RSS at 100 : Big Picture :::: Sangh's primary definition of Sangh is linked to 'Nation first' and not to any religion :::: Since 2014, there have been highly successful efforts to mobilise the vast Indian diaspora in support of the RSS

 The RSS follows the ideal of protecting 

Jati

Dharma

Sanskriti.

Here Jati is not caste but the people in general. It is an all inclusive term and guiding philosophy that encompasses all communities and faith of the nation.

The foundational thought and philosophy of the RSS has been to lead the Bharat nation towards "param vaibhav — supreme glory". 

The organisation has been immensely successful to awaken the Hindu society.

At the heart of the Hindu nationalist movement  is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), 

   

In more ways than one in the last century, the RSS as an organisation has evolved into a force for Hindu Renaissance.  It has focused on man-making and the most contribution lies in elevation of the social, national and intellectual consciousness of the common people.

Hindutva is the predominant form in India   

Hindutva – a term coined in the 1920s in the writings of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar meaning “Hindu-ness” – is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. Hindutva is the belief in the hegemony of Hinduism in India and the establishment of the country as a Hindu, rather than secular, state. Hindus are viewed more as an ethnic, rather than religious, group.

Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that dates back to the 19th century. It encompassed a broad range of groups but at its core is a belief that Indian national identity and culture are inseparable from the Hindu religion.

It began to gain prominence in the early 20th century as part of the independence movement in India, which sought to separate itself from the identity of British colonial rule and the Islamic Mughal dynasty, which had previously governed India from the 16th century.

The RSS is the leader of the “Sangh Parivar’’, an umbrella group of Hindu nationalist organisations who have set up schools, charities and clubs but which have also been associated with communal violence. 

The RSS has been banned three times since it was established.

It was out of the RSS that India’s ruling political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), emerged and they remain closely linked.  

Addressing an event in Lucknow on January 6, 1948, Patel spoke up for the RSS again. 

“In the Congress, those who are in power feel that, by virtue of authority, they will be able to crush the RSS. You cannot crush an organisation by using the danda (stick). The danda is meant for thieves and dacoits. They (RSS leaders) are patriots who love their country. 

Only their trend of thought is diverted. They are to be won over by Congressmen with love,” Patel said.  

In his authoritative book on the Jana Sangh, titled “Hindu Nationalism and Indian Politics”, B D Graham wrote that the RSS itself was open to the idea of aligning with the Hindu traditionalists within the Congress. 

“The links between the two organisations were more extensive than many suspected at that time: in the months following Independence, RSS workers in the United Provinces had been advised to try to convince local Congress leaders that not only was the RSS not opposed to the Congress but that senior Congressmen were sympathetic to its aims; 

....and, in 1949, a newspaper report from the United Provinces commented on the sympathy the RSS derives from the rank and file of the Congress and also from a section of its leaders,” Graham wrote.

According to Graham’s book, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) even decided on October 5, 1949 that “members of the RSS could enrol themselves as members of the Congress”.  

Blogger 

The RSS has increased footprint both at the mass level and the corridors of influence including education and power ever since Narendra Modi (a former RSS fulltimer) became India's Prime Minister.

"Hindu nationalists" - as they put it - have been rewriting school textbooks in some states and holding training camps for teenage boys and girls in an apparent attempt to inculcate children into their cause. The BJP and the RSS counter version is India's academic character till now has been dominated by Left liberals and deliberately kept anti-Hindu and even anti-India. 

Since Modi and the BJP came to power in 2014, there have been highly successful efforts to mobilise the vast Indian diaspora in support of the RSS and the BJP, particularly in the UK, US and Australia, primarily through the use of social media.

The Sangh has consistently strived to bring about positive transformation in areas such as social service, swadeshi (self-reliance), education, rural development, disaster relief, tribal welfare, and social harmony.