Ram Rattan Sharma
Since 1925 the Sangh has come a long way to become the only ever-growing movement of Bharat. However, this epic Journey is not without its ups and downs. Sangh has subdued many challenges by silently working at the grass root level, by person to person contact and heart to heart dialogue. The initiatives of different times were different, ranging from struggle to save democracy in emergency period to a very strong initiative of social service projects in last few decades, but the impact was cumulative, Because of the unique working style of Sangh, the mile stones of achievements are also noticeable only with a bird’s eye view.
In the year 1925, on the day of Dussehra, Dr. Keshav Bali ram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh, it has been at least 7-8 decades since the Sangh has been facing and listening to criticism as an organization being called communal, fascist and other similar terms. Hardly any organization in the world would have been criticized so much That too without any basis. Every allegation made against Sangh has ultimately been proved to be a complete fiction & lie.
There is no doubt that even today many people see the Sangh from This Nehruvian perspective. However, Nehru got a sad opportunity to correct his short-sightedness during his life time, when the country was attacked by China in 1962. At that time, Jawahar Lal the messiah of the ideals of Panchsheel and democracy outside the country, was neither able to control himself nor the borders of the country, but the Sangh was, doing its work.
Sangh volunteers, without any training, continuously monitored the activities of the Pakistani Army on the Kashmir border since Oct 1947. Neither the Nehru Mountbatten govt nor the Hari Singh Govt was doing this work. At the same time, when Pakistan Army troops tried to cross the Kashmir border, many volunteers along with the soldiers laid down their lives in the fight, protecting their mother land. When We partition riots broke out, the Nehru govt was completely shocked, the Sangh provided relief to more than 3000 refugees who had fled Pakistan to save their lives.
2) 1962 War: The enthusiasm with which Sangh volunteers from all over the country reached the border to help the army was seen and appreciated by the entire country. The volunteers devoted their full strength to govt work and especially to helping the soldiers, guarding troop movement routes, helping with administration, helping with logistics and supplies, and even caring for the families of martyrs.
Jawaharlal Nehru had to invite to Sangh to participate in the 26 January parade in 1963. Even today, Parade Participants have to prepare for months, but the invitation received just two days ago, 3500 volunteers appeared in uniform, when criticized for the invitation, Nehru said, “The RSS was given a special invitation to participate in the Republic Day parade of 1963 in order to demonstrate that one could successfully fight bombs and Chinese armed forces with the help of sticks alone, “invited”. Merger of Kashmir-Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir was not able to take the decision of merger and on the other hand, the Pakistan army in the guise of tribals was entering the border, while the Nehru govt was sitting there in a posture what should we do, Sardar Patel sought help from Guru Golwalkar. Guru Ji reached Srinagar and met the Maharaja. After this Maharaja sent the proposal of merger of Kashmir with India to Delhi.
Took over law and order during 1965 war: Lal Bahadur Shastri also remembered the Sangh during the war with Pakistan, Shastri Ji requested to help in handling the law-and-order situation and to take over the traffic control of Delhi, so that the policemen freed from these duties could be deployed to help the army. The first to donate blood for the injured soldiers were also the volunteers of the Sangh During the war, the work of removing snow from the air strips of Kashmir was done by the volunteers of the Sangh. In 1971 war with Pakistan also, Sangh Volunteers helped the government in many ways, donated blood and served in the refugee camps
Merger of Goa: The Sangh played a decisive role in the merger of Dadra, Nagar Haveli and Goa with India, on 21 July 1954, Dadra was liberated from the Portuguese, on 28 July Naroli and Fiparia were liberated and then the capital Silvassa was liberated). on the morning of 2 August 1954, Sangh volunteers took down the Portuguese flag and hoisted the Indian tricolour, freed the entire Dadra, Nagar Haveli from the Portuguese occupation, and handed it over to the Indian govt, Sangh Volunteers had been effectively involved in the Goa liberation war since 1955. Many Sangh workers were arrested along with Jagannath Rao Joshi as the situation worsened India finally had to intervene militarily and Goa became independent in 1961.
Emergency: The memory of the Sangh’s sole in the struggle against the emergency between 1975 and 1977 and the formation of the Janta party is still fresh for many people. After the arrest of thousands of people, volunteers in satyagraha, Sangh workers started living underground and carrying on the movement.
Association in the field of education: Establishment of Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Shishu Bharti, Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Vidya Bharti, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Muslim Rashtriya Manch. Today Vidya Bharti runs more than 20 thousand schools. About two dozen teachers training colleges, one and a half dozen colleges and more than 10 employment and training institutions. About 30 lakh students’ study and more than one lakh teachers teach in these Saraswati Shishu Mandirs recognised by the central and state Govts, these schools. keep Indian values connected with education. Seva Bharti is doing a lot of service in remote and inaccessible areas.
Social service: From the deadly cyclone that hit Odisha in 1971 to the Bhopal gas tragedy, from the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 to the Gujarat earth quake, the tsunami disaster, The Uttarakhand floods and the services to the injured of the Kargil war. The Sangh has done relief and rescue work. Have always done it by being at the forefront, not only in India, but even in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Sumatra also.
Contribution of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh and Sarsangh Chalaks from Dr Hedgewar and Guru Golwalker to Shri Mohan Bhagwat is unparallel in Nation building and preserving India’s culture and national heritage. This organisation is working with devotion and dedication to make India a healthy state. Nation owes a lot to RSS and its Sarsangh Chalaks for their contribution.
(The author is former Dy. librarian University of Jammu).
