By Irudhaya Jothi
Kolkata, November 10, 2026: As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) completes its centenary, I write to you not merely to criticise, but to ask you to pause and reflect. A hundred years is a long journey, and it is right to acknowledge the influence your movement has had on Indian society.
Yet influence brings responsibility. The real question before India today is not how powerful an ideology has become, but whether it is leading the country towards justice, equality, dignity, and unity—or towards division, hierarchy, and fear.
The RSS was founded in Nagpur in 1925 by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, and its centenary was publicly celebrated in 2025. Over these hundred years, your movement has undoubtedly shaped Indian public life, education, politics, and culture.
But the question before the country is not whether you have influence; it is whether that influence strengthens justice, equality, fraternity, and dignity for every Indian.
The vision you seek
It appears that many within your movement aspire to see India recognised as a Hindu nation, guided by a particular interpretation of Sanatana Dharma and by texts such as the Manusmriti.
You seek to revive an older social order in which hierarchy, birth, gender, and caste determine a person’s place in society.
But India’s Constitution was built on a different foundation. It promises justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity to all citizens, regardless of religion, caste, gender, or birth.
Dr B. R. Ambedkar and the framers of the Constitution understood that a nation cannot be strong if some of its people are treated as permanently inferior.
To impose a stratified ideology upon a democratic society is not nation-building. It is a return to a past that millions of Indians have struggled to overcome.
Institutions and influence
You have gradually extended your influence into many institutions that were meant to be independent guardians of the Constitution: educational bodies, universities, cultural organisations, and parts of the state machinery.
When institutions are filled with people who see society through the lens of caste, religion, and male authority, they cease to serve all citizens equally.
They begin to protect privilege rather than justice.
This is especially troubling when the so-called upper castes continue to hold disproportionate power, while communities historically denied education, land, dignity, and opportunity are expected to accept their position quietly.
A society cannot call itself free when its structure still tells some people that they are born to serve and others that they are born to rule.
Education and minds
One of your most significant achievements has been the effort to shape the minds of young people through education, cultural narratives, and political messaging.
But education should awaken curiosity, critical thinking, and compassion. It should teach children that human beings are equal in dignity, even when they differ in ability, wealth, caste, religion, or gender.
An education system that asks students to accept hierarchy without questioning it does not produce citizens. It produces obedience. And a democracy built on obedience is fragile.
Caste, class, and power
You speak of unity, but your ideology often divides people into first-class and second-class citizens: those who belong, and those who must follow; those who command, and those who must obey.
Yet the very people you seek to keep at the margins are indispensable to the country. Their labour builds its roads, harvests its food, staffs its hospitals, runs its factories, and sustains its economy. Their money, energy, work, and time make privilege possible.
You cannot build a prosperous India while treating the majority of its people as instruments for the comfort of a few.
Women and the future
Your ideology also rests heavily on male authority. But India cannot move forward while half its population is expected to remain silent, subordinate, or confined to traditional roles.
Women are not merely supporters of a family or symbols of culture. They are thinkers, workers, leaders, scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs, and citizens. Any movement that fears women’s equality fears the future.
The change is already visible in your own homes. Daughters, wives, sisters, and mothers are questioning old assumptions. They are reading, working, earning, speaking, and refusing to accept that their place is decided by men.
New generations
You may believe that young Indians can be controlled through old narratives. But Generation Z and the generation after them are growing up in a connected world.
They use artificial intelligence, access global knowledge, compare ideas, and question authority. They are not isolated within the boundaries of family, caste, or community. They can see alternative futures.
When young people begin to ask, “Why must I accept this?”, ideology loses its power. When they ask, “Who benefits from this division?”, propaganda begins to fail.
This is not the rebellion of one community or one religious group. It is the awakening of a generation.
Religion and politics
True religion is not about rituals, slogans, or the control of other people. It is about conscience, compassion, truth, and the transformation of the human heart.
When religion is used for political power, economic advantage, or social dominance, it ceases to be spiritual and becomes an instrument of control.
You may pass laws, regulate organizations, restrict foreign funding, or campaign against conversion. But these steps will not weaken the faith or resilience of India’s minorities.
Yet minorities in India have survived many difficulties before. Their faith is not dependent on foreign money, government approval, or political permission.
It grows through prayer, service, education, community support, and personal conviction. Laws may create obstacles, but they cannot take away a person’s right to believe, to hope, and to live with dignity.
But laws cannot permanently settle questions of faith, identity, or conscience. People may be silenced for a time, but they cannot be made to believe by force.
Constitution will endure
You may seek to capture institutions, rewrite history, and reshape public discourse. But the Indian Constitution is not merely a legal document.
It is a moral promise: that every person possesses dignity; that justice must not depend on birth; that equality is not a favour; and that fraternity is the foundation of the republic.
The Constitution will remain the guide for India because it represents the aspirations not of one community, but of all Indians.
Wake up, dear Sanatani brothers.
Do not mistake power for permanence. Do not mistake control for consent. Do not mistake fear for loyalty.
India is changing. Its people are awakening. Its young people are questioning. Its women are rising. Its marginalised communities are finding their voice.
Come to terms with reality. Respect the Constitution. Respect the dignity of every citizen. And abandon the idea that India can be great by making some of its people small.
The future will not belong to those who divide, dominate, and suppress. It will belong to those who build a just, compassionate, and democratic India.