The Mirage of Immunity: Why the RSS Must Meet the Rule of Law

 The recent demand by Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to provide its registration particulars and financial accounts has reignited a fundamental debate on accountability. As the organization marks its centenary, its footprint spans an intricate network of shakhas, immense real estate, and massive public donations. Yet, the RSS continues to resist standard statutory disclosures.

When RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat defends this opacity by claiming that "Hindu Dharma has no registration and the RSS too does not," he deploys a profound fallacy. Equating a vast, institutionalized socio-political apparatus with an ancient spiritual civilization is not just misleading; it is a calculated deflection from legal obligations.

The RSS has long enjoyed a carefully curated mythos as the benign protector of Hindu society. However, its selective silence exposes a more self-serving reality. The organization’s primary contemporary function appears to be securing and sustaining the political power of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). When actual crises hit Hindu communities, the RSS's alleged protective umbrella vanishes. For instance, the horrific history of rapes and murders of women in Dharmasthala saw no righteous intervention from the RSS. Instead, powerful local figures linked to funding structures remained shielded, while RSS and BJP leaders frequently raised voices in favor of the tormentors rather than the victims. Nationally, the RSS has consistently looked the other way regarding corruption within BJP ranks, proving that its core loyalty lies with partisan survival, not moral rectitude.

Furthermore, the defense of non-registration crumbles under the weight of equity. If a non-Hindu organization—Islamic or Christian—operated a parallel nationwide network, marshaled comparable assets, and collected immense public funds without a legal registry, the right-wing ecosystem would be in an uproar. There would be immediate demands for state intervention to bring such entities under the purview of law and order administration.

An organization that influences state policy, shapes public discourse, and conducts activities with major law and order implications cannot operate in a legal vacuum. If the RSS truly has nothing to hide, it must submit to the law of the land. Its century-old existence does not grant it permanent immunity. Should the RSS continue to refuse registration, the government remains well within its constitutional and sovereign limits to enforce compliance or initiate steps toward a ban. No organization, no matter how powerful, is above the law.