I am generally very critical of RSS but I agree that people who join it do so because of positive reasons – there can be no doubt that RSS is a genuinely nationalist organization.

Patriotism, being a rational form of nationalism, is an essential requirement for any nation to succeed. But we must ensure that individual rights are advanced, not crushed in this process. For example, the idea that Muslims of India are second class citizens is simply unacceptable.

Further, one can also agree that RSS provides charitable relief during calamities. It is such work that has enabled it to generate goodwill and attract new members.

Despite my many differences with RSS, I engaged with a number of its leaders (not their senior-most ones) in 2013 at a reform summit that I had organized at Ramdev’s Patanjali headquarters, and also later met a few more of them in Delhi.

A digression to explain my engagement with Ramdev would be helpful at this stage. Ramdev heard about my 2008 book and political work and contacted me over the phone in late 2012. He wanted me to come and stay with him in Patanjali to discuss a new political party for the 2014 elections. During the many weeks I stayed at Patanjali, we agreed to form a party that would contest 100 Lok Sabha seats, to be launched on 4 June 2013. We had extensive discussions about strategy and he included my key points about liberal reforms in a Hindi pamphlet that he distributed to around 1 lakh villages.

At the four-day reform summit that he then funded (and which I organized) in Patanjali in April 2013, around a hundred followers of Ramdev from across the country participated, including from RSS.

Our party’s manifesto was discussed at great length – although it was then known as the Sone Ki Chidiya reform agenda. Everyone guessed that a new party was being considered although few were privy to the details.

Ramdev chickened out in the end because of great pressure from BJP but gave me the go-ahead in end-May to form the party. And so the Swarna Bharat Party was created on 1 June 2013 – but without any of his support. Later I developed serious concerns about Ramdev’s personal integrity and have not engaged with him since then.

In the meanwhile, a lot has changed. RSS had supported Modi because they wanted to get rid of Congress and give Modi a chance. But I understand from reliable sources that many RSS leaders and followers are deeply disappointed with his performance. And while they have supported him in 2019 as well, that is only because they see no other alternative.

The RSS needs to understand that BJP simply can’t deliver, for it just doesn’t have the necessary knowledge. If RSS is serious about creating a Sone Ki Chidiya, a great India, it has to dramatically modernize its ideas. It should have the goal of excellence and shift its energy from the glorification of India’s past to helping the country achieve a great future.

Critical thinking holds the key to India’s success, not Hindu-centric collectivism and populism. What use is a Hindu India if it remains the backwater of the world and if our best brains leave? What use is it being a “swayam sewak” when all around is poverty, ignorance and rubbish littering the streets?

Nation building cannot be based on religion. Many people leave religion once they realize that it violates evidence and reason. There is a strong likelihood that the children of RSS members, or at least their grandchildren, will abandon religion. Since religion is constantly in flux, a great nation needs stronger roots.

I believe that a successful nation is best founded on the idea of a common cultural heritage (including food, language, song and dance) and a quest for freedom.

The USA is much more nationalistic than India but not on the basis of religion. Americans participate with gusto in the 4 July celebrations and proudly sing their national anthem but this sense of nationalism is based on the knowledge that America is the most free nation in the world. The Statue of Liberty is the real symbol of the USA, not any religion.

In 1776, India comprised hundreds of kingdoms (most of them independent) with a total population of around 20 crores.

In comparison, the newly formed USA was tiny, with only 25 lakh people. Despite India having many more independent countries and more people, we performed badly in comparison with the USA over the next 250 years. That is mainly because the USA had one major advantage over India – it had a constitution that defended freedom and supported the flood of innovation and economic activity which led to its great success. The USA has also, as a result, managed to attract 25 lakh of our brightest people to its shores.

Surely this says a lot about the Hindutva model that RSS is trying to promote. Hindutva is not a reliable and sustainable basis for fostering a great nation. Instead, those who know nothing about science are being generated and making a fool of themselves on the world stage with comments about Ganesha’s plastic surgery.

RSS was influenced by the founding ideology of Hitler, which was a form of socialism. This ideology has long been discredited and discarded, including by China. Since Hitler’s time, the world has changed and the outcomes are clear: capitalism works and socialism doesn’t.

The model of freedom must, therefore, underpin India’s future. That would also be more consistent with India’s own heritage. India was a great melting pot in the past and generated some of the most innovative ideas. Moreover, Arthashastra by Kautilya is consistent with many of the latest findings of economics.

It should not matter to RSS what religion people believe in, so long as all violence is punished and justice is ensured for everyone. This also means a strong defense of property rights. The RSS has supported the encroachment and demolition of private property in Babri Masjid. That is not the direction that will lead India to greatness.

Our party wants India to be a Sone Ki Chidiya, far superior to Singapore and the USA in every way. This vision could also be called Ram Rajya – a land in which justice prevails.

But achieving this will require a very strong understanding of economics and principles of good governance. I request that RSS carefully consider and adopt SBP’s manifesto. Only then can RSS help India become a great nation.