RSS never fought for Independence, claims Asaduddin Owaisi amid centenary celebrations

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise for the RSS, alleging that its members did not participate in India’s freedom movement. Citing historical records and RSS publications, Owaisi criticised the organisation’s stance on the national flag and Constitution.

Hyderabad: Taking exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing the RSS for its role in nation building, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday claimed that no RSS member sacrificed his life during the freedom movement or went to jail after its formation, as per his knowledge.

Addressing a gathering here, Owaisi claimed, quoting from a biography of RSS founder K B Hedgewar, that the leader participated in the Dandi March in 1930 and went to jail only to encourage freedom fighters to join the Sangh later.

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Hedgewar’s intent was not genuine participation in the freedom struggle, he alleged.

“I was surprised by the claims that the RSS participated in India’s freedom struggle. PM Modi has a habit of delivering long speeches. From my reading, no RSS member sacrificed his life or went to jail after its formation,” he said.

The British archives clearly state that RSS workers never participated in the freedom struggle and posed no threat, he claimed.

“Furthermore, the RSS magazine ‘Organizer’ wrote on August 14, 1947 that the three colours of our national flag were inauspicious. This was known to the PM, but ignored,” Owaisi said.

When the Constitution was adopted on November 23, 1949, the RSS wrote in ‘Organizer’ that they don’t need that Constitution, claiming they needed ‘Manusmriti’ instead, he said.

The second Sarsanghchalak of RSS M S Golwalkar, in his book ‘Bunch of Thoughts’, labeled Christians, Muslims, and the Left as internal threats to India, he claimed.

The RSS repeatedly doubt India’s Muslims, but the first person sent to ‘Kala Pani’ (Andaman Cellular Jail) was Maulvi Allauddin Rahmatullah from Hyderabad, he claimed.

PM Modi on Thursday lauded the annual Vijayadashmi address of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as inspiring, and said he highlighted India’s innate potential to attain new heights of glory.

He said on X, “An inspiring address by Param Pujya Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat Ji, highlighting the rich contributions of the RSS to nation-building and emphasising the innate potential of our land to attain new heights of glory, thereby benefiting our entire planet.”

Founded on Vijayadashmi in 1925, the RSS is observing its centenary year.

On the ‘I Love Muhammed’ campaign row, Owaisi said there is no objection if someone says “I love Modi’, but there is an objection to saying “I love Muhammed’.

The controversy erupted when the police in Kanpur registered an FIR against 24 people for allegedly installing boards with ‘I Love Muhammad’ written on them during an Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi procession on September 4.

 

VIDEO | Hyderabad: Reacting to PM Modi’s remarks on the RSS’s role in India’s freedom struggle, AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) said, “Savarkar sent a telegram to the British Queen asking her to hand over India to Nepal’s king, claiming they were Hindu kings, this is… pic.twitter.com/g36C27AOi4

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 2, 2025