‘I am proud to say that I have been associated with Organiser since its first issue, way back on July 6, 1947’, says Shri BR Bhatia, sitting in his book-lined living room at his Tagore Garden residence. As someone who has preserved each and every copy of the newspaper since 1947, and as a frequent contributor, and a former employee, his commitment towards the paper can only be imagined.
“I have always been a Sangh follower, right from my childhood’, he reminisces. ‘I was born in Bhera, in Pakistan, in 1929. At that time the RSS was very active all over India; it had shakhas in all the major Pakistani cities, such as, Karachi, Multan, etc. Its headquarters were, of course, at Lahore. That was the time when the Indian Independence movement was in full swing and the air was rife with patriotic fervour”, he muses, smiling at the memory.
“The contribution of the RSS in the freedom movement has been totally neglected”, he says. He feels Organiser is the soul of India. “As long as its heart is in the right place, it will continue to prosper and attract readers”, he opines, signing off on a positive note. A devout follower of Organiser, Shri Bhatia runs a tuition centre for women absolutely free of cost. This is his way of giving back to society, he claims, a society that has changed much since Organiser’s first issue in the post-Independence era.
—Ashish Joshi
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