2025-09-17
6 分钟The Economist Hello, this is Rosie Bloor,
co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs podcast.
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To mark the centenary of the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh, or RSS,
Mohan Bhagwat, its leader, last month delivered a series of speeches.
He recounted the long history of an organisation that claims to be the biggest volunteer group in the world.
He defended its Hindu first vision for India.
By the standards of your average birthday party, the hours-long lectures were not fun,
but for a movement that prices discipline and obsesses about ideology,
it seemed a fitting way to celebrate.
The RSS insists that it's more than five million members, or male, are doing India good.
They gather regularly in over 83,000 shakas or branches across the country to recite prayers,
play games, perform martial drills and do charity.
They aspire to make India a rigidly Hindu country, one in which minorities,
notably Muslims and Christians, should accept Hindu culture as preeminent.
This philosophy, known as Hindutva,
runs against India's secular constitution but underpins the RSS and its large family of affiliated organisations.
These include student clubs, charities and a giant trade union.