Pracharak Narendra Sehgal says contribution by the RSS is largely unknown because its members didn’t write autobiographies from jail.

New Delhi: In the backdrop of allegations that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) had no presence in the freedom struggle movement, the organisation has claimed that their contribution was much bigger than Congress.

According to RSS, this has not been highlighted so far because the Sangh did not participate in any activity using the organisation’s name, but felt the time now is favourable to talk about it.

After Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the RSS in 2016 of not participating in the freedom struggle, there have been accusations from all corners that there is no record of the Sangh having any role in the movement.

“Just one politician and one party took the entire credit for the freedom struggle. This is the biggest misfortune of our country,” said Narendra Sehgal, a Sangh pracharak who has written a book on the contribution by the RSS in India’s freedom struggle.

“The fact is there is not even a single Congress leader who was given a death sentence or was tortured inside the jail or gave his life for the country during the freedom struggle. Except Lala Lajpat Rai who sacrificed his life during a movement, Congress cannot name any other leader,” he said.

Authored by Sehgal, the book — Yugpravartak Swatantrata Senani Dr. Hedgewar ka antim lakshya – Bharat varsh ki sarvang swantantrata — on the life of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar talks about the contribution of the RSS in the freedom struggle. Hedgewar, also known as Dr. Hedgewar, founded RSS in 1925.

Sehgal claimed that most Congress leaders went to jail only to write their autobiographies unlike the RSS leaders.

“What worked against us all these years is that we never wrote our autobiographies like the way Congress leaders did, which is why people do not know about our contribution in freedom struggle,” he added.

“In the last few days, people have been blaming us a lot, saying we never participated in freedom struggle. The reason that one would not find mention of RSS anywhere is because it was Dr. Hedgewar’s philosophy to not use the name of the Sangh for any activity.”

The RSS, Sehgal said, had taken part in all kinds of movements. “Much before the establishment of the Congress party, there were many movements in which Sangh workers participated. In fact, Azad Hind Fauj also had a large number of Swayamsewaks.”

Sehgal claimed that this ‘unknown’ part of history has not come to light so far because people have not written about it, but now things are being written and also heard.

The book talks about Hedgewar’s contribution in the non-cooperation movement in which he took part along with other 13,000 swayamsewaks and went all over the country.

“No movement led by Mahatma Gandhi saw a participation of 13,000 people, the numbers that Hedgewar could gather. This is the kind of contribution that we had,” Sehgal claimed.

In the backdrop of the latest controversy on an invitation to Pranab Mukherjee for its event in Nagpur, the RSS said former President of India was invited because he is a learned and intelligent man who has contributed to the nation’s growth.

Mukherjee has been invited to be the chief guest at the valedictory function of the Sangh Shiksha Varg — a training camp for RSS volunteers — at its headquarters in Nagpur.

On P. Chidarambaram’s statement that he would not have gone to an RSS event had he been invited, Sehgal said that someone like Chidambaram, whose family faces corruption allegations, would not be invited.

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