The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has worked over the past 100 years to awaken a sense of nationalism among people and serve the deprived and underprivileged, RSS joint general secretary (Sah-Sarkaryawah) Krishna Gopal said on Saturday.
He also called for efforts to eliminate the remaining caste-based discrimination in society. “There is a need to create the feeling that everyone is our own and no one is an outsider. “The RSS was founded when India was under foreign rule. The organisation, he added, was self-reliant and did not depend on anyone’s patronage. Sah-Prant Sanghchalak Prof Rana Krishna Pal and Vibhag Sanghchalak Prof KP Singh were present on the dais. Among those who attended the event included Ganga Samagra national organising secretary Ramashish, prant pracharak Ramesh, sah-prant pracharak Sunil, sah-prant karyawah Prof Rajbihari, prant prachar pramukh Murari Ji Tripathi, programme coordinator Alok Malviya, vibhag pracharak Subandhu, sah-bhag sanghchalak Sardar Milkiyat Singh and vibhag prachar pramukh Vasu, besides former vice-chancellors, political workers, doctors, lawyers, professors, principals, businesspersons, women representatives and RSS functionaries.
Recalling the RSS’s history, Krishna Gopal said the organisation had faced several ups and downs since its establishment, including a ban imposed after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and the arrest of around 70,000 volunteers.
Addressing a gathering of prominent intellectuals at the Allahabad Medical Association (AMA) convention centre, Krishna Gopal said around five crore people had participated in various programmes organised during the RSS centenary year, reflecting growing public interest in understanding the organisation. “The purpose of such prominent citizens’ dialogues is to help people understand the RSS and its work,” he said at the ‘Pramukh Jan Samvad Sangoshthi’ organised as part of the RSS centenary celebrations. “Despite these challenges, the organisation continued to move on its path towards its objective,” he said. Volunteers should play a positive role in changing minds and reducing social distances,” he said. Like a doctor who diagnoses the pulse of a patient, founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar identified the problem and prescribed that awakening patriotism among people was essential for resolving the country’s problems,” Krishna Gopal said. He said the RSS was not opposed to anyone and envisioned a society that was neither fearful of anyone nor sought to frighten anyone.
