Dr. Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of biggest voluntary service organization, RSS, was born on Ugadi day in 1889 in a Telugu origin family settled in Maratha area. His study of Indian history and culture made Hedgewar to understand the ills of the society which led to the subjugation of the country by the marauding foreign invaders. The disunity among the numerically strong native community was identified by Hedgewar as the factor which was exploited by the British to occupy the land. It was his firm belief that unless the natives of this land unite and feel proud of their cultural ancestry and start practicing the ‘dharma’ and fight for this great land there is no way India can regain its old glory. To achieve that goal Hedgewar thought of building an organization of committed ‘sevaks of society’ and thus on the Vijayadasami festive day in 1925 founded the RSS. It was the spirit with which Hedgewar founded, the organization that the work of RSS spanned across the country in different fields in the service of society.
Hegdewar, popularly called as Doctorjee was inspired, since childhood, by the heroic fights Shivaji with the foreign rulers. As a school student it was Vandemataram slogan which made him rebel against the British school administration leading to his suspension from school. The loss of both his parents at his young age of 13 has not dampened Hedgewar’s patriotic fervor. Mentored by a then Congress leader B.S. Moonje, he shifted to Yavatmal and Pune to complete his matriculation. Driven by his ambition to study medicine Hedgewar moved to Calcutta and there he not only earned medical degree but came into contact with the revolutionary patriots who founded the Anushilan Samiti, inspired by Banikim Chandra Chaterjee and got his Hindu unity thoughts strengthened. Dr. Hedgewar’s refusal to take the offer of medical service at Rangoon by decalring his commitment to remain bachelor and work for the country’s liberation from the clutches of foreign powers is the turning point in his life as well as the history of the country.
Since his return to Nagpur in 1916 and till he parted unofficially with that organization to start RSS Dr. Hedgewar was a Congress man. He was the chief of arrangements for the members of All India Congress committee meeting held in Nagpur in 1920. Dr. Hedgewar is closer to the ideal of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and on the demise of Tilak he along with some other leaders went to Pondicherry to request Arabindo Ghosh, the revolutionary turned saint, to take up the leadership of freedom struggle. His participation in the non-cooperation movement resulted in Hegdewar’s one year incarceration and on release he was welcomed as Doctorjee. Gandhi’s support to Khilafat movement and his condoning the mindless killings of Hindus by Moplas was the last straw on the Hindu pride of Dr. Hedgewar. He firmed up his thoughts with some of his friends and collectively they took the decision to form the Hindu organization on the auspicious day of Vijayadasami in1925.
Dr. Hedgewar designed RSS as a distinct organization of selfless workers called Swayam Sevaks. For them the service to the society is 24×7 job and there is no area untouched by the Sangh worekrs. The founder has not set any rigid, written rules for the RSS. The organization is not after fund collection and its expenses are met by the contributions of the ‘Sevaks’. Every day meet in the Sakha, saluting the dwaja discussing the issues intellectually and doing physical exercises are the routine for the members. Purity of the heart, ready for societal cause at any given time, selfless service are the hall mark of the RSS workers. Their service during the natural calamities like the recent Kerala floods is there for entire nation to see. Any disaster say floods or accidents the RSS workers are known to first to reach the spot and take up the relief work. The way RSS workers formed groups and disposed the dead at the time of disastrous tidal wave of 1977 and relief work under taken during the 1996 cyclone in the Kona Seema area is remembered even now.
It was for 15 years that Dr. Hedgewar survived after founding RSS but he left a lasting impression on the Swayam Sevaks to work with nationalistic fervor for the last 97 years. His words of “not bowing down to hardships, not caring for the criticism but to answer the opponents through their service” is followed by the members of RSS. During his life time the great national personalities like Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose visited the camps of RSS and appreciated the idea of building such a great organization. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was surprised to see the people of working to the cause of RSS and the nation and admired the cadre working forgetting all the caste identities. In 1963 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru acknowledged the services of RSS by inviting its cadre to share the republic day period along with the armed and para military services with their own uniform. Perhaps that was Nehru’s way admitting his mistake of banning RSS in 1948. It is in the forefront in fighting the dictatorial Indira Gandhi during the emergency to save democracy.
It was the vision of Dr. Hedgewar that is fulfilled by the successive chiefs of RSS and its follower. His idea of fanning to every corner of the country and spreading the patriotism, nationalism through service is there for everyone to see. Education, health, tribal welfare, rural reconstruction, organic farming, environmental protection are all the areas now touched by RSS.
(Author is retired professor and occasional contributor for dailies and magazines on politics and environmental issues. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at duggarajusrinivasarao@gmail.com)
