On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 156th birth anniversary while also praising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the BJP, on its centenary.
In a post on X, Modi wrote, “Gandhi Jayanti is about paying homage to the extraordinary life of beloved Bapu, whose ideals transformed the course of human history. He demonstrated how courage and simplicity could become instruments of great change. He believed in the power of service and compassion as essential means of empowering people. We will keep following his path in our quest to build a viksit Bharat.”
Just a day earlier, Modi had lauded the RSS, recalling its struggles after Independence. “We have seen how even after Independence, there have been attempts to crush the Sangh. His Holiness Guruji (MS Golwalkar) was implicated in a false case of involvement in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. He was even sent to jail,” Modi said.
The relationship between Gandhi and the Hindu right-wing has historically been uneasy. Critics have often pointed to the RSS’s limited role in the freedom struggle and to the BJP’s efforts to diminish Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy while highlighting leaders like Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose.
After Gandhi’s assassination in January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, a right-wing activist, then Home Minister Sardar Patel banned the RSS. A government notification issued on February 2, 1948 stated, “The government of India declared their determination to root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country and imperil the freedom of the nation and darken her fair name. In pursuance of this policy, the government of India has decided to declare unlawful the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the chief commissioner’s provinces.”
Despite this history, reverence for Godse has occasionally resurfaced in right-wing circles. The only temple dedicated to him is in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, which is also the birthplace of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. BJP MP Pragya Thakur has publicly referred to Godse as “patriotic” more than once, even inside Parliament, though her comments were criticized and she was reprimanded by the party.
