Youth connect: 18 young achievers share their personal encounter with RSS, changed perceptions in centenary book

AT A time when the government has come under pressure from youth agitations over issues ranging from competitive examinations to electoral rolls, the RSS has brought out a book in which 18 young achievers — entrepreneurs, sportspersons, actors and activists — write about the organisation and their interactions with it.

Titled Hundred Years Young: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the book has been timed around the completion of the RSS’s centenary year celebrations and fits into a wider effort by the Sangh under its Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat to engage younger Indians and address perceptions about the organisation.

The outreach acquires particular significance against the backdrop of the emergence of the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), whose agitation over the NEET paper leak became one of the biggest student mobilisations in recent years and culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July. The CJP has since returned to the streets, this time over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, holding protests in Delhi and other cities and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Edited by Rashmi Samant, the first Indian woman president of the Oxford University Students Union, the book carries a “special message” from Bhagwat and a foreword by RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar.

It brings together a wide range of under-40 achievers, including Pentonic Infotech founders Yuvraj and Yashraj Bharadwaj, investor Brinda Kotak, actors Vikrant Massey and Bhasha Sumbli of The Kashmir Files, social entrepreneur Sharad Sagar, LGBT rights activist Ankit Bhuptani, badminton star Saina Nehwal and former India basketball team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi.

Some of the contributors have had a direct connection with the Sangh, while several others recount their observations of the RSS as a disciplined organisation working in what they see as the national interest. A recurring theme running through a number of the essays is that the RSS has been misunderstood — particularly on questions involving Muslims, minorities and social conservatism — and that personal encounters with the organisation differed from what the writers describe as their “inherited perception” of it.

In his opening message, Bhagwat argues that the Sangh’s ability to remain undaunted by difficulties and failures has helped attract young people to it.

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“An honest appeal towards any good work appeals to them and also helps them by providing an anchor which brings meaningfulness to their lives,” Bhagwat says.

Referring to the purpose of the volume, he says: “This volume will give a picture of the Sangh that is much more authentic than the malicious propaganda that is relentlessly poured into the media world and also the erroneous eulogization inadvertently poured into the discourse by well-meaning souls of our society.”

In his foreword, Ambekar dwells on leadership and argues that the RSS follows a model distinct from contemporary ideas of personal branding and public visibility.

“In many modern systems, leadership is often associated with visibility, position, or personal branding. The Sangh follows a very different model. Responsibility is emphasized over recognition. The idea of Prasiddhi Paranmukhta, staying away from personal fame, creates a culture where individuals learn to work for larger cause without constantly seeking public acknowledgement. Leadership becomes service-oriented rather than personality-driven,” he writes.

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The other contributors largely recount personal experiences or observations. LGBT rights activist Ankit Bhuptani, for instance, writes that presenting his arguments to what he had assumed would be a conservative organisation initially appeared counter-intuitive. He says he was pleasantly surprised by the RSS’s receptiveness to discussions on LGBT rights and to his argument that sexual minorities were part of India’s ancient culture and society.

Entrepreneurs and sportspersons similarly underline discipline, perseverance and organisation as qualities they associate with the Sangh and say these have resonated with their professional journeys.

Journalist Rubika Liyaquat recounts how, as a Muslim, she once viewed the RSS with apprehension but says that fear receded after she began inviting Sangh representatives to her prime-time TV shows and interacting with them personally.

The choice of contributors and the recurring emphasis on personal encounters appear designed to address one of the Sangh’s longstanding communication challenges — the gulf it believes exists between public perceptions of the organisation and the experience of those who engage with it directly.

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The book follows a series of attempts by the RSS, particularly during its centenary year, to expand its engagement with younger generations.

The most significant came in August, within days of the CJP-led NEET agitation ending with Pradhan’s resignation. Bhagwat interacted with around 2,000 Gen Z and Gen Alpha students at an IIMUN gathering in Mumbai, where he departed markedly from the tendency to view disruptive youth agitations principally through the prism of law and order.

Referring directly to the recent student protests, Bhagwat said the grievances of Gen Z were “genuine”, described protest as a legitimate mode of democratic dialogue and said youngsters taking part in agitations should not be branded “anti-national”.

“Protest is also a way of dialogue. In a democracy, protest is a way of building consensus,” he said, adding that when concerns were not heard through normal dialogue, people could turn to agitation. He also described younger Indians as “more honest” than previous generations and said their questions on the education system had to be addressed through dialogue.

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That engagement has continued within the Sangh ecosystem. At its Akhil Bharatiya Samanvay Baithak in August, the RSS said organisations working among young men and women needed to remain connected with them, understand their feelings and maintain dialogue. It identified the ABVP, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Jagaran Manch among organisations already working among the youth and said the younger generation had shown a “positive response”.