New Delhi, Aug 26 Addressing a packed gathering at Vigyan Bhawan on Tuesday, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat marked the centenary lecture series “100 Years of Sangh’s Journey: New Horizons” with a sweeping reflection on India’s history, nationalism, and the Sangh’s role in shaping the future.
Bhagwat urged that discussions on the Sangh should be based on “facts, not perceptions.”
He said the RSS, now completing a hundred years, was founded with a clear purpose: “The Sangh exists for Bharat. Its journey began with challenges, it grew despite obstacles, and today it continues with a vision for the future. That is why we have used the word New Horizons.”
Reflecting on history, Bhagwat traced India’s nationalist movements back to the Revolt of 1857, which he described as a “failed war of independence” that nevertheless awakened consciousness among Indians. “After 1857, revolutionaries gave sacrifices that inspired generations. Savarkar ji was a luminous gem of that wave,” Bhagwat said, adding that the revolutionary current subsided post-independence, giving way to politics as a tool for freedom, which eventually birthed the Indian National Congress.
“Had that movement enlightened the path correctly even after independence, the picture today would have been starkly different,” he remarked, hinting at missed opportunities in India’s political evolution.
Bhagwat paid tribute to RSS founder Dr. K.B. Hedgewar, calling him “a patriot by birth” who engaged with Congress’s 1920 andolan (movement) but charted a new course for national awakening. Recalling Hedgewar’s sedition trial, Bhagwat said even the judge noted that his defence speech was “more seditious than the one he was accused of delivering.”
In a message resonating beyond domestic politics, he added: “If any country is to become a leader, it should not do so for itself, but rather its leadership must bring a necessary new momentum to the world order.”
Bhagwat also acknowledged that while reform movements flourished after independence, “even today, some andolans (movement) continue to run for a better society.”
The centenary series, drawing both domestic and international attention, signals RSS’s attempt to project its ideological legacy and future vision on the global stage.
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