RSS Did Not Severe Contact with The Valley Even at the Peak of Terrorism, Says Sah Sarkaryavah Arun Kumar

In 1990-94, when the situation was very grim in the Valley, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh stayed put there and was simultaneously working in multiple fronts to make people aware of the ground situation in the Valley.

Even when the situation was very grim in the Valley in 1990-94, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) did not severe contact with the Valley, said RSS Sah Sarkaryawah Arun Kumar.

In the tough times, the RSS stayed put in the Valley to help Muslims and organised nationwide programmes to make people aware of the ground situation in Kashmir. It was simultaneously putting pressure on the government to deploy the army in the region.

Arun Kumar was speaking at the book launch event of 'Conflict Resolution: The RSS Way by Ratan Sharda, Yashwant Pathak' in Delhi on Friday (March 25).

Talking about the problems in society, Arun Kumar said that as Swami Vivekananda said, the root cause of problems in our society is Atm Vismriti because we forget who we were. And to fight it, society has to be reminded of its inherent strengths.

When the militancy in Punjab was in its 1980s and 1990s, the RSS did not leave Punjab but stayed put in the region and continued with seva and dialogue. The exterior powers and vested interests always tried to exploit the situation in the Valley and Punjab. The RSS worked extensively to make people aware of the ulterior motives of such forces. 

Arun Kumar said that 'One Nation, One People, One Sanskriti' is not a slogan for us, but it's our conviction. The shared heritage of thousands of years is our common heritage, as our ancestors were one.

Commenting on the critics, Arun Kumar said that although some people in the society oppose RSS, it never considers anyone its opponent. The RSS believes there are two kinds of people in the society: one who are with the RSS and others who are not yet with the RSS.

The concept of 'conflict' does not exist in the RSS lexicon, he said.

Arun Kumar said that RSS has never faced opposition on the ground, but it has faced severe opposition in the academic and media world. There has been a sustained effort to spread negativity and rumours about the RSS for a long time. "Some part of it is changing gradually,' he said.

Congratulating the authors for writing the book, Ram Madhav, National Executive member of the RSS, said, "It is a great effort towards bringing an altogether different dimension of RSS to the country and world stage. It would be one sort of awareness among the community about the Sangh which otherwise has been confined to the journalist community at large."

He further said, "The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's physical strength mounts through operations across 60000 RSS sakhas, 100s & 1000s of running projects, 30000 Vidya Bharti schools, having half of the Indian society directly or indirectly linked to the sangh community impacting the society in counts of millions."

The RSS' official position about different issues is conveyed only through three channels: Sarsanghchalak's speeches, statements of Sarkaryawah and the resolutions of the RSS.

The book, which was the research thesis of Ratan Sharda, is based on the resolutions of the RSS and its in-depth study.

From time to time, some people have used harsh words like Italian fascism, Hindu Taliban & Hindu supremacist while discussing the RSS even without understanding the Sangh. This book is expected to fill the void in the academic circle.

Speaking about the book, Publisher Sankrant Sanu said, "Often times, both criticism or praise of the RSS has happened without an actual analysis of its official position, policies or actions in the field. This often leads to ill-informed debates which rely on polemics, innuendo and strawman arguments. Conflict Resolution—The RSS Way is a well-researched contribution into the academic study of this important organisation; useful for critic and supporter alike."