Recently, a fake video has been shared online claiming that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) opposes reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). However, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat clarified this during a speech in Hyderabad on April 28, 2024, stating that the RSS has always supported reservation. This isn’t the first time false claims have been made about the RSS's stance on this important issue.
To understand the RSS's position on caste and reservation, let’s look at its history since it was founded in 1925.
ABPS Resolution
The RSS's main decision-making group is called the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), which meets every year to discuss important issues. In 1981, long before the Mandal Commission made reservation a hot topic in the 1990s, the ABPS made a clear statement: “The RSS believes that reservation should continue to help those who have been left behind in education, society, and the economy.”
On January 21, 2017, the RSS leaders Dattatreya Hosabale and Manmohan Vaidya reaffirmed this position. They said that caste-based reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs, as stated in the Constitution, should continue until caste discrimination ends in society. Hosabale, now the RSS's Sarkaryavah, has repeated this message at many public events.
Mohan Bhagwat also spoke about this during a three-day event in September 2018. His statements were recorded in a book called "Yashaswi Bharat," which is available to the public. However, the RSS's messages are often misinterpreted.
RSS’s Work for the Upliftment of the Downtrodden
The RSS practices what it preaches. It does not consider caste in its structure and operations. Volunteers are addressed only by their first names, and their surnames, which indicate caste, are not mentioned. RSS volunteers run over 200,000 welfare projects across India to help the poor and marginalized. They do not discriminate based on caste, religion, language, gender, or region when choosing who to help. The RSS even has a special wing called ‘Samajik Samrasta’ focused on reaching out to the socially marginalized.
The efforts of RSS volunteers to uplift marginalized communities have received praise from important figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Ambedkar’s Praise for RSS Work
Dr. Ambedkar's first meeting with the RSS happened in 1935 when he visited an RSS shakha in Dapoli, near Pune. He was impressed by the absence of caste discrimination there. In 1939, he attended an RSS training camp in Pune and met RSS founder Dr. K.B. Hedgewar. When he learned about the RSS's work in 1953, he asked for detailed information about its outreach.
In September 1949, M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS’s second chief, visited Ambedkar to thank him for helping lift a ban on the RSS that had been imposed by the Congress government after Gandhi's assassination in 1948.
Ambedkar later advised RSS leaders that if they wanted to unite Hindu society, they needed to grow the organization quickly to help backward classes.
Dattopant Thengadi, a close worker of Ambedkar, described their meetings in his book, "Dr. Ambedkar aur Samajik Kranti ki Yatra." Thengadi was even appointed as the secretary of the Scheduled Caste Federation when Ambedkar was its chairman.
Gandhi's Views on RSS Efforts
Mahatma Gandhi spoke about his visit to an RSS camp on September 16, 1947, praising their discipline and lack of untouchability. Gandhi believed that organizations based on service and sacrifice would grow strong.
In summary, the RSS has consistently supported reservation and worked towards the upliftment of marginalized communities, gaining respect from historical leaders like Ambedkar and Gandhi.
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