We are not strong where Europe is strong … The source of strength is the State. The State has taken upon itself the responsibility of discharging all welfare efforts – the State distributes alms, the State imparts education, the State looks to the preservation of religion. In our country society is the source of our welfare. India has not cast a look at kingdom; she has looked at her society.” — Rabindranath Thakur, Appendix to Swadeshi Samaj, Rabindra Racanavali, Vol.3, Visva-Bharati, 1964. Eng.tr. by Sachin Sen
The biggest ever gathering of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Swayamsevaks took place in Meerut on February 25, 2018 called ‘Rashtrodaya’. This was not the first of such efforts and definitely not the last one. Way back in 1983, a camp of thousands of Swayamsevaks was organised near Pune with the societal support. Recently, in Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam etc many such events were organised with participation from 35 thousand to 1 lakh Swayamsevaks and many more citizens. What is the purpose of such events? Everyone curiously watching this event tried to draw their own conclusions about it.
While addressing the mega-congregation, the RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat besides giving a call to all the sections of society to join the RSS Shakhas, gave an interesting explanation about the purpose of the event. Such massive assembly of people under the banner of any organisation is viewed as a show of strength, but Sarsanghachalak explained it as an exercise of
‘self-assessment’. If strength is there, anyways it is seen but how many people we can get to such conclave, and how many of them work can together in a disciplined way, is the real test of our strength, he explained.
The RSS always believed that it does not want to create an organisation in the society but organise the entire society. We need to understand and imbibe the real meaning of it to decipher the rationale of events like Rashtrodaya. The literal meaning of the term Rashtrodaya is Rising of the Nationhood but that does not just mean Bharat being recognised as a Global leader but awakening of each and every individual in Bharat, by taking pride in our civilisational ethos, actualising those values in life and fulfilling his/her basic needs with collective and cooperative efforts. It is the people that form the ‘Rashtra’ and therefore, our Constitution also starts with ‘We, the People…’. Whether these very people have sense of brotherhood, having obvious sense of working together, defines ‘Rashtra’.
It is not just the registration of 3.13 lakh Swayamsevaks from 14 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh that made Rashtrodaya special, but out of them 2.86 lakh actually turned up, all of them paid the registration fees and travelling cost, the local community comprising equal number of people contributed food packets or other facilities, farmers gave their land, and everything was organised without any chaos or disorder. The participation in every sense was irrespective of caste or community. The actual function was just for two hours but calculating the travel time and practice sessions before the event, it was a day-long exercise for participants. For the locals, it was at least a week-long affair and for the organising committee it was a six months preparation. This is a training not just for cadres but for the entire society. Unconsciously, preparing everyone for any eventuality makes such exercise special.
As Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur in his seminal book Swadeshi Samaj remarked, “Historically, in India the form of government has not been important, rather the triumph of the human . . . the primacy of society persisted in spite of the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires”. Unfortunately, under the colonial influence, we are used to leave everything to the State and Government. From education to security, everything is State’s responsibility in the Western paradigm. Going to our Swadeshi roots and revitalising our societal strength is the need of the hour. Then only we can deliver the destined goal of Bharat of spreading the message of spirituality and brotherhood to the entire world.
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