Modi Govt lifts ban on 58-year-old ban on civil servants being members of a far-right Hindu nationalist RSS :::: Is it a political gamble or a masterstroke ?

RSS media head Sunil Ambekar said, "For the last 99 years, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has been continuously involved in the reconstruction of the nation and service to society. 

.... "The present decision of the government is appropriate and strengthens the democratic system of India." 

The RSS was briefly declared a banned organisation on three separate occasions, including after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. 

In 2024, the Modi government has lifted a decades-old ban on civil servants being members of a far-right Hindu nationalist group that is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.

According to a government source a ban was introduced in 1966, reaffirming the government’s stance against government servants participating in the activities of the RSS and the Jamaat-e-Islami under the Central Civil Services Conduct Rules.

New Order from Ministry of Personnel 

Several top leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including the PM himself, cut their teeth at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), whose millions of members conduct paramilitary drills and prayer meetings.

The Congress party has claimed that the Narendra Modi-led central government issued an order earlier this month to lift the longstanding ban on government employees participating in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities. 

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh made this allegation by posting an office memorandum purportedly issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions. The document pertains to the “participation of government servants in the activities of the RSS.”

The organisation campaigns for India to be declared a Hindu nation — rather than a secular one, as enshrined in its constitution — and critics accuse it of fomenting sectarian divisions.

Since 1966, Indian civil service rules have banned government employees from membership or participation in the activities of the RSS and the Islamist organisation Jamaat-e-Islami.

But a new official memorandum issued earlier this month and made public on Monday by BJP publicity chief Amit Malviya stated: “It has been decided to remove the mention” of RSS from the rule.

In a post on X, Malviya said the rule was an “unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago”.

1966 order 

The government memorandum did not mention Jamaat-e-Islami. Opposition leaders lashed out at the amendment.

Jairam Ramesh of the Congress party said “the bureaucracy can now come in knickers” — a reference to the khaki shorts that RSS members wore as part of their uniform until recently.

In a speech, Sardar Patel said, “We in the government have been dealing with the RSS movement. They want Hindu Rajya or Hindu culture should be imposed by force. No government can tolerate this. 

There are almost as many Muslims in this country as in the part that has been partitioned away. We are not going to drive them away. It would be an evil day if we started that game, despite partition and whatever happens. We must understand that they are going to stay here and it is our obligation and our responsibility to make them feel that this is their country. 

It is, of course, their responsibility, on the other hand, to discharge their duties as citizens of this country.”

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