NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is set to launch later this year an extensive global outreach to counter “erroneous” perceptions about its ideology and activities, and to tell “the real side of the India story” according to RSS functionaries familiar with the plan.
The outreach will include seminars, lectures, meetings and book readings in several languages in different countries and comes ahead of the Sangh’s centenary celebrations that will begin in 2024.
The RSS, the ideological fount of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was founded in 1925 in Nagpur by KB Hedgewar. The RSS philosophy is seen by many outside the country, as well as within India, as “intolerant”, “sectarian”, and “antiminorities”, said an RSS functionary who asked not to be named.
Sunil Ambekar, the Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh of the Sangh, confirmed the outreach: “After 75 years of our Independence we must tell our true story. It is high time that we talk about our past, present and future. And, not just about the Sangh, but about India. There should be representation in history about our ideas, the dynasties that are unheard of and the neglected parts of our past,” he said.
Teams led by senior functionaries that include academics, subject experts and representatives of non-government institutions will spearhead the outreach which will include “books and publications, documentaries in several foreign languages such as French, German and Arabic about India,” said a second RSS functionary who, too, asked not to be named.
It is not clear when the outreach will be launched, but it could coincide with the Sangh’s foundation day on October 24, when the RSS chief addresses the cadre.
The outreach is the culmination of the ongoing efforts to create a body of literature to counter the western narrative about the Sangh, its political arm, the BJP, and the political and social changes in India, the two functionaries explained.
