New Delhi, Oct 2 On the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami, as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) turned 100, Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat’s much-awaited address at Nagpur was both reflective and forward-looking. He linked the legacy of icons like Guru Tegh Bahadur, Mahatma Gandhi, and Lal Bahadur Shastri with the Sangh’s own 100-year journey.
It is clear from his speech that there is going to be no major shift in RSS’ approach towards nation-building. Even after 100 years, it is a work in progress for the RSS.
Bhagwat’s emphasis on developing an indigenous development model rooted in Bharat’s civilizational wisdom holds key significance as it reflects the RSS’ worldview and global outlook too.
According to Bhagwat, across the globe, scientific progress, the ability of technology to make many aspects of human life more convenient, and greater interconnectedness between countries due to communication and global trade present a positive picture. However, there is a considerable difference between the pace of scientific and technological progress and the pace at which humans adapt to these.
"Due to this, ordinary people may end up facing numerous problems. Similarly, we are also witnessing other problems, such as the ongoing wars and conflicts (both large and small) across the globe, the fury of nature due to environmental damage, weakening of social and family bonds, and growing misconduct and hostility towards others in everyday life,” he said.
He further said, “Efforts have been made to address all these problems, but they have failed in stopping their progression or providing a comprehensive solution. All countries are facing a threat from perverted and hostile forces that believe that the destruction of all bonds that unite, such as culture, faith, tradition and the like, is necessary for resolving these problems. These forces will aggravate the social ills, conflict and violence affecting humanity. In Bharat too, we are experiencing all these circumstances in various ways. The world is eagerly awaiting solutions that are based on Bharatiya philosophy.”
Bhagwat’s emphasis on the indigenous development model is a reiteration of the Sangh’s 100-year-old stand that India had a highly evolved development model that was destroyed by the invaders over the last 1000 years.
RSS thinkers and ideologues like Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and Dattopant Thengadi have talked about this model in detail. In the RSS parleys, it is known as the ‘Third Way’. Thengadi gave this term ‘Third Way’ as an alternative to both Capitalism and Socialism -- the two key economic models that have emerged over the last 300 years.
Summing up the RSS outlook on its centenary, Bhagwat stated, “The harmful consequences of the materialist and consumerist development model adopted worldwide, based on a materialist and compartmentalised approach, are increasingly becoming evident everywhere. In Bharat too, due to the same model, irregular and unpredictable rainfall, landslides, drying up of glaciers, and other similar effects have intensified over the last 3-4 years. The entire water supply of Southwest Asia originates in the Himalayas. The occurrence of these disasters in the Himalayas should be considered as a warning bell for Bharat and other countries of South Asia.”
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