The Shadow State: Why RSS Matters Beyond India, It’s a Threat to the World

India’s image as the “world’s largest democracy” hides a dangerous reality. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the true power behind the ruling party, has captured the state. This is not a simple cultural group but an ideological command centre. Its exclusionary agenda is a clear danger to minorities, regional peace, and global stability. Ignoring the RSS means misunderstanding modern India.

The True Power Behind the Throne

The main mistake in analyzing India is seeing the BJP as the main actor. The BJP is just the political front for the older, more powerful RSS. The RSS is the true source of Hindu nationalism, shaping policy and street action, with its influence now spreading worldwide.

🔵 Western Misunderstanding: Foreign media fails to grasp the RSS’s true nature, calling it a “volunteer group.” These descriptions are dangerously shallow and miss the deep, controlling, and anti-democratic core of the organisation.

🔵 The Real Command Centre: The RSS’s power is not in votes but in its total control over India’s institutions. It is the command centre for the Hindu nationalist project, making its real power far greater than its membership numbers show.

A Parallel State Running India

The RSS operates a massive network called the ‘Sangh Parivar’. This network includes over fifty groups working to control every part of Indian life, from politics to education. This structure has created a parallel government or a shadow state.

🔵 The Political Arm: The most famous branch is the BJP, which has ruled since 2014. The BJP has turned the RSS’s extreme plans into official state policy, fundamentally changing the Indian nation.

🔵 The Enforcement Wings: Alongside the politicians are violent groups like the VHP and Bajrang Dal. This allows the RSS to control India using both formal government power and the brutal power of mob violence.

A Culture of Control and Deep Teaching

The RSS’s strength comes from its millions of highly disciplined and trained members. It has over five million male members and a separate women’s wing pushing the same intolerant ideas. This loyal base is created through a lifetime of ideological training.

🔵 The Making of a Member: The main training tool is the ‘shakha’ or daily meeting. Here, members get physical training and ideological lessons that install an anti-minority worldview from a young age.

🔵 The Army Style Headquarters: The RSS’s military nature is clear at its Nagpur base. Thousands of members march in uniform in army-style drills. The headquarters itself, guarded by high fences and armed guards, looks more like a military fort than a cultural centre.

A Dark History of Fascist Influence

The RSS’s ideas are not originally Indian. They were copied from 1920s and 30s European fascism. The RSS founders openly admired Mussolini’s regime in Italy and built their organisation on the same model.

🔵 Admiration for Mussolini: The RSS founders’ goal was to create a disciplined nation based on one race. This fascist origin is still at the heart of the RSS today, driving its mission to create a “pure” Hindu nation by shutting out all others.

🔵 Gandhi’s Assassin and Nehru’s Warning: India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, saw this danger and compared the RSS to the Nazi army. This violent ideology led directly to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by an RSS-trained man. The group was later banned for “acts of violence… and murder.”

Prime Minister Modi: The RSS’s Perfect Product

It is impossible to understand Prime Minister Modi without knowing he is a lifelong creation of the RSS. His entire political identity was formed within the RSS, which he joined at age eight.

🔵 A Life of Dedication: Mr. Modi’s loyalty is to the RSS, not the Indian constitution. He once said on a podcast, “RSS provides you with a clear direction toward what can truly be called a purpose in life.”

🔵 The RSS Agent in Charge: Mr. Modi’s career is an RSS project. He was promoted through its ranks to carry out its agenda. His long rule is the final victory for the RSS: the replacement of India’s secular democracy with its controlling, Hindu-nationalist vision.

The Ideology of Erasing India’s Minorities

The RSS’s main goal is to rewrite India’s identity as a nation for Hindus only. This is a violent project to erase India’s diversity and treat minorities as second-class citizens or enemies.

🔵 The ‘Hindu-Only’ Nation: The RSS chief has stated, “There is no non-Hindu Indian.” This is an open threat to India’s 172 million Muslims, who are now treated as outsiders. Christians are seen as foreign agents.

🔵 State Supported Mob Justice: This hateful idea is put into practice by RSS-linked mobs. The lynchings of Muslims, attacks on churches, and demolition of Muslim homes with bulldozers are not random crimes. They are the result of an ideology that uses mob violence as a state tool.

Exporting Hate: The RSS Global Network

The RSS threat is no longer just India’s problem. The organisation has built a powerful global network within the Indian community abroad. This network works to pressure Western governments, promote the Modi government, and silence all criticism.

🔵 Entering Western Institutions: Using front groups, RSS supporters are funding university positions and pressuring politicians. They present a clean, false image of their hateful ideas to gain acceptance and political cover in Western capitals.

🔵 A Worldwide Ideological Project: The export of Hindu nationalism is a serious global problem. The RSS is creating a loyal base outside of India to support the regime, ensuring its power is strengthened from both inside and outside the country.

A Global Threat Hiding in Plain Sight

The world must wake up to the reality of the RSS. It is the largest, oldest, and most politically successful fascist-inspired movement in the world. Its capture of the Indian state is not a temporary change; it is a permanent transformation with disastrous results.

🔵 The World’s Most Successful Fascist Movement: The RSS combines army-style discipline, total state control, a history of violence, and a powerful global network. It has achieved what its 20th-century European models never could: the democratic capture of a major world power.

🔵 A Clear Danger to Peace: This movement’s power threatens minorities in India, makes the South Asian region unstable, and damages democratic values everywhere. Western nations, seeking a strategic partner, are ignoring that the RSS’s core beliefs are completely against democracy. The RSS is not a partner; it is a global threat.