Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech this year took a controversial turn when he hailed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as the “World’s Biggest NGO”. What was perhaps meant as a homage instead sparked a political uproar with opposition parties claiming that the prime minister was whitewashing the controversial background of the organisation and eroding the secular, constitutional fabric of India.
At the centre of the criticism lies the contradiction between the definition of the NGOs and the functioning of the RSS. Congress leaders have pointed out that basic legal requirements for NGOs, such as a valid registration certificate and transparent bank accounts, do not apply to the RSS. For many, the prime minister’s praise is less about fact and more about glorifying an ideological partner that has long sought to reshape India into a Hindu Rashtra under the banner of “Ram Rajya”.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera went further, calling the historical record of the RSS deeply problematic. Moreover, the organisation’s refusal to honour the Tricolour and the Constitution, he said, revealed its disregard for the very symbols of Indian nationhood. Over the decades, the RSS has been accused of playing divisive politics over temples and mosques, while more recently undermining the rights of Dalits and marginalised groups. In this light, Khera declared, the RSS is less a service organisation and more a “suspicious organization” that has harmed India’s democratic trajectory.
Other voices from the opposition have echoed this anger. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called Modi’s remarks an “insult” to the freedom struggle, reminding the public that the RSS had historically opposed both the independence movement and the Constitution. To him, the very effort to compare figures such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar to Mahatma Gandhi is no service to history but an insult to history itself. Gandhi was a figure of non-violence, inclusiveness and sacrifice; Savarkar had an ideology of divisive nationalism that marginalised a significant portion of the Indian population.
Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas pointed out that the Modi government had decided to put the portrait of Savarkar above those of Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh in the open advertisement. This symbolism, he wrote, was not incidental; it was the working of a plan to recast the national narrative by marginalising the values of secularism and promoting an ideology based on exclusion.
Supporters of the RSS argue that it has contributed to social service, disaster relief and community mobilisation. Yet the organisation’s service cannot be separated from the ideological framework it pushes – a framework that envisions India not as a secular democracy but as a Hindu nation. Calling it an NGO not only overlooks the legal and institutional standards that define civil society groups but also normalises an agenda that fundamentally clashes with India’s pluralistic identity.
The opposition’s outrage, therefore, is not merely political posturing; it is a defence of India’s constitutional values. Independence Day is a time to embrace diversity and unity, a time to recognise those who struggled to build an inclusive nation, and time to renew our commitment to democracy. To use that platform to glorify an organisation with a checkered past and a divisive vision is to distort the very essence of what the day stands for.
India stands at a crossroads where history is being rewritten, not in books but in public memory. To label the RSS as the “World’s Biggest NGO” is not just inaccurate, it is a dangerous attempt to confuse the distinction between service and sectarianism. If India is to remain true to its founding ideals, it must resist such efforts and reaffirm the principles of secularism, equality and justice which form the bedrock of its Constitution.
