For nearly a century, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s pre-eminent Hindu nationalist organisation, has grappled with the intractable issue of caste, a social edifice both constitutive and fractious within Hindu society. Through pronouncements by its leaders, notably its incumbent Sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS has articulated a variegated stance on caste, oscillating between historical apologia and exhortations for reform. These declarations, often couched in circumspect language, have ignited contention over their veracity and efficacy. From early defences of caste as a cultural bulwark to recent admonitions for its practical dissolution, the RSS’s discourse betrays a precarious endeavour to reconcile Hindu unity with egalitarian imperatives.
Anchored in Orthodoxy
The RSS’s nascent perspective on caste was indelibly shaped by its second chief, M.S. Golwalkar, whose 1966 treatise Bunch of Thoughts posited caste as a functional apportionment of labour in ancient Hindu polity, fostering societal coherence. He contended that its ossification stemmed from exogenous incursions and endogenous decay, advocating amelioration of its “perversions” without its extirpation. This paradigm, echoed in the RSS’s organ Organiser during the 1980s, enshrined caste as an intrinsic facet of Hindu cultural patrimony. Detractors, such as Dalit scholar Anand Teltumbde, excoriate this formulation as a tacit endorsement of upper-caste hegemony, cloaked in nostalgic revisionism.
In the 1980s, the RSS inaugurated its samajik samrasta (social harmony) initiative to galvanise unity across Hindu communities. Organiser articles (e.g., 1989) averred that caste, originally a Vedic construct, had been distorted and urged Hindus to surmount divisions to thwart perils like missionary proselytisation. Yet, these endeavours privileged symbolic overtures—inter-caste commensality or temple access—over substantive redress of structural inequities, such as land redistribution or caste-based violence, eliciting scepticism from marginalised constituencies.
A Formal Recalibration
In 2006, the RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, its apex deliberative body, promulgated a resolution enjoining Hindus to eradicate untouchability and caste-based discrimination. It advocated universal access to temples and civic amenities, attributing caste’s inflexibility to historical depredations, notably Muslim invasions. This edict, partly a riposte to ascendant Dalit political mobilisation exemplified by the Bahujan Samaj Party, sought to project inclusivity. However, critics decried its paucity of tangible proposals—such as endorsing inter-caste unions or dismantling upper-caste prerogatives—rendering it largely gestural.
Mohan Bhagwat’s Tenure: Tradition and Transformation
Since assuming the mantle of Sarsanghchalak in 2009, Mohan Bhagwat has navigated caste with a blend of doctrinal fidelity and pragmatic adaptation. His utterances, delivered at RSS conclaves or public fora, evince a gradual pivot from historicist rationalisations to trenchant critiques of caste’s divisive legacy, reflecting the exigencies of a dynamic socio-political milieu.
In August 2014, addressing a Pune audience, Mr. Bhagwat averred that caste was instituted for “division of labour predicated on aptitude” but had “degenerated into an instrument of discrimination” (The Hindu, August 18, 2014). He exhorted a restoration of its “primordial harmony.” Critics, including Dalit activists, excoriated this as a veiled apologia for caste’s cultural legitimacy, eliding its oppressive underpinnings, while adherents interpreted it as an appeal for reform within a Hindu ethos.
By April 2017, at a Rajasthan samajik samrasta conclave, Mr. Bhagwat refined his exposition: “Caste was devised to ensure societal interdependence, not to engender inequality. Today, we must transcend caste distinctions and embrace all Hindus as a singular fraternity” (Indian Express, April 3, 2017). Articulated amid Dalit agitations over incidents like the 2016 Una flogging, this was critiqued by scholars like Christophe Jaffrelot for tacitly endorsing caste’s historical validity without repudiating its hierarchical essence.
A more progressive tenor surfaced in September 2018 during the RSS’s “Bharat of Tomorrow” lecture series in Delhi. Mr. Bhagwat proclaimed, “The Constitution eschews caste, and so must we. Yet, we must acknowledge social realities and extirpate discrimination incrementally” (Hindustan Times, September 19, 2018). This alignment with constitutional egalitarianism was lauded by some but branded “disingenuous” by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who highlighted the RSS’s reticence on caste-based violence and its Brahmin-dominated echelons.
In April 2023, speaking in Nagpur on Ambedkar Jayanti, Mr. Bhagwat adopted a more incisive stance: “The caste system was not divinely ordained but contrived by pandits [scholars, not exclusively Brahmins]. All are equal before the Creator. We must abjure caste divisions to fortify Hindu society” (The Times of India, April 15, 2023). This explicit disavowal of caste’s divine sanction, commended by figures like Sharad Pawar, was dismissed as rhetorical by Dalit intellectuals like Kancha Ilaiah, who cited the RSS’s endorsement of policies like anti-conversion laws that disproportionately impinge on marginalised castes.
Most recently, on April 20, 2025, Mr. Bhagwat entreated Hindus to “abolish caste distinctions,” advocating communal access to “temples, wells, and cremation grounds” and decrying caste as a “man-made schism, not divine” that enfeebles society (The Indian Express, April 21, 2025). Articulated amid contentious reservation debates and opposition efforts to consolidate Dalit-OBC constituencies, this plea for tangible integration was extolled by BJP allies but questioned by critics for its lack of policy concomitants.
Incongruities and Impediments
The RSS’s peregrination on caste betrays an inherent tension between its traditionalist moorings and the imperatives of contemporary India. Early pronouncements, rooted in Golwalkar’s cultural apotheosis, resonated with Hindus who venerated caste as a linchpin of tradition. Mr. Bhagwat’s recent critiques, particularly since 2018, reflect pressures to mitigate Dalit disaffection and broaden the RSS-BJP’s electoral appeal amid caste-driven political realignments. Yet, incongruities abound.
The RSS’s emphasis on symbolic concord—shared civic spaces, inter-caste commensality—elides structural maladies like economic disparities, caste violence, or inter-caste matrimony. Its predominantly Brahmin leadership vitiates its anti-caste rhetoric, as does its advocacy for policies like anti-conversion laws, perceived as targeting Dalits and Adivasis. Critics contend that Mr. Bhagwat’s statements, though rhetorically progressive, prioritise Hindu consolidation over authentic social equity.
A Precarious Equilibrium
The RSS’s odyssey on caste encapsulates the broader conundrum of reconciling Hindu nationalism with India’s pluralistic ethos. Mr. Bhagwat’s transition from historicist justifications to advocacy for caste’s dissolution mirrors the organisation’s imperative to navigate a fractious political terrain. Yet, absent systemic reforms—redressing caste privilege, diversifying leadership, or reconsidering contentious policies—the RSS’s rhetoric risks being perceived as vacuous. As India contends with caste inequities, the RSS’s pronouncements will be adjudged not by their rhetorical finesse but by the transformative actions they precipitate.
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