Introduction
The year 2025 marks the 100th year since the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in Nagpur, India. The centenary celebrations of the RSS kicked off with a 3-day public interaction of Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Sarsanghchalak (Party Chief), in New Delhi on 26-28 August 2025. His Lectures were attended by a number of foreign diplomats, media persons, ex-Servicemen including former Services Chiefs, scientists and intellectuals, social media influencers, RSS workers, and general public. On the first two days, Mr. Bhagwat discussed myriad of issues such as India’s civilization, genesis and historical journey; the RSS ideology and world view; its evolution and organizational structure; Hindutva’s rise to an undeterred power and the RSS role in it. The final day was allocated for a Question/Answer session, which further brought forth a range of burning issues such as the definitions of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Indian’; Hindu-Muslim relations in India; RSS view of India’s minorities; the role of the Sangh in the country’s policy-formulation and state governance; the RSS-BJP ties and how they shape decision-making in BJP; RSS stance on caste dynamics and quota reservations; and the linguistic diversity of India.
