India at a crossroads - 100 years of the Hindu nationalist RSS movement | DW Documentary

Whoever challenges us will be reduced to dust.

A morning ritual marked by discipline, and faith.

This is a shakha, a local assembly.

Here,

youngsters are drilled before they learn to question.

The physical training camp is known as the land of penance.

They say the more you discipline yourself here,

the more you achieve later.

At the Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — or RSS —

the young girls train in self-defense,

ready for when the nation needs to fight “the enemy.”

I never learned as much from school as I learned from the RSS women’s wing.

My personality developed there.

Muskan Bansal was introduced to RSS training camps by her grandfather

when she was just seven years old.

The first time, my family forced me to go.

But by the second time, I started loving it.

Mathura is Muskan’s hometown.

The city in northern India is known as the birthplace of Lord Krishna

and holds immense significance for Hindus.

Here, devotion runs deep — to the deity, and increasingly,

to the ideology of Hindutva:

Hindutva is the right-wing vision of India as a Hindu nation.

For Vijay Bahadur Singh, raised in the RSS, it’s more than an ideology —

it’s a shared identity.

There is power in unity.

When you unite, no one can hurt you.

Power in unity — but for whom?

Loyalty here means devotion —

not just to India, but to Hinduism.

Those outside the Hindu fold aren’t just excluded,

they’re often viewed with suspicion.

For most RSS followers, the perceived threat isn’t distant — it’s next door.

Muslims are the first to be considered.

Anyone who wants to create unrest in the country is seen as an enemy

of the nation.

Across India, hate speech and violence against religious minorities —

especially Muslims — has intensified in recent years.

Even in Delhi, interfaith couples live in fear —

targeted simply for loving across a religious divide:

When a Muslim converts to Hinduism, it's called “homecoming,”

but when a Hindu converts to Islam, it’s called “love jihad.”

This couple fled their hometown in Uttar Pradesh,

hoping for safety in India’s capital.

Dhanak, an NGO for interfaith couples,

explained their rights to them under the Special Marriage Act,

a law that allows love across religions without conversion.

But the safety they sought has not materialized.

We came to Delhi hoping for protection, thinking we could file our case.

But the exact opposite happened.

While some couples hide in fear...

others celebrate their faith —

and their place in a society that increasingly rewards religious loyalty.

In Mathura, Muskan’s family gathers for Raksha Bandhan —

a festival honoring the protective bond between siblings.

For Muskan’s family, the RSS — or Sangh — is more than an organization.

It’s a guiding force, passed down through generations.

Muskan’s grandfather, Om Prakash, joined the Sangh in the 1950s.

For decades, he led local shakhas, or assemblies.

Running the Sangh's assemblies alone will not work.

The purpose of a shakha is to build individuals.

But what will we do with the individuals?

We will send them wherever society needs them most.

We are in that very line of work —

bringing people together and steadily instilling in them our spirit

of nationalism.

Every day across India, volunteers gather — disciplined and devoted.

The RSS says it currently runs over 80,000 branches,

with millions of followers across India and in many other countries too.

A movement that presents itself as a guardian of Hindu values.

The RSS claims to be the world’s largest volunteer organization.

Founded in 1925 as a Hindu nationalist movement,

it promotes a socio-cultural identity —

but is often classified as a paramilitary force.

The head of the RSS is Mohan Bhagwat.

His words carry weight, shaping how millions see India, Hinduism,

and their sense of belonging.

At a centenary celebration in October 2024, he made his position clear.

We don’t need to declare India a Hindu nation – it simply is.

Saints have declared it.

No official proclamation is required.

It is the truth.

To accept it is to gain, to reject it is to lose.

See for yourself.

The belief that India belongs first and foremost to Hindus lies at the heart

of the RSS worldview.

The Sangh works in so many different dimensions.

People can't even imagine.

For the sake of society, and to take this nation to the highest level,

the Sangh will do whatever is necessary.

Today, that vision shapes national politics.

The RSS is closely tied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party,

the BJP, in power for over a decade.

On Independence Day 2025, Modi praised the RSS from the Red Fort —

the symbolic heart of Indian democracy.

I salute all the swayamsevaks who have contributed to this

century-long journey of national service.

The nation takes pride in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s grand

and dedicated journey, one that will continue to inspire us.

People are placed in crucial positions within the government structures.

In order to suggest, to guide, to control,

to let it be known what is the RSS’ wish.

You see, it's also very interesting,

given the power of the RSS and the understanding that they are like the

spinal cord, you know.

For many devout Hindus,

Modi’s 2014 election victory marked the rise of a leader shaped by the

discipline and worldview of the RSS.

He began his political career as a full-time organizer within the

movement.

Narendra Modi is from the RSS himself.

His ideology, his way of thinking, has been shaped since childhood.

There, he learned how to move our country forward,

and how to build society.

The core of the RSS ideology, at its very core,

there is an anti-Muslim bias.

There is an anti-minority bias — Christians are brought in, too.

But when you reduce it to its hard core,

there is a very strong anti-Muslim bias.

If you take it away, nothing is left of the RSS ideology, actually.

The thinking that now shapes policy, public discourse,

and daily life in India was once on the margins.

To understand the present, it helps to look to the past —

to India’s fight for independence from Britain...

...led by Mahatma Gandhi.

He envisioned a secular republic built on non-violence and pluralism.

But independence came with Partition — and the birth of Pakistan.

India was split in two.

Divided not just by borders, but by beliefs.

The rushed division triggered one of history’s largest mass migrations.

Communal violence left deep scars.

Religion became a fault line.

The time of the Partition was truly terrifying.

The next two or three years were years of unrest.

And people felt that if anyone could protect them, it was the Sangh.

Essentially, what we have in the situation immediately following

independence, now, is that there are two distinct visions of India.

One is the predominant majority vision,

which is advanced by the freedom struggle, symbolized by Gandhi, Nehru,

the Congress, which is a clear-cut vision of a secular, democratic,

socially just, pro-poor India.

And the other is the one which is espoused by the Hindu Mahasabha, RSS,

and such forces, which is, they want a mirror image of Pakistan.

If Pakistan is going to be a Muslim state, well then India obviously,

logically must be a Hindu state.

As time passed, the ideological divide grew deeper.

This whole embedded ideology of anti-Muslim bias and hatred and all,

comes out in the form of an attack on the Congress and Gandhi.

Who is the progenitor of Partition?

The British.

Not a word against the British.

The entire thing is turned on the Congress.

And this is Gandhi, he’s compromising with Muslims.

They are pro-Muslim.

Gandhi’s inclusive and non-violent ideals clashed with rising religious

nationalism — a clash that, to some, had to be silenced.

Mahatma Gandhi was overly committed to nonviolence.

And that is okay.

But he had one shortcoming, he would never oppose the wrongs committed

by Muslims.

And yet to Hindus, he would say, “If someone slaps you on one cheek,

offer the other as well.”

Believing that Gandhi had betrayed Hindus, appeased Muslims,

and weakened the nation Nathuram Godse —

a Hindu Mahasabha activist and former RSS member — assassinated him in 1948.

The killing shocked the world.

Amid the cries of a nation overwhelmed with grief...

Gandhi’s killer was sentenced to death and hanged in 1949.

The finger of blame quickly turned to the RSS.

Though no charges were brought, the organization was banned —

accused of spreading hate and fueling violence.

1948 to 1950 was a time of suppression and annihilation for the RSS.

Om Prakash recalls how different things were back when he first considered joining

the RSS.

He says others dissuaded — and even shamed — him.

To this day, no one questions whether Godse actually had links to the RSS.

But those in power can make any accusation.

They suddenly found an opportunity to crush the RSS.

Then came the countless arrests and acts of persecution.

Members insist the RSS had no role in the assassination.

But the repression helped to forge a radical and resilient movement.

In Meerut, near the Indian capital,

a temple built in 2015 by a hardline nationalist now glorifies Gandhi’s

killer.

Nathuram Godse is a patriot, our idol, and role model.

That is still a very small minority opinion.

I do not at all give it greater weight than that.

But it is dangerous, because it now shows the confidence.

We are out in the open.

What was once a fringe belief is no longer taboo.

When we openly started honoring the name of Nathuram Godse,

the police sent us to jail and beat us up.

And the general public insulted us.

Gandhi was a very foolish man who caused the Partition of this country.

Millions of people died.

Today, our biggest enemy is Islam.

So, Hindus need to be armed.

They need to be armed!

Sentiments like these cause huge problems for some members of society.

In India, interfaith relationships can provoke not just social hostility,

but state violence.

Couples are monitored, harassed, and sometimes even brutalized.

When I stepped outside,

they shoved me into a car and took me to the Govindpuri police station.

The driver cursed me the whole way,

saying things like “You want to run off with girls,

why not from your own family?”

Muslims do this, he said.

Then he said, “Strip him here and make him run on foot.”

I was so terrified.

It was the first time anything like this had happened to me.

In that moment, it was just...

Humiliated — for loving a Hindu woman.

While he was abused by the police,

authorities were trying to convince his Hindu partner to leave him.

I was mentally tortured.

I was pressured not to continue this relationship.

They said many things about Muslims.

They tried their best to brainwash me and send me back home.

When they refused to give in, her father filed a petition —

claiming she wasn’t capable of making her own decisions.

The couple turned to the Delhi High Court, seeking protection.

And the right to stay together.

In Muskan’s home, warnings about “love jihad” were very normal growing up.

The claim is that Muslim men seduce Hindu women to convert them to Islam.

I have heard many Muslims say, “It’s fine,

in a few years we will make this a Muslim country.”

So, we have to remain vigilant.

But today, Hindutva is growing so powerful that they should be afraid.

So, either you embrace our roots and culture or leave here.

You can’t live here otherwise.

You couldn’t survive here.

What does Hindustan mean?

Say it!

The land of Hindus: Hindustan.

When did the Muslims arrive?

Before that, who was here?

It was Hindus, wasn’t it?

This rhetoric reflects an exclusive vision of “nation.”

A century ago, European nationalists rallied around authoritarian

ideas of identity.

Mussolini’s Italy led the way with fascism –

currents that resonated with some of the

early Hindu nationalist thinkers and movements in India.

In 1925, K.B.

Hedgewar founded the RSS,

convinced that India’s subjugation began not with the British,

but centuries earlier under Muslim rule —

symbolized by the Mughal Empire and the Babri Mosque.

Hedgewar’s mission was to unify Hindus and reclaim India as both the holy land

and motherland.

The word “secular” is so misleading.

There’s only one true religion.

A vision that excluded Muslims, Christians, and other faiths.

It was inspired by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,

who first developed the concept of “Hindutva.”

The other person who's played a crucial role is

Moonje,

who we recognize as a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha.

He makes a visit to Italy, coming back from the Roundtable Conference of 1931,

where he goes and meets Mussolini.

And then he goes and visits the youth and children’s organizations to see how

they’re organizing.

And then he comes back and very consciously,

puts those ideas into practice, that this is how we need to organize.

It wasn’t just Mussolini.

The RSS top brass also looked to Adolf Hitler — the German dictator — f

or inspiration.

The most precious possession you have in this world is your own people.

And for this people, and for the sake of this people,

we will contend and we will fight.

Hitler’s ideas were praised in the writings of M. S. Golwalkar,

the second chief of the RSS.

He says: “German race pride has now become the topic of the day.

A good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by.”

He is actually approving and recommending that we do in India to the

Muslims what Germany has done to the Jews.

It’s amazing.

Hindus can never be like that.

But one thing holds true, you need to fight fire with fire.

That is what our principles teach us.

It’s not clear whether Golwalkar actually condoned the Holocaust —

his writings came before its full horror was revealed.

But his ideas still shape the RSS.

Today, the message travels even faster:

Social media has amplified Hindutva’s reach,

connecting young voices across India.

Today’s youth are strong.

Everyone wants to do something There is a desire to do something.

And I believe that if they are on the right path,

they can build the future of India.

That desire to “build India” — grounded in Hindutva nationalism —

would determine the path taken by Vijay Bahadur Singh.

Raised by the RSS worldview, he became deeply involved in Hindu activism

and joined a campaign in the early 1990s that

reshaped India’s political landscape: the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

At the heart of the movement was Ayodhya,

a small town in northern India.

It was home to the 16th-century Babri Mosque, built during the Mughal era.

The mosque needed to be removed.

This is Lord Ram’s place.

And this stain had to be removed, no matter what.

For Hindu nationalists,

the Babri Mosque became a symbol of historical grievance.

Reclaiming the land for a Ram temple became a matter of faith,

and national pride.

The core demand was now a religious demand.

A religious demand with a clear-cut communal angle.

You were not just saying, “We want to build a grand temple to Ram”

in Ayodhya or somewhere else.

You chose something where it was a direct conflict with Muslims.

It sparked fierce debate — not just about religion,

but about India’s secular foundations and national identity.

Campaigners rallied support for the Ram temple.

In 1990, BJP leader L. K. Advani traveled across India promoting

the message.

Backed by the RSS and other Hindu nationalist groups,

they mobilized over 100,000 supporters.

The organization felt more and more Ram lovers should reach Ayodhya

and show their devotion.

While Hindu hardline footsoldiers like him drummed up religious passions,

the BJP had turned it into a mass political movement.

That set the stage for the fateful day of December 6th, 1992.

The turning point came when

L. K. Advani,

who was a senior RSS and BJP leader, later became Deputy Prime Minister,

he jumped into the fray, and he organized a march.

Speeches would be given by people on the way,

and a lot of mobilization was done.

And in fact, Mr. Modi himself was involved in the organization

of the Rath Yatra.

The government deployed police officers across Ayodhya,

but they were outnumbered by hundreds of thousands of protesters

who had descended on the town.

All the borders were sealed.

Anyone wearing Hindu symbols like a Tilak, a Mala, or a Kanthi,

was arrested by the police.

We jumped over the barricades.

And did whatever we could.

By sunset, all three domes of the mosque were demolished.

They were torn down.

The demolition unleashed a wave of communal violence across India,

claiming over 2,000 lives — most of them Muslim.

But the deeper impact was ideological.

It normalized religious polarization —

and laid the groundwork for future unrest.

In 2002, even more brutal riots broke out in Gujarat —

the western state led by Narendra Modi.

The violence went largely unpunished.

And the pressure to conform to a Hindu identity grew far beyond politics.

When I was at school, people would say,

“You were converted during the Mughal era, your forefathers were all Hindus.

So, why don’t you just live as a Hindu?

Why live like this?”

But in our view, it wasn’t a choice made by us or our parents.

Their relationship isn’t rooted in faith, but in love —

and in the belief that the rule of law will prevail.

If we made up our minds, if we decided to do this,

I don’t believe anyone should stop us.

So long as we act within the law,

and the law does grant us this power.

It is written in our law, so no one should hold us back.

Our greatest hope lies in the Constitution —

that we have the right to be together, even today, in a secular country.”

But that hope stands in stark contrast to reality:

religious identity continues to shape public life,

affecting how communities interact with each other, and the state.

Along with top BJP leaders,

Vijay Bahadur Singh was accused but acquitted of conspiring to demolish

the Babri Mosque.

Once imprisoned for their ideological beliefs,

Hindu nationalists now find themselves aligned with the political mainstream.

The RSS holds a central place in Indian politics.

That influence was on full display when India’s Prime Minister inaugurated

the Ram temple in Ayodhya —

on the very ground where the Babri Mosque once stood.

This is the beginning of a new era in India.

By consecrating Lord Ram’s statue,

Narendra Modi fulfilled one of the most significant political promises

of his 2014 election campaign —

building a grand temple on the site of the former Muslim mosque.

Ram is the faith of India.

Ram is the foundation of India.

Ram is the idea of India.

Ram is the law of India.

I think Narendra Modi has a big vision of a Hindu nation.

Our roots run very deep.

He has built the Ram Temple.

He has taken such a big step.

I see the building of the temple as a symbol of what the Hindutva forces want

India to be.

“We have finally asserted our national identity.”

What is that national identity?

Hinduism.

Ram.

The temple.

Today, the situation of the country has improved so much.

Even our great leaders and astrologers say that the 21st century

is India’s century.

As the flames rise in celebration, a century-old vision stands fulfilled —

and the future of India remains contested.