The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has stepped up efforts to address what it calls longstanding misconceptions about the organisation in the Western world, with senior leader Dattatreya Hosabale engaging with intellectuals and academics in the US and the UK during its centenary year.
Hosabale, the RSS General Secretary, has been travelling across several American cities, speaking at forums including Stanford University in San Francisco and the Hudson Institute, while also interacting with members of the Indian diaspora.
“All these years, the RSS has been working silently with the belief that our work is the message. Now, we thought that it is better to reach out. Our words should also become the message,” Hosabale told PTI in an interview.
He is accompanied by RSS Joint General Secretary Mukunda C R.
Hosabale said the organisation has faced persistent misconceptions, particularly in Western countries, where it is often portrayed as a Hindu supremacist body. “This mispropaganda has continued for decades. They have portrayed RSS as a Hindu supremacist organisation, as anti-minority, anti-women, all such misconceptions have been there,” he said, adding that the current outreach aims to address these perceptions.
In its centenary year, Hosabale said, a key priority for the RSS is to correct what it views as distorted narratives about India and Hindu culture, both domestically and internationally. “The narrative about India and Hindu culture has been distorted for decades within India and outside. Such narratives have to be corrected,” he said.
He added that people beyond the RSS are also contributing to shaping what he described as a more accurate narrative. “Many people who are not from the RSS background are involved in setting the proper narrative of India, of Hindu culture. Those things in the society should be spread. That’s one area where RSS wants to focus more,” he said.
Hosabale arrived in the US after a visit to the UK, where he engaged with academics, policy experts, thought leaders and sections of the Indian diaspora as part of the outreach initiative. He said his discussions with Americans largely centred on addressing what he described as decades of propaganda against the nearly 100-year-old organisation.
Outlining his message to the diaspora, Hosabale urged Indians abroad to be responsible citizens, earn goodwill through hard work and demonstrate that Hindus can contribute meaningfully to society and leadership. He said those who have moved abroad for education or careers should remain loyal to their country of residence, as it provides their livelihood.
Hosabale described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “best representative” of the RSS, saying he conveys its values in his own way. He noted that the RSS has identified five focus areas for the next 25 years: social harmony and cohesion, fostering self-awareness and shedding a colonial mindset, promoting civic sense, strengthening family values, and advancing sustainable development.
“He is doing these things in his own unique ways, all of them. He may not express the same words. For example, he said ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’. We have said, ‘plant a tree’,” Hosabale said.
He further said several government initiatives reflect RSS values, citing the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ programme and the ‘Panch Pran’ (Five Resolves) outlined by the Prime Minister in his 2022 Independence Day address. “So, being a Swayamsevak, he has these things naturally,” Hosabale added.
(With inputs from PTI)