SWAYAMSEVAK’S SATYAGRAHA

STRIKING A BALANCE BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY AGITATIONS AND THE ABIDING TASK OF NATION-BUILDING CAN BE CHALLENGING. DR KESHAV BALIRAM HEDGEWAR MET THIS CHALLENGE BY INSULATING HIS NASCENT ORGANISATION (RSS) FROM THE ROUGH AND TUMBLE OF AGITATIONS BUT ALLOWING SWAYAMSEVAKS TO PARTICIPATE IN THEM

- DR SHREERANG GODBOLE

As India celebrates the 75th year of her freedom, it is time to recall events and examine narratives related to our Freedom Movement. Close on the heels of this momentous occasion comes the centenary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS. A question that is often asked – what role did the Sangh play in our Freedom Movement? Here we examine the role of the Sangh in the Civil Disobedience Movement (popularly called Salt

Satyagraha) of 1930. We shall lean heavily on original documents in the Sangh Archives as also on contemporary Marathi newspapers such as the Kesari and Maharashtra biweeklies that were published from Pune and Nagpur respectively.

SANGH AND SWAYAMSEVAKS

To the general question – what role did the Sangh play in our Freedom Movement, the answer is pretty straightforward. The role of the Sangh is virtually zero but the role of Swayamsevaks is certainly significant. Lest this statement causes misconceptions, let us examine the thinking of the Sangh’s founder and maker Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. This thinking determines Sangh’s policy to this day.

At a time when the question on everyone’s mind was ‘When and how shall we get freedom’, Dr Hedgewar asked himself, ‘Why did we lose our freedom and how should we preserve it?’ Not only did Hedgewar contemplate on this moot question, he devised and started a framework to rid society of those shortcomings which in his view led to slavery. The task of nation-building that he embarked on was long-term.

A BALANCING ACT