'Can't Ban RSS Without Valid Reason, Society Has Accepted The Sangh': Dattatreya Hosabale Hits Back At Kharge's Demand

New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Saturday responded to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's call for banning the Hindu nationalist organisation.

Hosabale said Kharge is asking for the ban of an organisation that works for the security, development, culture, and unity of the country, without citing any valid reason.

"There must be a valid reason for a ban; it cannot be done just because someone wishes so," he stated, adding that society has accepted the Sangh.

Further, he noted that earlier, a Congress leader had tried to impose a ban on the RSS thrice, but the court and the public both gave their verdict against it. Hosabale stated that Kharge should learn from history.

He made the remarks at a press conference called by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. 

His statement comes following Kharge's call for a ban, saying, “If PM respects the views presented by Vallabhbhai Patel, this should be done. All the wrongs in the country and all law and order issues here are due to BJP and RSS.” He noted that the Modi government, in 2024, lifted the ban that restricted the association of government employees with political organisations like the RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami. 

“Sardar Patel also said that one should not work for the RSS while in government service,” Kharge added.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, RSS has completed 100 years of its existence. 

The organisation has been banned three times since its foundation. It was banned for the first time in 1948 after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The ban was lifted a year later, with the condition that the RSS would not mingle in electoral politics. 

The second ban was imposed in 1975 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency across the country.

The third strike came in 1992 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. 

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