The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement regarding reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and his claim that RSS volunteers are ever ready to serve the country met with a scathing attack from Shiv Sena (UBT), which in its mouthpiece Saamana dared the RSS to volunteer their service along the borders, while ridiculing Bhagwat’s claim that the organisation is more agile and capable than the Indian Army, saying it was a group that did nothing during the freedom struggle.
In a sharply worded editorial, the Sena (UBT) described the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a “non-killing army” which, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule, has been “moving around like an army and pretending to be the Indian army.”
It said that Bhagwat’s assertion of RSS being battle-ready within three days was an insult to the professionalism of the armed forces, which protect the nation’s borders through sacrifice and discipline.
“In reality, these people were nowhere in the Indian freedom struggle, and there is no record of any of their leaders going to jail during that period,” the editorial remarked, adding that if the RSS was indeed more capable and brave than the Indian Army, “then instead of sowing the poison of Hindutva fanaticism, these people should guard the borders and the sea so that terrible attacks like Pulwama, Pahalgam and Uri do not happen.”
The editorial challenged the RSS to demonstrate courage by entering Leh-Ladakh and liberating Indian territories allegedly occupied by China. It said that while everyone wanted an undivided India, the dream of Akhand Bharat should not remain limited to speeches and slogans.
Recalling the wounds of Partition, it pointed out that the Sindh province, which lay near the Indus River, had gone to Pakistan in 1947, leaving the Sindhi community with deep scars that continue to fester. “In the name of Hindutva and nationalism, the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are constantly scratching the scabs of these wounds, but what is the use?” it asked.
Accusing the Sangh Parivar of hypocrisy, Saamana observed that despite having “immense power” for 11 years, the BJP government had not managed to reclaim “even an inch” of Sindh province or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
It questioned why, if the RSS was so determined to establish Akhand Bharat, its volunteers in key positions—Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh—had failed to take any concrete steps towards achieving it.
“Prime Minister Modi got the opportunity to create an Akhand Bharat on the occasion of 'Operation Sindoor' but has wasted it,” the editorial said, adding that Modi and Singh had once “roared about entering Lahore and Karachi” but had to withdraw after President Trump’s diktat.
It further questioned whether the Sarsanghchalak had ever asked Modi and other RSS volunteers in government why they failed to reclaim areas occupied by Pakistan. “Did he take any action for withdrawing from Pakistan after listening to President Trump, or does he only give lectures on Akhand Bharat?” the piece asked sarcastically.
Turning to China’s territorial encroachments, the editorial claimed that the Modi government had shown weakness by not confronting Beijing over its alleged occupation of parts of Ladakh.
It criticised the arrest of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had raised his voice against Chinese incursions, and accused the government of silencing dissent instead of protecting India’s sovereignty.
“It would have been better if the RSS chief had made a clear comment on the Chinese occupation of Indian territory,” the editorial said, arguing that if the government had not backtracked during ‘Operation Sindoor’, the Army and Air Force would have been prepared to reclaim Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The Sena (UBT) concluded that the lack of political will at the Centre, despite the Sangh Parivar’s dominance, had rendered the dream of Akhand Bharat hollow, and that the RSS’s claims of valour and readiness were better tested on the borders than on public platforms.
Source: IANS