New Delhi, Oct 1 As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gears up to mark its centenary year from Vijayadashami 2025 to 2026, Jamal Siddiqui, National President of the BJP Minority Morcha, has written to President Droupadi Murmu, requesting that Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS, be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
In a letter addressed to the President, Siddiqui called Dr. Hedgewar “a great freedom fighter and nation builder” whose contributions deserve the country’s utmost recognition.
“I humbly request that Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar be posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna. This demand is not only to honour his unparalleled contribution to the nation but also to inspire the youth with his ideals of nationalism,” the letter reads.
Siddiqui highlighted Hedgewar’s early revolutionary spirit, recalling how he raised slogans of Vande Mataram during British rule as a schoolboy. He further noted that during his medical education in Kolkata, Hedgewar became associated with the Anushilan Samiti, drawing inspiration from freedom fighters like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Veer Savarkar.
He was jailed twice, once in 1921 for sedition and again in 1930 during the Jungle Satyagraha, but never deviated from his path, Siddiqui wrote. “He famously said, ‘India belongs to Indians, we demand complete independence.’”
Speaking to IANS on Wednesday, Siddiqui said, “I believe the Bharat Ratna is a small gesture for someone like Dr. Hedgewar. But just like we offer flowers at the feet of a great soul as tribute, the Bharat Ratna would be a true 'Shradhhanjali (ideological tribute)'. I have written to the President and the Prime Minister. I am confident the Government of India will do justice by honouring him.”
When asked whether the Opposition would support the proposal, Siddiqui responded, “They should. Dr. Hedgewar worked for the country. Had his vision not guided us, India would have been fragmented like Pakistan. His foresight gave India a unifying force.”
He added that while some parties failed to keep even their own families or organisations united, it is the RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who are working towards an undivided and prosperous India.
“The RSS has lakhs of workers serving the nation. They are like soldiers defending the country, not just at borders but within society,” he said.
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