RSS’s 100-year journey example of sacrifice, nation-building, discipline: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a special postage stamp and coin to commemorate 100 years of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the 100-year journey of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ideological fount, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as an extraordinary example of sacrifice, selfless service, nation-building, and discipline, as he released a special postage stamp and coin to commemorate the centenary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the RSS centenary celebrations. (PTI)

“Since its founding, RSS has focused on nation-building,” said Modi. He added that RSS works in different sections of society, but there are never contradictions among them, as they work on the principle of the nation first. “RSS believes in ‘One India, Great India’, and yet post-Independence, attempts were made to prevent it from joining the national mainstream,” said Modi as celebrations of the RSS’s 100th anniversary kicked off on Wednesday.

Modi, a former full-time RSS volunteer, said unity in diversity has always been the soul of India, and if this principle is broken, then India will weaken.

In his Independence Day address on August 15, Modi described the RSS as the “largest NGO in the world” and praised the organisation for its selfless devotion to “nation building”, saying its “service to the nation constitutes a proud and golden chapter”. The praise was perceived as a statement scotching speculation of unease between the BJP and RSS.