Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday claimed that several members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, including founder KB Hedgewar, went to jail during the struggle for independence.

The Congress, however, accused the prime minister of making false claims and said that on the contrary, the Hindutva organisation collaborated with the British during the Quit India movement.

At an event marking the centenary of the RSS, Modi said that the organisation has has been working to build the nation since it was formed in 1925.

The RSS is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, of which Modi is also a member. Critics have accused it of promoting Hindu supremacy and intolerance toward minorities.

During his address, Modi said that the RSS’s 100-year journey was “an extraordinary example of sacrifice, selfless service, nation-building and discipline”.

He added: “It is the fortune of the volunteers of our generation that we have the opportunity to witness a great occasion like the centenary year of the Sangh.”

The prime minister said that the Hindutva organisation worked with different sections of the society but there was never any conflict between its various wings since they all operated under the principle of “nation first”.

Modi claimed that during the struggle for independence, the RSS participated in the freedom movement and provided shelter to several freedom fighters.

He said that RSS workers suffered at the hands of the British during the agitation in Maharashtra’s Chimur in 1942, The Indian Express reported.

“After Independence, RSS suffered at the hands of the Nizams of Hyderabad,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “RSS also sacrificed during the Independence of Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.”

The prime minister added that attempts had been made to crush the RSS even after Independence. “Countless plots were designed to prevent it from entering the mainstream,” he said.

He added that the RSS was “never bitter against anyone,” despite facing “bans and conspiracies”.

The RSS has been banned three times since Independence – after the assassination of MK Gandhi, during the Emergency from 1975 to 1977 and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

Modi also released a postage stamp and a coin to mark the centenary of the RSS.

RSS divides country: Congress

The Congress, on the other hand, said that the RSS “divides the country” and rejected the claim that its leaders went to jail during the freedom struggle.

“At the time of independence, its leaders neither went to jail nor were ever banned by the British,” the party said on social media. “During the ‘Quit India Movement’ launched against the British in 1942, when the entire country was going to jail, the RSS was helping the British suppress this movement.”

The Congress said that the RSS “called patriots and revolutionaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, and Chandrashekhar Azad anarchists and worked in favour of British rule”.

The Hindutva organisation created “a communal divide between Hindus and Muslims, split the country into two and hollowed it out,” the party said, adding that its hands were also “stained with the blood of Mahatma Gandhi”.

Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, in New Delhi. Godse had been a member of the RSS, though the organisation claimed that he left it long before the assassination.

The Congress said on Wednesday that the RSS, since its formation a century ago, the organisation had “not done a single thing that has benefited the country” and had “only caused harm”.

“It is our country’s misfortune that workers of a communal and hateful organisation like the RSS are directly running the government,” the party claimed. “Those who have always advocated for Manusmriti over the Constitution are now becoming chief ministers and prime ministers in our country. How can we expect social, political, and economic justice from them?”

The Manusmriti is a Hindu text authored by an ascetic named Manu. It has been widely criticised for its gender and caste-based codes.

The party said: “Even 78 years after independence, the RSS has only one agenda – seizing power by igniting Hindu-Muslim tensions in the country, capturing institutions, and spreading hatred and frenzy.”

The Congress said it would not be an exaggeration to say that “the RSS is the root of most problems” in the country. “The day this organisation stops setting the country on fire and hollowing it out, more than half of the problems will be resolved,” the party added.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting