NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said that Sangh is was not founded as reaction or in opposition to any organisation and it does not seek power or popularity.While speaking at a program held as a part of the RSS centenary celebrations in Mumbai, Bhagwat said that those who want to know about RSS, must come should come within the organisation and observe it from close quarters.“The Sangh has not emerged in competition with any other institution or organization, nor as a reaction or in opposition to anyone. The Sangh does not seek popularity. The Sangh does not seek power. Whatever good deeds are being done in the country—may they be done well; the Sangh exists to help make that happen,” RSS chief said.“If you want to know Sangh, come inside and see it for yourself,” he added.Bhagwat claimed that more than one lakh thirty thousand small and big seva works re carried out by RSS volunteers across the country.“More than one lakh thirty thousand small and big seva works are carried out by Swayamsevaks without taking any government money, spending their own funds with the cooperation of society. In the history of our country, no Sangh like work occurred after Tathagat Buddha,” He said.“The work of the Sangh is meant for the entire nation — Bharatvarsh,” he added.Talking about the situation in the country that preceded the RSS’s birth in 1925, Bhagwat the British founded the Indian National Congress as a “safety valve”, but the Indians transformed it into a powerful instrument in the struggle for independence.Referring to RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, Bhagwat described the difficult circumstances of his childhood including the death of both his parents due to the plague at age 13 and the financial hardship he suffered subsequently.Hedgewar actively participated in various movements during the freedom struggle, including the Vande Mataram agitation in his school days, Bhagwat said.When he cleared the matriculation examination with a first class, some people in Nagpur raised funds to send him to Calcutta (Kolkata) for medical education, where he came in contact with revolutionary groups, Bhagwat said.Recalling an anecdote from that period, Bhagwat said Hedgewar operated under the code name “Koken”, inspired by the name of a person called Kokenchandra. Once a police team which had arrived to arrest Kokenchandra instead detained Hedgewar, an incident documented in a book by Rash Behari Bose, he said.During the ceremony, noted guests such as film actor Salman Khan, Subhash Ghai and Prasoon Joshi were also present.The two-day lecture series titled ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons’ seeks to reflect on the journey of RSS, its role in society, and the ideas and perspectives shaping its future.
