RSS evolving with time: Bhagwat

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is not changing but “gradually evolving” and “simply unfolding” with time, Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday.

The RSS chief was addressing an event organised at the organisation’s office here to launch the song album of the upcoming film Shatak, which chronicles the 100-year journey of the RSS.

Singer Sukhwinder Singh, director Ashish Mall, co-producer Ashish Tiwari, and RSS functionary Bhaiyaji Joshi were present on the occasion.

“The organisation (RSS) is celebrating its centenary. But as the organisation evolves and takes on new forms, people perceive it as changing. However, it’s not actually changing; it’s simply unfolding gradually,” Bhagwat said in his address.

“Just as a sprout emerges from a seed, and the mature tree, laden with fruits and flowers, is a different form, these two forms are distinct. Yet, the tree is fundamentally the same as the seed from which it grew,” he added. Bhagwat said that Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder of the RSS, was a “born patriot” and he dedicated his life to the service of the nation in his childhood.

“The Sangh and Doctor saheb (Hedgewar) are synonymous terms,” he said.

Hedgewar was just 11 years old when his parents died of plague, but “he didn’t find anyone to communicate with or confide in at that age, or later on.” Bhagwat said that when such a great trauma occurs at such a young age, one becomes alone and prone to adverse effects on his nature and personality, but that didn’t happen with Hedgewar.

“In his personality, there was an ability to withstand even the greatest shocks without letting his faith or his nature waver in the slightest – a sign of excellent mental health, a strong and healthy mind, which he possessed from the beginning,” he said. “I think Doctor saheb’s psychology could also be a subject of study and research,” he added.

“I think Doctor saheb’s psychology could also be a subject of study and research,” he added.