‘RSS has no moral authority to issue certificates of patriotism’: Kharge

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge has said the Congress-led state government will take action against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) within the legal framework after studying the organisation’s history and activities. He said the government would proceed with its planned course of action despite receiving no response from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to a letter seeking details about the organisation.

Kharge said the RSS had so far operated outside a formal legal framework and that the government intended to bring it under applicable legal regulations. He also questioned the organisation’s authority to judge others on patriotism and anti-nationalism while allegedly lacking even formal registration. He had said that RSS is the most anti-national organisation in the history of the country.

Kharge had earlier written to Bhagwat seeking transparency over the RSS’s legal status, funding, income and expenditure, and assets as the organisation marked its centenary. He argued that an organisation with more than 60,000 branches and extensive operations in Karnataka should be subject to legal transparency requirements.

Bhagwat dismissed the letter as politically motivated and indicated that the RSS had no obligation to respond. He maintained that the organisation operates openly rather than in secret and compared its status to Hinduism, which is also not a registered entity.

Kharge has previously suggested that Karnataka could consider legislation making registration mandatory for organisations if the RSS continues to reject such scrutiny. He has also sharply criticised the RSS over its approach to the Constitution and national symbols.

Kharge said the government would need time to examine the RSS’s century-long history before deciding its next legal steps.