Indian opposition slams PM Modi for praising RSS in I-Day Speech
New Delhi: On India’s Independence Day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced sharp criticism from opposition leaders across the political spectrum for lauding the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological parent organization, during his speech from the Red Fort.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Modi hailed the RSS for its “100 years of national service”, calling it the largest NGO in the world, and saying its legacy “will continue to inspire us.”
Congress MP and the party’s media in-charge Jairam Ramesh slammed Modi’s remarks as a “a blatant breach of the spirit of a constitutional, secular republic” and a “desperate attempt to appease the organization in the run-up to his 75th birthday next month”. He added that the move politicised Independence Day for “personal and organisational gain” and undermined democratic values.
Ramesh further said, “Decisively weakened after the events of June 4th, 2024, he is now at their complete mercy and reliant on Mohan Bhagwat’s good offices for the extension of his tenure post-September”.
Modi’s praise of the RSS comes after Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark in June this year that one must retire at the age of 75. His statement had sparked a debate on whether his words were actually meant for Modi, who along with Bhagwat will turn 75 this September.
Modi’s comments drew condemnation from other opposition leaders as well. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, “The RSS and its ideological allies served as British foot soldiers. They never joined the fight for independence and hated Gandhi more than they ever opposed the British”. “The ideology of Hindutva believes in exclusion and is antithetical to the values of our Constitution. Modi could have gone to Nagpur to praise RSS as a Swayamsevak, why did he have to do it from the Red Fort as the Prime Minister?”
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) general secretary M.A. Baby said that Modi had “dishonoured the memory of our martyrs and the spirit of our freedom movement” by glorifying an organization with a history of communal violence.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha said that the Independence Day speech was not an occasion for the politics of “dog-whistling and distorting history”.
