].<ref name="JohnsonGarnett2017" /> The present ''[[List of Sarsanghchalaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|Sarsanghchalak]]'' of the RSS is [[Mohan Bhagwat]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=Jain |first1=Rupam |last2=Chaturvedi |first2=Arpan |date=11 January 2023 |title=Leader of influential Hindu group backs LGBT rights in India |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/leader-influential-hindu-group-backs-lgbt-rights-india-2023-01-11/ |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref>  

Founded on 27 September 1925,{{sfn|Chitkara, National Upsurge|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ifuxzl9NM5sC&pg=PA362 362]}} the initial impetus of the organisation was to provide character training and instill "Hindu discipline" in order to unite the Hindu community and establish a ''[[Hindu Rashtra]] (''Hindu nation).{{sfn|Andersen|Damle|1987|p=2}}<ref name="Atkins2004">{{cite book|last1=Atkins|first1=Stephen E.|title=Encyclopedia of modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki|url-access=registration|access-date=26 May 2010|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32485-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki/page/264 264]–265}}</ref> Drawing its inspiration from European [[fascist movement]]s and groups such as the [[Italian Fascist Party]],<ref name="Atkins2004" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Casolari|first=Marzia|date=2000|title=Hindutva's Foreign Tie-Up in the 1930s: Archival Evidence|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=35|issue=4|pages=218–228|jstor=4408848|issn=0012-9976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McDonald|first=Ian|date=1 December 1999|title='Physiological Patriots'?: The Politics of Physical Culture and Hindu Nationalism in India|journal=International Review for the Sociology of Sport|language=en|publisher=Sage Journals|volume=34|issue=4|pages=343–358|doi=10.1177/101269099034004003|s2cid=144111156|issn=1012-6902}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Natrajan|first=Balmurli|date=2009|title=Searching for a Progressive Hindu/ism: Battling Mussolini's Hindus, Hindutva, and Hubris|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/595824/summary|journal=Tikkun|language=en|publisher=Duke University Press|volume=24|issue=5|pages=58–61|doi=10.1215/08879982-2009-5024|s2cid=171206784|issn=2164-0041}}</ref> the organisation aims to spread the ideology of [[Hindutva]] to "strengthen" the [[Hinduism in India|Hindu community]] and promotes an ideal of upholding an [[Indian culture]] and its civilizational values.<ref name="Jaffrelot 2010">{{cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAO3i_gS61wC&pg=PA46 |title=Religion, Caste, and Politics in India |date=2010 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=9789380607047 |page=46 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Dina Nath Mishra">{{cite book |last=Dina Nath Mishra |title=RSS: Myth and Reality |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |year=1980 |isbn=978-0706910209 |page=24}}</ref> 

 

During the colonial period, the RSS collaborated with the [[British Raj]] and played no role in the [[Indian independence movement]].<ref name="Lal">{{cite book |last=Lal |first=Vinay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyluAAAAMAAJ |title=The History of History: Politics and Scholarship in Modern India |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-566465-2 |page=2 |quote=Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the paramilitary organization which advocates a militant Hinduism and a Hindu polity in modern India, not only played no role in the anti - colonial struggle but actively collaborated with the British.}}</ref><ref name="Bhatt">{{cite book |author=Chetan Bhatt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-0MHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT99 |title=Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-000-18104-3 |page=99 |quote=RSS was not considered an adversary by the British. On the contrary, it gave loyal consent to the British to be part of the Civic Guard.}}</ref> After independence, it grew into an influential Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation, spawning several affiliated organisations that established numerous schools, charities, and clubs to spread its ideological beliefs.<ref name="Atkins2004" /> It was banned in 1947 for 4 days,<ref name="Atkins2004" /> and then thrice by the post-independence Indian government, first in 1948 when [[Nathuram Godse]],<ref>Krant M. L. Verma ''Swadhinta Sangram Ke Krantikari Sahitya Ka Itihas'' (Part-3) p.{{nbsp}}766</ref> an erstwhile member of RSS,<ref name=":2">—{{cite book|last1=Karawan|first1=Ibrahim A.|last2=McCormack|first2=Wayne|last3=Reynolds|first3=Stephen E.|title=Values and Violence: Intangible Aspects of Terrorism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ol-63orWw68C&pg=PA87|year=2008|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-8660-1|page=87}}<br />—{{cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nathuram-godse-never-left-rss-says-his-family/articleshow/54159375.cms|title=Nathuram Godse never left RSS, says his family|first1=Vasudha|last1=Venugopal|date=8 September 2016|newspaper=The Economic Times}}</ref> assassinated [[Mahatma Gandhi]];<ref name="Atkins2004" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/18/stories/2004081805151100.htm |title=RSS releases 'proof' of its innocence |date=18 August 2004 |access-date=26 January 2011 |location=Chennai, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523043649/http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/18/stories/2004081805151100.htm |archive-date=23 May 2010 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="IAR">

He was released in July 1922. Hedgewar was distressed at the lack of organisation among volunteer organisations of Congress. Subsequently, he felt the need to create an independent organisation that was based on the country's traditions and history. He held meetings with prominent political figures in Nagpur between 1922-24. He visited Gandhi's ashram in nearby Wardha in 1924 and discussed a number of things. After this meeting, he left Wardha to plan to unite the often antagonistic Hindu groups into a common nationalist movement.{{sfn|Andersen, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: Early Concerns|1972}}<ref>{{cite book | last=Anand | first=Arun | title=The Saffron Surge Untold Story of RSS Leadership | publisher=Prabhat Prakashan | year=2020 | isbn=978-93-5322-265-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xReKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 | access-date=15 March 2023 | page=23}}</ref>

The decade of 1920s witnessed a significant deterioration in the relations between Hindus and Muslims.  The Muslim masses were mobilised by the [[Khilafat movement]], opposing dismemberment of Turkey by the British and some demanded the reinstatement of the Caliphate in Turkey.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hutchinson | first=J. | last2=Smith | first2=A.D. | title=Nationalism: Critical Concepts in Political Science | publisher=Routledge | series=Nationalism: Critical Concepts in Political Science | issue=v. 3 | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-415-20112-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NN0m_c8p6fgC&pg=PA926 | page=926|quote=Khilafat movement which was primarily designed to prevent the allied dismemberment of Turkey after World War One.}}</ref> [[Mahatma Gandhi]] made an alliance with the movement for conducting his own [[Non-co-operation movement]]. Gandhi aimed to create [[Hindu–Muslim unity]] in forming the alliance. However, the alliance saw a "common enemy", not a "common enmity".<ref>{{harvp|Stern, Democracy and Dictatorship in South Asia|2001|p=27}}. Quote: '... mobilizaiton{{Verify quote|type=spelling|text=Is the original really spelled "aiton" instead of "ation"?|date=May 2022}} of Indian Muslims in the name of Islam and in defense of the Ottoman ''khalifa'' was inherently "communal", no less than the Islamic movements of opposition to British imperialism which preceded it.... All defined a Hindu no less than a British "other".'</ref> When the government refused to entertain demands of Khilafatists, this would cause some Muslims to turn their anger towards Hindus.<ref>{{harvp|Stern, Democracy and Dictatorship in South Asia|2001}}; {{harvp|Misra, Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism in India|2004}}</ref> The first major incident of religious violence was reportedly the [[Moplah rebellion]] in August 1921, it was widely narrated that the rebellion ended in large-scale violence against Hindu officials in [[Malabar region|Malabar]]. A cycle of inter-communal violence throughout India followed for several years.{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=19–20}} In 1923, there were riots in Nagpur, called "Muslim riots" by Hedgewar, where Hindus were felt to be "totally disorganized and panicky." These incidents made a major impression on Hedgewar and convinced him of the need to organise the Hindu society.{{sfn|Kelkar|1950|p=138}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|p=34}}

Since its formation the RSS opposed joining the [[Indian independence movement|independence movement]] against British rule in India.<ref name="Bhatt"/> Portraying itself as a social movement, Hedgewar also kept the organisation from having any direct affiliation with political organisations then fighting British rule.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/655722.stm|title=RSS aims for a Hindu nation|date=10 March 2003|work=BBC News|access-date=26 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124011631/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/655722.stm|archive-date=24 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> RSS rejected Gandhi's willingness to co-operate with the Muslims.{{sfn|Nussbaum, The Clash Within|2008|p=156}}{{sfn|Bhatt, Hindu Nationalism|2001|p=115}}

Hedgewar personally participated in the [[Salt Satyagraha|'Satyagraha']] launched by Gandhi in April 1930, but he did not get the RSS involved in the movement. He sent information everywhere that the RSS would not participate in the Satyagraha. However, those wishing to participate individually were not prohibited.{{sfn|Puniyani, Religion, Power and Violence|2005|p=129}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|p=74}} In 1934, Congress passed a resolution prohibiting its members from joining the RSS, Hindu Mahasabha, or the Muslim League.{{sfn|Chitkara, National Upsurge|2004|pp=251–254}}

M. S. Golwalkar, who became the leader of the RSS in 1940, continued and further strengthened the isolation from the independence movement. In his view, the RSS had pledged to achieve freedom through "defending religion and culture", not by fighting the British.<ref name="Golwalkar1974">{{cite book|author=M. S. Golwalkar|title=Shri Guruji Samgra Darshan, Volume 4|date=1974|publisher=Bharatiya Vichar Sadhana}}</ref>{{sfn|Shamsul Islam, Religious Dimensions|2006|p=191}}{{sfn|Puniyani, Religion, Power and Violence|2005|p=135}} Golwalkar lamented the anti-British nationalism, calling it a "reactionary view" that, he claimed, had disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle.{{sfn|Tapan Basu, Khaki Shorts|1993|p=29}}<ref name="Ludden1996">{{cite book|author=David Ludden|title=Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC&pg=PA274|date=1 April 1996|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0-8122-1585-0|pages=274–|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118125602/https://books.google.com/books?id=jEUdPqYQjhoC&pg=PA274|archive-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It is believed that Golwalkar did not want to give the British an excuse to ban the RSS. He complied with all the strictures imposed by the Government during the Second World War, even announcing the termination of the RSS military department.{{sfn|Andersen|Damle|1987}}{{sfn|Noorani, RSS and the BJP|2000|p=46}} The British Government believed that the RSS was not supporting any civil disobedience against them, and their other political activities could thus be overlooked. The British Home Department took note of the fact that the speakers at the RSS meetings urged the members to keep aloof from the anti-British movements of the [[Indian National Congress]], which was duly followed.{{sfn|Bipan Chandra, Communalism|2008|p=140}} The Home Department did not see the RSS as a problem for law and order in British India.{{sfn|Andersen|Damle|1987}}{{sfn|Noorani, RSS and the BJP|2000|p=46}} The Bombay government appreciated the RSS by noting that the Sangh had scrupulously kept itself within the law and refrained from taking part in the disturbances ([[Quit India Movement]]) that broke out in August 1942.<ref name="Bandyopadhya?a2004">{{cite book|author=Sekhara Bandyopadhya?a|title=From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0oVra0ulQ3QC&pg=PA422|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2596-2|pages=422–|access-date=13 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103033815/https://books.google.com/books?id=0oVra0ulQ3QC&pg=PA422|archive-date=3 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Bipan Chandra, Communalism|2008|p=141}}{{sfn|Noorani, RSS and the BJP|2000|p=60}} It also reported that the RSS had not, in any way, infringed upon government orders and had always shown a willingness to comply with the law. The Bombay Government report further noted that in December 1940, orders had been issued to the provincial RSS leaders to desist from any activities that the British Government considered objectionable, and the RSS, in turn, had assured the British authorities that "it had no intentions of offending against the orders of the Government".<ref name="Sarkar2005">{{cite book|author=Sumit Sarkar|title=Beyond Nationalist Frames: Relocating Postmodernism, Hindutva, History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqXqI-LRz0YC&pg=PA258|year=2005|publisher=Permanent Black|isbn=978-81-7824-086-2|pages=258–|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312120146/https://books.google.com/books?id=aqXqI-LRz0YC&pg=PA258|archive-date=12 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Gupta1997">{{cite book |author=Partha Sarathi Gupta|date=1997 |title=Towards Freedom 1943–44, Part III |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=3058–9 |isbn=978-0195638684}}</ref>

In January 1948, [[Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated]] by a member of the RSS, [[Nathuram Godse]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jha|first=Dhirendra K.|date=1 January 2020|title=Historical records expose the lie that Nathuram Godse left the RSS|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/historical-record-expose-lie-godse-left-rss|website=The Caravan|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Following the assassination, many prominent leaders of the RSS were arrested, and the RSS as an organisation was banned on 4 February 1948. During the court proceedings in relation to the assassination Godse began claiming that he had left the organisation in 1946.<ref name="IAR"/> A Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to the murder of Gandhi was set, and its report was published by India's Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 1970. Accordingly, the [[Kapur Commission|Justice Kapur Commission]]<ref name="kapoor">{{cite book|title=Report of Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to murder Mahatma Gandhi, By India (Republic). Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to murder Mahatma Gandhi|author=Jeevan Lal Kapur|publisher=Ministry of Home affairs|year=1970}}</ref> noted that the "RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organisation as such as being responsible for that most diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace. It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS."<ref name=kapoor/>{{rp|165}} However, the then Indian Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Sardar [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] had remarked that the "RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhi's death".{{sfn|Patel, Prasad and Rajaji: Myth of the Indian Right|2015|pp=82}} The association with the incident also made the RSS "very unpopular and considerably dented its polarizing appeal".<ref>{{cite report |last=Sahoo |first=N. |date=2020 |chapter=Mounting majoritarianism and political polarization in India |title=Political Polarization in South and Southeast Asia: Old Divisions, New Dangers |pages=9–24 |editor-first1=Thomas |editor-last1=Carothers |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last2=O’Donohue |publisher=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep26920.7}}</ref>

Golwalkar also explains that RSS does not intend to compete in electioneering politics or share power. The movement considers Hindus as inclusive of [[Sikhs]], [[Jains]], [[Buddhists]], [[Adivasi|tribals]], [[Dalit|untouchables]], [[Veerashaivism]], [[Arya Samaj]], [[Ramakrishna Mission]], and other groups as a community, a view similar to the inclusive referencing of the term Hindu in the Indian Constitution Article 25 (2)(b).<ref>Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wiBwMJrlMVoC&q=%22view+Sikhs%2C+Jains%2C+Buddhists%2C+Tribals%2C+and+Untouchables+as+belonging+within+the+Hindu+community%22 "Fundamentalisms Comprehended, Volume 5 of The Fundamentalism Project"], University of Chicago Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-226-50888-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-226-50888-7}}</ref><ref>Koenraad Elst, 2002, Who is a Hindu?: Hindu revivalist views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and other offshoots of Hinduism</ref><ref>[http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm "Constitution of India: Article 25"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007173401/http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm |date=7 October 2011 }}, quote: "Explanation II: In sub-Clause (b) of clause (2), the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion".</ref>

In spite of the organisation's hostile rhetoric against their religions, the RSS also has Muslim and Christian members. According to the party's official documents, Indian Muslims and Christians are still descendants of Hindus that happened to be converted to foreign faiths, so as long as they agree with its beliefs they can also be members. They are still required to attend the shakhas, and recite Hindu hymns, even by breaking [[Ramadhan]] fasts when possible.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Agha |first1=Eram |last2=Munshi |first2=Suhas |title=Minority Report: Meet the Non-Hindus in the RSS |url=https://www.news18.com/news/immersive/non-hindus-in-rss.html |website=News18 |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Basic FAQ on RSS |url=https://www.rss.org/Encyc/2017/5/20/Basic-FAQ-on-RSS.html |website=Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref> The [[Muslim Rashtriya Manch]] is considered as a wing of the RSS for Muslim members.<ref>{{cite web |title=A person is not a Hindu if he says Muslims should not live in India: RSS chief |url=https://scroll.in/latest/999326/a-person-is-not-a-hindu-if-he-says-muslims-should-not-live-in-india-rss-chief |website=Scroll.in |access-date=28 October 2021}}</ref>

 

In January 2020, the RSS along with other right-wing political parties and religious organisations such as BJP, [[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]] and HJV held protests, which allegedly demanded that the statue of [[Jesus]] be not installed at Kapala Hills of [[Kanakapura]]. The 10 acres of land<ref name="Hindustan Times 2020">{{cite web | title=BJP, RSS protest against proposed statue of Jesus in Karnataka's Kanakapura | website=Hindustan Times | date=13 January 2020 | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bjp-rss-protest-against-proposed-statue-of-jesus-in-karnataka-s-kanakapura/story-3bjxnjbcK4zh72URr6EhBK.html | access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> was originally donated by the government to the [[Violence against Christians in India|Christian community]] after [[D. K. Shivakumar]], the MLA of [[Indian National Congress]] submitted a request to the state government for land donation to the community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/christ-statue-shivakumar-bjp-rss-protest-1636375-2020-01-13|title=114-ft Christ statue planned in Shivakumar bastion sparks BJP, RSS protest|website=India Today}}</ref>

Two prominent publications of the RSS are [[Panchjanya (magazine)|''Panchajanya'']] (Hindi) and [[Organiser (magazine)|Organiser]] (English). The first magazines published were Rashtra Dharma (Hindi) and Organiser (English). Later in 1948 new publications were launched, ''Panchajanya'' from Lucknow, ''Akashwani'' from Jalandhar and ''Chetana'' from Varanasi. Until 1977 the publications were published by Rashtra Dharma Prakashan the responsibility of which was later taken over by Bharat Prakashan Ltd. The governing board of the publications has been appointing editors for the publications. Prominent leaders like Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee have been the editors of these publications. <ref>{{Cite web |date=20 October 2015 |title=Links between RSS, journals Organiser and Panchjanya |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/links-between-rss-journals-organiser-and-panchjanya/ |access-date=18 April 2022 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jha |first=Dhirendra |date=27 December 2015 |title=Staff of 'Panchajanya' and 'Organiser' sacked for writing to RSS chief |url=https://scroll.in/article/778070/staff-of-panchajanya-and-organiser-to-rss-chief-why-have-acche-din-meant-bad-times-for-us |work=[[Scroll.in]] |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> In 2013, the number of subscriptions to ''Panchajanya'' was around 60,000 and around 15,000 for Organiser. Subscriptions have increased substantially after 2014 election of Narendra Modi as the Prime minister. As of 2017 ''Panchajanya'' had more than 1 lakh subscribers and Organiser had 25,000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 June 2017 |title=Circulation of RSS journals up by 40% since BJP came to power |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/circulation-of-rss-journals-up-by-40-since-bjp-came-to-power/story-aUbRhvRIDoXamw5gyqrHBI.html |access-date=18 April 2022 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref>

 

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