In 2018, the Chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mohan Bhagwat, said in a series of lectures that it was essential to uphold India’s secular principles. Reading into the sub text of his speech, many RSS insiders and commentators outside the Sangh felt that the RSS is changing its nature and character.
However, in January 2023, Bhagwat changed his language. Speaking to Panchjanya and Organiser, mouthpieces of the RSS, Bhagwat claimed that the Hindu society is ‘at war’. Citing Hindu scriptures, he asked people to ‘fight without being lethargic’.
He said, “As said (in Bhagwatgeeta), yudhasya vigat jwar—fight without being lethargic. It is not possible for everyone to follow this maxim. However, there are people who took on the task of social awakening through Sangh. This tradition of social awakening is quite old—it started on the day when Alexander, the first invader, arrived at our frontiers”.
Bhagwat spoke of how overzealousness, even if not desirable, was natural in times of war. “Since this is a war, people are likely to get overzealous. Although this is not desirable, yet provocative statements will be uttered,” he said.
Bhagwat’s language echoes M S Golwalkar’s philosophy. GOlwalkar, known as the ‘Guru of Hate’, in his book ‘Bunch of Thoughts‘, argued that Muslims, Christians and Communists are an ‘internal threat’ to India, which according to him is a Hindu Nation. Golwalkar also argued in another book, ‘We or Our Nationhood Defined’, that India, which had been a Hindu nation from times immemorial, should treat Muslims just as the Germans treated the Jews. He wrote:
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