RSS leader Hosabale exhorts young women to actively participate in ABVP activities
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Sunday exhorted young women to actively participate in its student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Hosabale said ABVP ideologue and organisational thinker Yashwantrao Kelkar strongly advocated women’s participation, full-time involvement of girl students and constructive work in student organisations. He noted that Kelkar played a key role in building the ideology and organisational structure of the student body.
The RSS leader was addressing the “Priye Kelkar Ji” special recitation programme organised by the ABVP’s Delhi unit at the Kedarnath Sahni Auditorium here to mark Kelkar’s birth centenary year. Hosabale said Kelkar developed the “philosophy of a student movement” and explained what should be the ideological basis and thought process of such an organisation.
“Overall, the Vidyarthi Parishad functions through three dimensions — constructive work, representative work and agitational work,” Hosabale said while Kelkar, regarded as one of the principal architects of the ABVP, is credited with shaping the organisation’s ideological framework and stressing constructive social work alongside student activism.
The RSS leader said that Kelkar never imposed his views on others.
“He never believed in telling people to do something simply because he had said so. Instead, he presented his ideas as a suggestion and in a persuasive manner, built consensus and imbued the spirit of teamwork throughout his life,” Hosabale said.
Hosabale said Kelkar strongly encouraged women’s participation and constructive work in student organisations. “In the broader context of national reconstruction, these ideas were meant to build an ideal student movement in the field of education,” he said.
The RSS leader said Kelkar worked collectively with several senior ABVP-associated figures, including Dattaji Didolkar, Bal Apte and Madan Das Devi, and played a “special pioneering and foundational role” among them.
Recalling an event organised on Kelkar’s 60th birthday in Mumbai, Hosabale quoted former RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras as saying, “Yashwantrao Kelkar is a true descendant of Dr Hedgewar”, a reference to RSS founder and first Sarsanghchalak (chief) Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
“That one statement says everything,” Hosabale said, adding that the remark reflected the depth of Kelkar’s personality and commitment to organisational values.
Hosabale said Kelkar emphasised discipline, complete planning and punctuality in organisational work. “He used to say six o’clock means exactly six o’clock, not a minute early or late,” he said.
Praising the recitation programme, Hosabale said it allowed workers to understand Kelkar’s personality and organisational thinking.
“Those who did not get the opportunity to sit before Prof Yashwantrao Kelkar during a training session can imagine through this presentation what such a session would have been like,” he said.
Hosabale said the one-hour presentation covered several themes usually discussed during three-day organisational training camps and remarked that many workers present may have felt as though Kelkar himself was conducting a session.
“The presentation showed the vastness and depth of Yashwantrao ji’s ideas,” he said, adding that he not only spoke about principles but also lived by them.
