RSS helped the British when they hanged Tantya Mama and Birsa Munda? Fact-checking Rahul Gandhi’s claim

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday established an offensive attack on RSS, alleging that tribal leaders Tantya Mama and Birse Munda, the unsung heroes of India’s freedom movement, were hanged by the Britishers while the organisation associated with the colonisers.

The allegations came during a public rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa district on the second day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY) in the state.

In his address, Gandhi alleged that the RSS supported the Britishers, who hanged two tribal freedom fighters—Tantya Mama and Birsa Munda.

While addressing a public gathering in Khandwa, the birthplace of Tantya Mama, Rahul Gandhi added, “Today, I am here because of Tantya Mama, for his personality, his bravery, his determination and his fearlessness. You know that Tantya Mama and Birsa Munda were hanged by the Britishers, and you also know that the RSS supported the Britishers.”

“Thinking about Tantya Mama‘s name, the first word that comes to mind is revolutionary fearless. But when Tantya Mama was hanged by the British, the RSS was supporting the British government,” Gandhi said at around 25 minutes in the speech attached above.

Fact Check: Did RSS support the British to hang Tantya Mama and Birsa Munda as alleged by Rahul Gandhi?
There was no existence of RSS or the Sangh when the Britishers hanged revolutionary leaders Tantya Mama and Birsa Munda, countering Rahul Gandhi’s allegations.

The Britishers hanged Tantya Mama in 1889, while Birsa Munde was sentenced to death in the year 1900, while the RSS came into existence 36 years after Mama’s death.

On 27 September 1925, Dr KB Hegdewar formed the RSS to bring Hindus under one roof after developing disappointed with Congress over its weakened approach to opposing the Muslim League for radicalising Muslims.

It is also important to note that Dr Hegdewar, the founder of RSS, was born in 1889, the same year when Tantya Mama was hanged by the British for his revolutionary movements for freeing India from the grip of the Crown. It was only in 1925, 25 years after Munde’s death that RSS came into existence.

Rahul Gandhi’s claim that RSS was associating with the Britishers when tribal leaders Tantya Mama and Birsa Munde were hanged is therefore misleading and untruthful, given that there was no existence of RSS when the two revolutionaries were hanged by the British.