New Delhi: “Hindus have never followed supremacist ideas, never invaded any country and have nothing to apologise for” as far as their history and culture are concerned, Dattatreya Hosabale, general secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said during an interaction at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC.
Speaking at the think tank on 23 April, Hosabale added that there is a misunderstanding about India in America—that it is overpopulated, full of slums, poverty, and a land of snakes, slums, and ‘swamis’.
His comments come a day after US President Donald Trump re-shared a racist Truth Social post by Right-wing commentator Michael Savage in which India and China were referred to as ‘hellholes’.
“India is also a tech hub, Indian scientists have reached the Moon, and India is the fourth economy in the world. So these things are somehow missed in the common American perception. About RSS also, the narrative that is built over decades, knowingly, unknowingly, or as part of an agenda, or whatever it is, is that RSS is Hindu supremacist, or that it is in a way anti-Christian, anti-minority, anti-development, and anti-modernisation. So what is pro is not told,” Dattatreya Hosabale said.
Adding, “So what is pro is not highlighted; instead, the ‘anti’ has always been propagated—some Indian version of the Ku Klux Klan, which we are not.”
The RSS general secretary said Hindu philosophy and Hindu culture does not allow space for supremacist ideology as the whole world is viewed as one family. “And all are brothers and sisters, and there’s no question of supremacy there. And we see the oneness in everybody. Being the living and non-living things. Since that is the basic philosophy of Hindus, the supremacist nature of Hindus cannot exist. Also, in history, Hindus have never invaded any country or enslaved any people. Hindus have nothing to apologize for.”
Dattatreya Hosabale also spoke about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long association with the RSS, emphasising the ideological and organisational links between the RSS and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The formation of the BJP in 1980 was because the founders of the BJP wanted to retain relations with the RSS. The prime reason for the formation of a political party coming away from Janata Party at that time… that umbilical cord relationship can not be wished away,” Hosabale said. “The Prime Minister (Modi) has been an active volunteer of RSS… he is also proud of it and we are also proud of him,” he added.
Hosabale further said that the RSS conducts around 83,000 daily meetings, known as shakhas, to instill a sense of service and inculcate values aimed at promoting social harmony.
Asked what India needs to realise its full potential at a time when the US is looking to India increasingly as an indispensable strategic partner and a counterweight to Chinese influence in Asia, Hosabale said it requires mutual trust.
“India wants to have good relations with all the countries…America is also looking for a strategic partnership with India. It is because of its size, because of its demographic dividend, because of technological advancement, because it’s the fourth economy in the world and the size of India’s population. And how it can be done, it can be done because of mutual trust and level playing field and mutual respect and recognizing the needs of each other. So I think in the modern geopolitical situation, these issues are very important. If that mutuality is missing, then I think the trust deficit will be there,” he added.
Dattatreya Hosabale was also asked that since the RSS has long argued that a strong Hindu cultural identity is the foundation needed for a stronger India, does this approach risk alienating religious minorities within India, besides affecting diplomatic relations with neighbouring states. He responded by saying that in the view of the RSS, Hindu identity is a civilisational identity, not religious or faith-based.
“As such, there is no room for being alienated, or (to) think of alienation. Civilisational values, world view, and manifestations of them in life, human relationship with nature, and historic facts, they all contribute to the formation of a culture. So religion is not playing that role in the culture. That’s why the RSS has always emphasised cultural ethos and civilizational values, which are not related directly to religion,” he said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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