'Proud Swayamsevak' Amit Shah Lauds RSS for 'Nation-Building', Shaping Leaders
The Home Minister praises the RSS centenary, honouring its century-long service and unity efforts across India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on its 100th anniversary, describing it as the world’s largest voluntary organisation dedicated to India’s service and security. Identifying himself as a “proud swayamsevak”, Shah commended the RSS for shaping countless leaders and workers over a century through sacrifice and dedication. In a message shared on Thursday, he congratulated the organisation’s volunteers, emphasising their commitment to nation-building despite renouncing personal comforts.
Founded on Vijayadashami in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in Nagpur with a small group, the RSS has grown into a significant social force. Shah highlighted its contributions to key historical movements, including the Hyderabad and Goa liberation struggles, resistance against the Emergency, and opposition to Article 370. He also noted the organisation’s support for soldiers during wars and its anti-infiltrator efforts in the Northeast, underscoring its role in advancing national unity and pride.
Shah praised the RSS for its outreach across diverse terrains, from deserts and Himalayan peaks to remote villages, uniting forest-dwellers, backward classes, Dalits, and other marginalised groups under a shared vision of national self-respect. He described this centenary journey as one that will be “written in golden letters in history” for its tireless service to India, or “Maa Bharati”, as he referred to the nation.
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The RSS, a Hindu nationalist organisation, has been a pivotal influence in Indian politics and society, closely associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shah’s remarks, delivered amid celebrations marked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s release of a commemorative coin and stamp, reflect the organisation’s enduring impact and its alignment with the BJP’s ideological framework, despite historical controversies surrounding its activities.
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