100 years of RSS - India's Hindu nationalist movement, that is a constant thread to country's secular credentials

[Rajdeep]

In India, celebrations are starting to mark the centenary of the Hindu nationalist RSS. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh movement has become increasingly powerful over the last few years, and many fear it could endanger India's secular character.

After 100 years of strengthening nation’s soul, RSS journey into next century begins: PM Modi​

A hundred years ago, on the sacred occasion of Vijayadashami, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded. This was not the creation of something entirely new. It was a newer manifestation of an ancient tradition, where India’s eternal national consciousness expresses itself periodically, in different forms, to face the challenges of the times. In our times, the Sangh is the embodiment of that timeless national consciousness. It is the good fortune of our generation of swayamsevaks that we are witnessing the Sangh’s centenary.

On this historic occasion, I extend my greetings to the countless swayamsevaks who remain dedicated to the pledge of serving the nation and its people. I also bow in reverence to the founder of the Sangh, our guiding ideal, Param Pujya Dr Hedgewar Ji. To mark this glorious journey of a hundred years, the Government of India has released a special postage stamp and commemorative coin.

Human civilisations thrived on the banks of great rivers. Similarly, countless lives have flourished due to the impact of the Sangh. A river enriches each part of the land that it touches with its waters. Likewise, the Sangh has nourished every part of our nation, every sphere of our society. A river often multiplies into many streams and expands its impact. Something similar has happened in the Sangh’s journey. Through its various affiliated organisations, the Sangh works in every domain of life, such as education, agriculture, social welfare, tribal welfare, women’s empowerment and more. Though diverse in their fields of work, they all embody one spirit and one resolve: ‘Nation First’.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/after-100-years-of-strengthening-nations-soul-rss-journey-into-next-century-begins-pm-modi-10283060/

 

[Rajdeep]

100 years of RSS and its role in Indian politics, and the ‘Russian oil’ splinter in India-US ties

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has officially marked 100 years of its foundation. In the BBC, Samira Hussain covers the celebratory event in Nagpur, which saw about 3,800 volunteers in attendance, and looks at how even 100 years on, the RSS remains as opaque as ever.

“In a speech at RSS headquarters in the western city of Nagpur, its chief Mohan Bhagwat addressed a range of topics, including the conflict with Pakistan earlier this year, climate change, economic inequality and political turmoil in India’s neighbouring countries,” says the report.

“It’s an extremely complex organisational network,” Tanika Sarkar, a visiting professor at Ashoka University, tells the BBC. “It is a sprawling network which is difficult to characterise and difficult also to identify clearly, because you never know where the RSS ends and the other far-right organisations begin.”
The reports underlines that it is difficult to characterise the RSS. “It is not easy to pinpoint exactly what makes the RSS. It operates several charitable programmes such as schools, health clinics and its members are often on the scene to help during natural disasters, organising volunteers and distributing aid,” it notes.

In Financial Times, Krishn Kaushik reports on the new “billionaires’ row” on a single street in Mumbai, the Worli Sea Face.

Billionaires Uday Kotak and Dilip Shanghvi just bought properties in the area––and Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha is already a resident.

For India’s wealthiest, “Worli Sea Face today is the place to be”, Gulam Zia, a senior executive director with property consultant Knight Frank, tells the FT.

Naman Xana Tower, a once “dilapidated” bungalow in the area, has been reupholstered into one of India’s most coveted pieces of real estate. “Four of India’s richest families have bought at least seven of the 16 apartments in the 24-storey building,” Jayesh Shah, chair of the Shree Naman Group, is quoted as saying.

“The rich want a good community,” said Shah, adding that “the ultra-rich only want exclusivity and privacy”. Each floor has 6,000 square feet and views of the Arabian Sea, according to the report.

“Worli, once home to the cotton mills that were the city’s economic backbone and more recently to office complexes, is at the heart of a redevelopment that began more than two decades ago and includes metros, an airport and a seaport,” the report says.

In The New Yorker, Isaac Chotiner interviews Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow and director of the South Asia programme at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on the “stunning reversal in US-India ties”.

The plummeting ties, he believes, has “to do with this White House’s view of the global order and geopolitics, and second, it has to do with the personality of the President (Donald Trump) himself”.

When asked how Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to deal with Trump personally, Vaishnav tells Chotiner: “After the (India-Pakistan) ceasefire (in May), Modi was on the backfoot. There were many people, particularly in the BJP base, who had criticised him for stopping the conflict when he did. Pakistan (initially) had the upper hand and had shot down a still unknown number of Indian aircraft.”

“But, after that, most military analysts believe that the Indian military performed quite well and that Pakistani military installations were severely damaged,” he added.

“The idea that, in the wake of this, Modi was going to acknowledge that a third party essentially had a role in bringing this conflict to an end was just politically unpalatable. Now, in hindsight, I think there was probably a way for Modi to have done this by saying something as simple as, ‘we thank President Trump for putting an end to yet another bout of Pakistani military adventurism’, or something to that effect. But he didn’t do that,” Vaishav tells Chotiner.

“And, as time went on, it became harder and harder for him to do that, from a domestic political position.”

The Economist poses a critical question: Can India strike a deal on Russian oil to appease America? Currently, “the two strongmen are locked in a stalemate”, it says referring to Modi and Trump.

“How might India handle Mr Trump’s ultimatum on its oil purchases from Russia? Some analysts hope that Mr Trump’s short attention span might mean that Russian oil becomes less of an issue when another global crisis steals his focus. Others suggest that there is a deal to be done in which Mr Trump lets India buy some sanctioned Russian military kit in exchange for reducing oil purchases,” says the report.

What could work in favour of both parties is a trade deal, writes The Economist. But only if the oil issue can be cast aside. An arms deal could be hashed out too. But, the magazine points out, the larger question is whether this splinter in ties is permanent.

“American officials say that fixing the question of Russian oil will put relations right back on track. Indian officials, putting on a brave face, echo those talking points in public. But dig deeper, and it is apparent that months of diplomatic turbulence have unravelled a quarter-century of painstaking diplomatic work to build trust between the countries,” says the report.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

100 years of RSS and its role in Indian politics, and the ‘Russian oil’ splinter in India-US ties

Global media also reports on the new ‘billionaires’ row’ on a single street in Mumbai, the Worli Sea Face.

theprint.in

 

[Rajdeep]

The terms like ''Sangh' & 'Sanghi' gets thrown around very loosely here without people have proper understanding of the organization. So I thought its worth creating a thread on RSS on its 100th anniversary and people can debate/educated what this organization actually means.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I think the political journey of RSS was a necessity for India. It will probably set Indian progress back by half a century, but Indian Hindus needed an outlet for their more aggressive grievances and RSS is probably the more acceptable face of it.

Obviously there are less PC establishments like VHP and Bajrang Dal which underpin the RSS, and that is where issues might arise as to the secular future of the country. But a good thread to examine this.

 

[sweep_shot]

RSS may become the source for India's balkanization and dissolution in the long run.

RSS is already the source behind India's decline.

RSS = Retarded Stupid Sanghis.

 

[Rajdeep]

Power of RSS was felt in last general election when BJP was tried to fight on it own by alienating themselves from RSS. It backfired spectacularly. Good to see Modi is wooing back the Sangh. BJP is nothing with Sangh.

 

[Rajdeep]

Just a FYI - the title was changed by admins and not my wordings. My hunch is, brother @The Bald Eagle eagle is behind it.

It is ironic, people from Islamic Republic of Pakistan cares so much about secular fabric of India.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Congrats to our Hindu friends on the 100 anniversary of RSS.

I am not totally against them and find some of their beliefs interesting, however, their violent acts including the killing of the great Mahata should be condemned.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

In India, celebrations are starting to mark the centenary of the Hindu nationalist RSS. The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh movement has become increasingly powerful over the last few years, and many fear it could endanger India's secular character.

Just a FYI - the title was changed by admins and not my wordings. My hunch is, brother @The Bald Eagle eagle is behind it.

It is ironic, people from Islamic Republic of Pakistan cares so much about secular fabric of India.

Brother FYI ...Your source, your words...I just lent them

 

[Rajdeep]