Signing you in

Speaking at the launch of a book on the 100 years of the RSS, Radhakrishnan said: “As a swayamsewak, PM keeps working relentlessly; Deendayalji’s [Upadhyay] timeless call resonates in mind, ‘keep moving forward’. Whether America says something, Iran says something, Russia says something — that is irrelevant. With a smile we should march forward all the time. That is the only way we can reach the top of the world. There is no need for answering every question of others. Why we should? We have to move on our own. That is the success story of PM’s foreign policy today.”

The V-P released the book RSS @100: A Century of Service, Unity & Sacrifice by Shyam Jaju and Anupam Trivedi at his official residence here.

He said the RSS has strengthened the ideals of service, unity and national consciousness in its 100-year history. Citing one of the chapters in the book that covers the PM’s journey in public life, Radhakrishnan said Modi had focused on “seva” and “nation first” in his governance, which reflected the RSS’s idea of selfless service and nation-building.

Speaking at the event, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said several “myths” had been spread about the RSS, which he said had been dedicated to the service of the nation and society; its ideology was “based not on discrimination, but on cultural integration and national unity”.

“The RSS has been serving the nation and society for 100 years, but even then a large part of society is either uninformed or misinformed about it… For a long time, the lie that it did not have a role in the freedom movement was repeated again and again,” he said.

“Those who think so should certainly read the fourth chapter of this book to know the truth. They will get to know that the RSS wholeheartedly took part in the freedom movement. Dr. Hegdewar ji, too, went to jail during the freedom struggle. During the Quit India Movement, Swayamsevaks sheltered revolutionaries in their homes,” the minister said.

He said it’s a “myth that the RSS wants to create a Hindu Rashtra”.

“In the Sangh’s view, Hindu, Hindutva or Hinduism is not a strict or religious identity; this thought is inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s ideas. Swami Vivekananda ji used to consider Hinduism a cultural element which is the shared inheritance of this land,” he said. It was also, he said, a symbol of shared spiritual values and vision.

“In an interview in 1972…Guruji (M S Golwalkar) had clearly said that when it comes to the nation, he does not differentiate between Hindus and Muslims. Guruji used to say that the Sangh’s vision goes beyond tolerance to respect — that is not just tolerance but also acceptance and respect,” he said.