The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Wednesday hit back at critics on social media for questioning why the Sangh has not put the tricolour as the profile picture of its social media accounts.
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that forcibly seizing someone's faith and trampling over their beliefs is "unacceptable," especially "when we know the truth about Sambhal" which predates Islam, with the Vishnu temple there being destroyed in 1526. He said that Sambhal has been mentioned in scriptures that are 5,000 years old, which contain references to Lord Vishnu's future incarnation. He also mentioned that a temple of Lord Vishnu in Sambhal was demolished in 1526, and two years later, in 1528, the Ram temple in Ayodhya was destroyed, both acts carried out by the same person.
The five-day event, to appraise and train RSS volunteers on how to propagate nationalism and promote Swadeshi along with other such issues among the masses, is held every fifth year in different cities and states of the country.
Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan, before whom the batch of petitions came up for hearing on Monday, directed the state home secretary and the director general of police to file their counter and posted the matter for further hearing on September 22.
'The core group from Pune, which bought arms, trained people, carried out intelligence gathering and participated in all the stages of the battle, consisted of RSS volunteers.' 'The Pune group raised resources with the help of three stalwarts from the film industry.' 'The stalwarts were Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and C Ramchandra.'
A simulated security scare situation was created wherein four "terrorists" entered the RSS building, the official said late night.
'Though the RSS honours Sardar Patel, who actually banned it, the real hero in the story of its rise is Jayaprakash Narayan,' says Vir Sanghvi.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with the ruling NDA defending it as beneficial for minorities while the opposition called it "anti-Muslim". All amendments moved by the opposition were rejected and the bill was passed with 288 votes in favor and 232 against. Union Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that India is the safest place in the world for minorities, refuting claims of their insecurity.
'They just showed riots created by some political party. They never mentioned the name of the place or the political party.' 'I don't know why these people are agitated.'
Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, all former BJP presidents, besides RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar met at the residence of incumbent party chief JP Nadda.
Frank Duckworth, the pioneering statistician who co-created the Duckworth Lewis method adopted in cricket to revise targets in limited overs games truncated due to rain, died last week.
Vaidya, who had recovered from coronavirus infection, died at a private hospital in Nagpur, his grandson Vishnu Vaidya said. The last rites will be held on Sunday.
He emphasised the need to get over with election rhetoric and focus on problems facing the nation.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) defied an advisory from the university administration and screened a banned BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The screening, organized by the Left-backed All India Students' Federation (AISF), was initially planned to be displayed on a projector but was moved to a laptop after security personnel allegedly damaged the projector. The university had warned of disciplinary measures for violating the advisory, which stated that the documentary could "disrupt communal harmony" on campus. The AISF and the JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) condemned the advisory, calling it an attack on students' fundamental rights and alleging that the administration was attempting to stifle dissent and curb freedom of expression.
Rahul Gandhi made the statement on January 15, 2025, during the inauguration of the Congress Party's new headquarters at Kotla Road in Delhi.
The assembly also saw the passage of four bills amidst the din, and Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri taking strong exception to Congress members "unnecessarily" bringing in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's name during their protest in the well of the House.
He also said if Hindus want to remain Hindus then Bharat has to be made 'akhand' (undivided).
The Congress on Tuesday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of harboring "hatred" towards B.R. Ambedkar, demanding an apology from him for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha. Congress leaders pointed out that Shah's comments, which criticized the frequent invocation of Ambedkar's name by the opposition, demonstrate a deep-seated animosity towards the architect of India's Constitution. The allegations sparked outrage among Congress members, who accused the BJP and RSS of having a history of disdain for Ambedkar. The incident has fueled political tensions, with the Congress vowing to hold Shah accountable for his remarks.
Since the nation is now paying the price of such behaviour in terms of the long queues at the crematoriums and graveyards, the anxiety of the RSS is natural, especially if the BJP's main support base of the middle class turns away from it, observes Amulya Ganguli.
The BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has sparked speculation over who will lead the next government. Several prominent leaders, including Pravesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pawan Sharma, Vijender Gupta, and Satish Upadhyay, are in the running for the chief minister's post. The party's national leadership is expected to make the final decision, leaving the contenders in a state of anticipation.
In the meeting, which has come at a time when the Gyanvapi mosque issue is being heard in courts, it was decided to build a platform for strengthening communal harmony in the country.
He also said 'Akhand Bharat' was true but divided Bharat was a "nightmare".
Owaisi criticized the court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, saying it weakens India and distracts from real issues like inflation and unemployment.
Patna's senior superintendent of police Manavjeet Singh Dhillon, who is in the eye of a storm for allegedly comparing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with Islamic extremist outfit Popular Front of India, on Friday asserted that the controversy stemmed from a "selective interpretation" of his statement.
'The BJP has killed public anger. They have killed people's self-respect.'
The RSS has decided that this year the festive occasion will only be addressed by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and not by chief guests.
Social media giant Twitter on Saturday removed the blue verification tick from the accounts of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and other senior functionaries only to restore it after a lot of hue and cry by Sangh sympathisers on social media.
Bhagwat has been admitted to the COVID-19 ward of the facility and he is stable, hospital sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, accusing them of "speaking the language of urban naxals" and being "AAP-da" for the youth. He also took a swipe at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying those who entertain themselves by getting photo sessions done in huts of the poor will find the talk about the poor in Parliament boring. Modi also hailed his government's decisions in the Budget and said that the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which his government started for the poor, has been stalled by some states, leaving poor people in hardship.
'We need to instill pride in Hindu girls and boys for ourselves, our religion and respect towards our tradition of worship'
The high court's 111-page order came on the appeals moved by the 26 accused against the special court's orders denying them bail.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.
'In its history, the RSS has never seen success as it is seeing now. And it wants to extend their base.'
The Sangh chief said, "Even Veer Savarkar had said if the Hindu community gets united and organised, it will speak about the Bhagwad Gita and not about finishing or harming anyone."
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
The Centre should open all its diplomatic channels with Bangladesh to communicate the global Hindu concern and ask the government there to stop attacks on Hindus and Buddhists, the outfit urged.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
To me he always symbolised the sincere, confident, face of a Bharat whose rise is unstoppable. Ratan Tata was a Rishi who was unquestioningly trusted by people who never saw him and never met him, asserts Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
