Hindus worldwide concluded the year 2025 with the centenary celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Numerous seminars, conferences, public events, and publications, including articles, books, and research papers, have highlighted the significant contributions of the past 100 years to nation-building, cultural nationalism, civilizational awakening, and social service. The RSS and its affiliated organisations challenged the colonial mentality in every aspect of Indian society and presented an alternative Bharatiya model.
For a long time, Western academicians, journalists, and so-called public intellectuals have consistently projected the RSS as intolerant, insular, patriarchal, majoritarian, and anti-constitutional. They propagated their hate against the Sanatan Dharma and the RSS using pseudo-scientific logic and misinterpretation of Hindu texts. They try to build a common perception that the RSS is a patriarchal or exclusionary organisation which has nothing to do with women’s empowerment.
Ideological Foundation of Hindu Feminist Thought
The philosophical and religious tradition of Hindu society heavily inspires the RSS’s worldview. In the Sanatan tradition, women are regarded as Shakti, Matru Shakti, and Devi; these symbols show the centrality of feminine power in Hindu philosophy. The Sangh ecosystem frames empowerment in terms of service (seva), duty (kartavya), cultural rootedness, and leadership in family and society rather than adopting Western feminist frameworks. The Sangh approach means that empowerment is often understood as collective capacity and moral agency, rather than just individual rights or formal political power.
A closer historical and sociological investigation reveals a more complex and nuanced reality. One must understand the RSS’s approach to women within the broader framework of civilizational continuity, moral and ethical empowerment, and social service, rather than the narrow Western feminist lens.
Women’s Organisation within the Sangh Tradition:
Women’s institutional and organisational participation, almost as old as the RSS, started during colonial times. The first major organisation, the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, was established in 1936 as a sister organisation of RSS. Although the Samiti was autonomous, it had an ideological and organisational structure aligned with the RSS, providing women a platform for leadership, discipline, and social service.
The Samiti has empowered women to emerge as social workers and educators through shakhas, training camps (prashikshan vargs), and grassroots mobilisation across India. Laxmibai Kelkar, fondly known as Mausiji, provided the organisation’s foundational leadership. Her vision enabled women to emerge as disciplined nation-builders rather than remaining confined to supportive roles. It was Mausiji’s efforts that enabled women to become active nation-builders rather than just supporters. After Mausiji, women leaders like Pramila-Tai Medhe (former Pramukh Sanchalika), Shantakka, Saraswati Apte, Usha-tai Chati, and Vatsala Tai Joshi have guided and expanded the Samiti nationwide.
These leaders illustrate that women within the Sangh ecosystem have exercised leadership, organisational authority, strategic planning, and ideological stewardship. These works are generally overlooked by the so-called mainstream analyses, which often focus solely on the male leadership of the Sangh.
Beyond the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, women associated with various organisations of the Sangh ecosystem have played significant roles in public discourse, education and social mobilisation. Through the Vishva Hindu Parishad’s Durga Vahini, Sadhvi Ritambhara emerged as a prominent orator and social figure. Durga Vahini attracted hundreds of thousands of young girls to work for Rashtra Dharma with the motto of Service, Security and Sanskars. Women associated with Vidya Bharati have shaped a value-based education system across hundreds of schools through serving as principals, teachers and curriculum developers. Female student leaders in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have gone on to become prominent politicians, journalists, teachers, and civil servants.
The Current State of Women in the Sangh Ecosystem:
Recently, Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of the RSS Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat has emphasised that women are an integral part of the Sangh vision. The RSS’s approach indicates that women are increasingly invited to core meetings and are part of decision-making processes in several regions. V. Shantha Kumari (Shanthakka) as the Pramukh Sanchalika (Chief) and Sita Annadanam as Pramukh Karyavahika (general secretary) are currently serving on the Rashtra Sevika Samiti and have become the national voices of indigenous feminism that emphasises strength through self-discipline and social duty.
The Samiti today operates thousands of centres and hundreds of daily shakhas across Bharat, reflecting its sustained organisational expansion. The Samiti has been successfully carrying out its three pillars: Matritva (universal motherhood), Kartritva (social action/efficiency), and Netritva (leadership). Durga Vahini is actively involved in promoting nationalist values and organising self-defence and leadership training camps for young girls. The growing number of female student leaders in the ABVP is a sign of the emergence of a new generation of politically conscious women within India’s public life.
In summary, the Sangh parivar can take pride in its centennial journey for not only expanding gender representation but also recognising women’s leadership and societal role in the context of civilisational continuity. These developments demonstrate that the Sangh tradition is evolving and dynamic, and that it provides an authentic representation of Indian culture and society.
Co-authored by: Dr. Bharat Singh & Prof. Pinki Maurya
