On March 26, a video featuring five men with flex in the background reading ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Press Conference’ went viral on social media platforms. The logo of the organisation was different from the original Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and many raised alarm against the people sharing the video and those featured in it.
On March 29, the RSS swavamsevaks have lodged a formal complaint against one Janardan Moon who organised the press conference, stating he had misused the name of the organisation to confuse voters and spread lies.
In their letter to the Election Commission and the Commissioner of Police, the swayamsevaks on behalf of RSS wrote, that Moon has been misusing the name of RSS to confuse voters.
The letter further mentioned that Moon organised a press conference where he falsely presented RSS and other facts, he said that RSS is supporting Congress in the coming general elections, which is false. The letter demanded action against them under sections 416 (cheating by personation), 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 505 ( statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC.
In the viral video, Moon can be heard saying, “To save the country and constitution, the RSS has decided to defeat BJP in the upcoming elections. For the last ten years, the BJP has ruled the country and violated the constitution, we must crush the idea of BJP attaining 400+ seats in the coming elections.”
ये कौन सा राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ है भाई…
मार्केट में नया आया है या पहले से था🤔#RSSParody pic.twitter.com/6nA5ms8BbL
— Nishant Azad/निशांत आज़ाद🇮🇳 (@azad_nishant) March 26, 2024
A flash pops up naming Moon as the founder of RSS and he continues saying, “There are multiple cases in this country which are listed in the courts for years but none of the accused were put behind bars. But shockingly, BJP is putting all the opposition party leaders in jail, as if only they were corrupt. None of BJP’s leaders has a single case against them.”
To save the Constitution, we will have to vote for I.N.D.I Alliance and not the BJP,” he concluded.
Shockingly, the conference was organised in Nagpur and Moon having a Marathi accent addressed the media to make sure it looked real.
This is not the first time that attempts have been made to use the name of RSS and spread fake narratives to malign the image of organisations. There have been multiple attempts in the past and the organisation has moved to legal authorities several times.
For instance, in May, Indore police registered an FIR against 10 unidentified persons for allegedly distributing pamphlets containing objectionable material against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bajrang Dal.
On April 8, 2022, a few anti-social elements, especially Islamists, took to social media to claim that the RSS is conspiring to ‘entrap’ Muslim women in India. The conspirators used a fake letter bearing the letterhead of the RSS, asking Hindu men to trick Muslim women into their love trap.
These fake copies of the letter were circulated by Islamist forces on social media, especially on Twitter, with the hashtag ‘Bhagwa_Love_Trap.’ The letter, falsely attributed to the RSS, also vowed to provide a 15-day training programme to help teach Hindus to entrap Muslim women.
In February, Dr Ashok Dubey, Prant Prachar Pramukh of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Awadh Prant, filed a complaint against three prominent newspapers for spreading fake news about the RSS at Hajratganj police station, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
