RSS has shown no dilution of its core ideological agenda since 2018, with Bhagwat’s global tour marking a sophisticated exercise in international image management
In contemporary India, it would be correct to contend that public awareness of the major facet of the Goebbelsian framework of Big Lie – relentless repetition transforms falsehood into truth – was much greater in the late 20th century than in the post-2019 era, when the BJP emerged as the undisputed political hegemon in the country.
This reality is extremely ironic, although the public’s general comprehension back then of the notion evolved from their levels of intellectual/historical literacy, as against contemporary India’s everyday lived experiences with modern information ecosystems.
Unlike in the past when the centralised slow-moving state-TV-media was viewed critically, today’s privatised but repetitive media ‘stories’, gets seen as truth of sorts, because it is the ‘consensus’.
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The recent lectures of the Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mohan Bhagwat, during his three-nation foreign tour and the wide ranging and different categories of responses provide an example of the aforesaid contention.
How Bhagwat’s words are read
The primary contention of large sections of reportage and opinion pieces, is that Bhagwat made “new” assertions and many have wondered, if the majority of Indians with opinions have chosen to “hear”, or “read” his words.
These writings and views have flowed in four distinct streams: One, who fall into the category of naraaz fufa (disgruntled uncle) – those who examine every utterance or action from within the Sangh Parivar with a critical lens. Their conclusion is that Bhagwat’s exercise was merely smart phraseology; his ideas were repetitive and belied the actual intent.
Two, these are that lot of Hindutvavadis who do not think that they are “that bad” and that there were no reasons for Bhagwat to offer an “explanation”, regarding the RSS attitude towards Muslims.
The third group is the lot of unabashed Hindutvavadis who cannot fathom why the RSS chief had to “sound liberal-like”, that too outside India, when Prime Minister NarendraModi hits straight-bat shots either within India or outside, on subjects ranging from history – the entire medieval period being a millennium plus years of slavery, to claiming that inauguration of Hindu temples abroad, Paris and Abu Dhabi, for instance, as milestones for expansion of Indian human values, cultural harmony, and civilizational identity, overlooking that India is religiously diverse country.
There is a fourth lot too, who have little political viewpoint and merely dub Bhagwat’s words as a process of intellectual progression, both for reasons of pragmatism and change of heart.
New pitch, old contradictions
Significantly, Bhagwat chose to make the statement that resonated loudest during his entire tour, at his first public meeting in New York – from the same Madison Square Garden from where Modi ventured into the hearts of the Indian diaspora in September 2014 during his first visit to the United States since his visa was revoked when he was Gujarat chief minister: “If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslims in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu.”
Juxtapose the sentence with another – “Hindutva does not exclude Muslims; the day it is said that Muslims are not wanted, it will no longer be Hindutva.” Bhagwat said this at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi in September 2018.
The 3-day lecture series, unambiguously titled, ‘Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective’, was an unprecedented outreach effort in the history of the RSS. The intention was to stake claim that the RSS had redefined its core ideology to secure support of broader, secular public audience and distance the organisation from hardline or exclusionary rhetoric.
The Sarsanghchalak also explicitly endorsed the Constitution of India, describing it as the consensus document that dictates the laws and functioning of the country, aligning the RSS’s vision with modern democratic norms.
Although this marked a major departure from the past, it also must be acknowledged that the government has over several years repeatedly asserted that there is nothing called as the Constitution’s “basic structure”, an idea that was laid out by the Supreme Court in the early 1970s in the Kesavananda Bharti case judgment.
RSS outreach amid political setbacks
The Vigyan Bhawan event was a reach-out to a wide section of society – invites went out to select public figures, including foreign diplomats, civil society leaders, intellectuals, media, and opposition political leaders. This willingness to engage outside traditional ideological circles underscored the Sangh Parivar’s necessity – for far long it had communicated within the echo chamber.
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But more than a decisive structural transformation, the event marked a strategic adaptation by the RSS leadership. Instead of its core work through a shadowy network of shakhas, the RSS broadcast a message of Sanghi glasnost that was not only live-streamed but also featured a Q&A component, though the questions were written in advance by attendees and selected by organisers for a read-out.
Yet, these touched on sensitive topics ranging from cow vigilantism to political interference and minority rights. It must be pointed out that Bhagwat put the best foot forward and virtually said what the select invitees wanted to hear.
The RSS broadcast the message of a Sanghi glasnost which was not only live-streamed, but also featured a Q&A component, albeit these were written questions submitted by attendees and selected by organisers previously for a read out.
It must be recalled that 2018 was a trying period for the Modi regime. The BJP received a scare in the Gujarat Assembly polls in 2017 when its tally eventually slipped below the three-digit mark.
Throughout the year, the BJP also lost three politically important Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh – Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana besides losing the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The RSS takes its message global
Quite clearly, the RSS recognised that to maintain mainstream influence across diverse sections of Indian society, it needed to present a more approachable, transparent, and moderate image rather than remaining an opaque fraternity.
However, this was a tactical ploy, because the vocabulary of temperance did not necessarily replace the core training imparted at the ground level.
Just as the 2018 event marked a landmark moment in the public communication strategy of the RSS, Bhagwat’s August–September 2026 three-nation tour has to be viewed as an extension of the RSS’s public communication pivot, elevating the domestic transformation seen previously, onto the global stage.
The tour was mounted as a cornerstone of the RSS’s Centenary Year and the tour took the Sarsanghchalak to global power hubs – addressing 5,000 carefully chosen delegates at Madison Square Garden in New York, leading the Hindu Vishwa Bandhu conference in Toronto, and conducting closed-door roundtables and interfaith dialogues in London among the known.
Just as the 2018 event marked a landmark moment in the public communication strategy of the RSS, Bhagwat’s August–September 2026 three-nation tour has to be viewed as an extension of the RSS’s public communication pivot.
Quite clearly, Bhagwat was trying to re-brand the RSS, a task which has become particularly important in the context of the damning report earlier this year by the highly influential United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Rebranding meets global resistance
It termed the RSS an “umbrella organisation” for several dozen affiliate groups and held the ideological clique as being directly accountable for dubious actions of the Indian government and the BJP.
Although the US government is not obligated to act on the Commission’s recommendations, which called for “targeted sanctions” against the RSS and others for their “responsibility and tolerance of severe violations of religious freedom”, the RSS decided that Bhagwat must present a benign face.
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This was particularly necessary in the backdrop of opposition to his tour and public meetings, most significantly by New York Mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
This tactical ploy saw Bhagwat position the RSS as a global civic actor focused on service (sewa), family values, environmental stewardship, and community cohesion rather than a secretive, paramilitary apparatus. But there was no critical or even independent reportage because access was limited.
Bhagwat’s visit also needs to be seen in the context of RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s earlier visits to think tanks like Chatham House and Stanford University. Supported by think tanks and people who previously worked in the Indian government, the visit demonstrated the RSS's structured approach to global Track-II diplomacy.
But although Bhagwat’s tour secured an unprecedented level of international exposure for him, several friction points remain and these challenge the idea of a seamless shift toward openness.
Unlike the Vigyan Bhawan event, the tour had to weather public protests, pushback from coalitions of civil society organisations, and statements from Western politicians concerned about minority rights in India. These reactions underscored that global perceptions of the RSS cannot be altered purely through a public relations drive.
Global ambitions, ideological baggage
If the 2018 New Delhi lectures were about coming out of the shadows domestically, the Sarsanghchalak’s tour reflects intent to step into the global mainstream.
But, unlike in the domestic community, where it was easy for the RSS, with backing from the BJP and government, to drum up support and not ask discomforting questions regarding whether there had been a decline in hate-filled campaign and violence against Muslims and Christians, this will not be such an easy task at an international level.
The fact remains that here was no dilution of the Sangh Parivar’s core majoritarian or ideological campaign after 2018. If there was any change, it was only in the direction of escalation.
Furthermore, the RSS remain oath-bound to pursue views of its founding leaders. KB Hedgewar, who founded the organisation and was its first Sarsanghchalak, unequivocally declared: “Hindu culture is the life-breath of Hindusthan. It is therefore clear that if Hindusthan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. If the Hindu culture perishes in Hindusthan itself, and if the Hindu society ceases to exist, it will hardly be appropriate to refer to the mere geographical entity that remains as Hindusthan. Mere geographical lumps do not make a nation.”
Back in 2018, the RSS was also aided by the return of hyper-nationalism in early 2019 after the terrorist strike in Pulwama provided Modi with an opportunity to flex India’s military muscles and launch an attack on so-called terrorist facilities in Balakot, Pakistan.
The limits of image management
It is true that the framing of the global war against terror has enabled Hindutva forces to make common cause globally. But, there is still a demand for India to retain its pre-2014 pluralistic character.
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Despite the hype from within the pro-RSS sections of the Indian diaspora, it is just a matter of time before it is argued globally that Bhagwat’s utterances during the tour were no different from the ritualistic platitudes delivered eight years ago.
The fact remains that there was no dilution of the Sangh Parivar’s core majoritarian or ideological campaign after 2018. If there was any change, it was only in the direction of escalation. History shows that the Sangh Parivar's substantive political and ideological agenda, including the government, has moved forward at an accelerated pace in the years that followed.
Against this backdrop, Bhagwat’s tour will remain little but a sophisticated, centenary-driven exercise in international image management.
(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal.)
