New Delhi: An ideological alignment attracted Israeli researcher Yeshaya Rosenman to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Rosenman, a conservative Israeli thinker, contributed to the recent book on the RSS, titled Hundred Years Young: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and highlighted meritocracy as one of the organisation’s key virtues.
“One of the RSS’s main virtues is meritocracy. Consider someone like Prime Minister Modi ji. He came to power not because he was someone’s son or because he was wealthy or belonged to an upper caste, but because of his hard work and achievements as Chief Minister of Gujarat,” said Rosenman.
Rosenman is an Israeli expert on the greater subcontinent: Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and their diasporas. His field of expertise is political religion such as Zionism, Hindutva, Evangelism, and Political Islam.
Rosenman said he has friends in the RSS whom he met at events organised by the Israeli diplomatic team in India.
“They introduced me to other friends and they realised that we shared an ideological alliance. We agreed on many different issues concerning world affairs. For me it was an opportunity to be introduced to the real India and the grassroots of Indian society,” said Rosenman.
Rosenman, an alumnus of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, worked as Israel Correspondent with The Hindu in 2023 and is currently a senior researcher with the Jerusalem Interfaith Center.
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Religious perspectives on RSS
Rosenman said a merit-based system could give young people aspirations and encourage them to pursue opportunities through their performance and abilities.
“If young people know that, as long as the RSS, BJP and others affiliated with these ideas are in power, people will advance on merit rather than through nepotism and corruption, they will have something to aspire to. If they perform well, they will advance. I think that is the future of India,” said Rosenman.
According to him, India’s long-term prosperity would depend on creating an environment in which talented individuals could flourish and contribute to economic growth.
“It was an opportunity to encourage greater engagement between the RSS and people outside India, particularly in Israel and the Jewish world,” said Rosenman about his contribution to the book.
The book is edited by author Rashmi Samant, featuring contributors from India and abroad, including voices from Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities who wrote their perspectives on the RSS.
“I hope my article, which takes a comparative approach and examines Israeli and Indian societies and cultures, will serve as a hand extended to the RSS to reach out to Israel and the Jewish world,” said Rosenman.
He added that the book sought to present the RSS as an organisation capable of rejuvenation and adaptation to changing circumstances.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)