RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale Speaks to Western Press at Hudson Institute in Washington
First on-the-record interview with RSS leader in US marks rare engagement with Western media as controversy over Hindu nationalist organization's role in Indian politics continues
Quick Look
- RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale gave a rare interview to NPR at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C., marking an unusual engagement with Western press by the world's largest right-wing Hindu nationalist organization.
- The group, which aims to establish India as a Hindu nation, has faced criticism for its members' alleged involvement in attacks on religious minorities and is closely linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
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Why It Matters
The RSS is the world's largest right-wing Hindu nationalist organization, founded in 1925. It aims to establish India as a Hindu nation, contradicting the secular vision of India's founding fathers. The organization has faced ongoing controversy over allegations that some members have been involved in attacks against India's Muslim and Christian minorities.
The largest right-wing group in the world is in India. That group is an all-male, Hindu Nationalist organization called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It's better known by its acronym, the RSS. Its goal is to undo the founding fathers' vision of India as a secular country, home to people with many faiths. Some of its members and those of some of its sister organizations have been implicated in – or accused of - instigating attacks against India's Muslim and Christian minorities. Famously, a former RSS member assassinated one of the most famous Indians in history, Mohandas Gandhi, in 1948. Critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is hostile to Muslims in particular and borrows from the organization's Hindu nationalist ideology. The leaders of the movement rarely talk to the Western press, which is why it was surprising when a lobbyist representing one of those leaders asked NPR to set up an interview. The General Secretary of the RSS, more or less the second in command of the organization, Dattatreya Hosabale, was in Washington D.C. this week for a talk at the conservative think tank the Hudson Institute. NPR's Rob Schmitz spoke with Hosabale to learn why he was in the nation's capital, and why he was speaking with the press.
Open Questions
- What specific policies does the RSS plan to implement regarding religious minorities?
- How does the RSS respond to specific allegations of violence by its members?
- What is the RSS's position on the secular nature of the Indian constitution?
