‘Nation first’: PM Modi leads RSS centenary celebrations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attended the centenary celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in New Delhi, marking a landmark moment for one of India’s most influential and wide-reaching socio-cultural organisations. The event, held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre,Delhi, saw the prime minister serve as the chief guest, unveiling a commemorative postage stamp and a special coin dedicated to the RSS’s 100-year journey, a journey he described as “amazing, unprecedented, and deeply inspiring.”

Founded on Vijayadashami in 1925 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, by Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the RSS began as a volunteer-based organisation which set the aims of fostering cultural awareness, discipline, service, and social responsibility among citizens. Over the past century, it has grown into a powerful civil society movement that has shaped India’s social fabric, promoted national consciousness, and produced generations of leaders dedicated to public life.

Recalling a century of purpose and resolve

Reflecting on the historical context in which the RSS was born, Prime Minister Modi said, “One hundred years ago, when the Sangh was founded, the country had been bound in the chains of slavery for centuries. This centuries-long subjugation had wounded our self-respect and self-confidence. The world’s oldest civilization was facing an identity crisis, and our people were falling into an inferiority complex.”

He paid homage to Dr Hedgewar’s foresight in founding the organisation on the auspicious day of Vijayadashami in 1925. “The most revered Hedgewar ji established the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at a time when the nation desperately needed a revival of spirit and purpose,” Modi said. “After his passing, Guruji (M.S. Golwalkar) continued this great mission of national service with unwavering dedication.”

‘Nation first’ above all else

Modi, who began his own public life as an RSS pracharak (full-time volunteer), praised the Sangh’s unwavering dedication to service and discipline. He highlighted how the organisation has consistently risen to the occasion during natural disasters, pandemics, and national crises. “The RSS’s century-long journey is not merely about the growth of an organisation, it is a testament to what selfless service, collective spirit, and a nation first philosophy can achieve,” he said.

Earlier, in his Mann Ki Baat address, Modi had described the Sangh’s 100-year journey as “as inspiring as it is unprecedented,” noting that this year’s Vijayadashami, which marks the day of the organisation’s founding, carries even deeper historical significance.

As the RSS steps into its second century, the prime minister extended his best wishes to swayamsevaks across the globe, emphasising that the spirit with which the organisation was born, the commitment to culture, identity, and service, will continue to guide India’s future. “For the Sangh,” Modi concluded, “the message remains unchanged, the nation always comes first.”