Mohan Bhagwat
Mohan Bhagwat | |
|---|---|
 Bhagwat at an RSS event | |
| 6th Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh | |
| Assumed office 21 March 2009 | |
| Preceded by | K. S. Sudarshan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 September 1950 Chandrapur, Madhya Pradesh (present-day Maharashtra), India[1] |
| Relations | Madhukar Rao Bhagwat (father) Malati (mother) |
| Alma mater | Nagpur Veterinary College (B.V.Sc.) |
| Occupation | Sarsanghchalak, RSS |
Mohan Madhukar Rao Bhagwat[a] (born 11 September 1950) is the sixth and current Sarsanghchalak (chief) of the far-right Hindutva paramilitary organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since 2009.
Early life
[edit]Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat was born in a Marathi Karhade Brahmin family in Chandrapur, then in the state of undivided Madhya Prdesh in present-day Maharashtra.[2][1][3] He comes from a family of RSS activists.[1] His father Madhukar Rao Bhagwat was the Karyavah (secretary) for the Chandrapur zone and later a Prant Pracharak (provincial promoter) for Gujarat.[1] His mother Malati was a member of the RSS Women's Wing.[4]
Bhagwat completed his schooling from 'Lokmanya Tilak Vidyalaya' and then the first year of his B.Sc. from the Janata College in Chandrapur. He graduated in Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry from Government Veterinary College, Nagpur. He dropped out of his postgraduate course in Veterinary Sciences and became a Pracharak (full-time promoter/worker) of the RSS towards the end of 1975.[1]
Association with the RSS
[edit]After working underground during the Emergency, Bhagwat became the Pracharak of Akola in Maharashtra in 1977 and rose within the organisation responsible for Nagpur and Vidarbha regions.[1]
Bhagwat was chosen as the Sarsanghchalak (Chief Executive) of the RSS on 21 March 2009. He is one of the youngest leaders to head the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after K. B. Hedgewar and M. S. Golwalkar.[1]
In June 2015, due to a high threat perception from various Islamic terrorist organisations,[5] the Government of India ordered the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to provide Bhagwat with round-the-clock protection. At Z+ VVIP security cover, Bhagwat is one of the most protected Indians.[6]
In 2017, Bhagwat became the first RSS Chief to be officially invited to the Rashtrapati Bhawan by then President Pranab Mukherjee.[7] In September 2018, Mohan Bhagwat presided over a three-day session at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi as part of outreach to a wider public, where he said that RSS has discarded some parts of M. S. Golwalkar's Bunch of Thoughts which were no longer relevant to the current circumstances.[8]
Ideology and views
[edit]In a rally in Madhya Pradesh in February 2017, Bhagwat asserted "Everyone born in the country is a Hindu – of these some are idol-worshipers and some are not. Even Muslims are Hindus by nationality, they are Muslims by faith only."[9] Some months later, Bhagwat reaffirmed this, stating that Hinduism was the only true religion in the world, and that all other religions were merely sects that had originated from Hinduism.[10] Bhagwat has also frequently shown his belief in love jihad, an Islamophobic conspiracy theory promoted by Hindu nationalists, which alleges that Muslim men target Hindu women through means such as seduction, deception, kidnapping, and marriage, as part of a "demographic war" and a broader global conspiracy.[11]
In an earlier event in 2015, Bhagwat criticised Mother Teresa, a nobel prize winning Catholic saint who was primarily known for her humanitarian work in aiding poor and sick people in India. Bhagwat stated "It’s good to work for a cause with selfless intentions. But Mother Teresa’s work had ulterior motive, which was to convert the person who was being served to Christianity."[9]
In 2019, he stated that the Sangh is not confined to any singular ideology or ideologue. He asserted that while the core principle of the RSS is the belief that India is a Hindu Rashtra—a concept considered non-negotiable by the organisation—it should not be categorised under any specific ideological framework, including that articulated in M. S. Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts.[12]
In November 2021, Mohan Bhagwat publicly expressed his opposition to the partition of India and voiced his support for the reunification of the Indian subcontinent. He stated, "The only solution to the pain of Partition lies in undoing it," thereby advocating for the reversal of the territorial division that occurred in 1947.[13][14]
In January 2023, Bhagwat advocated support towards the LGBT community in India. He stated, "People with such proclivities have always been there; for as long as humans have existed. This is biological, a mode of life."[15][16]
In January 2025, Bhagwat said that India got its "true independence" with consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.[17]
Award
[edit]In 2017 the state-run Animal and Fishery Sciences University in Nagpur gave Mohan Bhagwat an honorary Doctor of Science degree.[18]
Bibliography
[edit]- Yashaswi Bharat. Prabhat Prakashan, 2021[19]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g IANS (21 March 2009). "Mohan Bhagwat: A vet, RSS pracharak for over 30 years". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ India Today, Volume 34, Issues 9-17. Thomson Living Media India Limited. 2009. p. 21.
Born on September 11, 1950, in a Daivdanya Brahmin family in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, he began his career as a veterinary officer. His father, Madhukar Rao Bhagwat, was a close associate of Hedgewar and M.S. Golwalkar
- ^ Naqvi, Saba (26 November 2012). "A Thread That Holds". Outlook. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Dahat, Pavan (29 April 2017). "Who is Mohan Bhagwat?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gets 'Z+' VVIP security cover". The Economic Times. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gets Z+ VVIP security cover". Hindustan Times. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 June 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ Singh, Sanjay (16 June 2017). "Mohan Bhagwat's presidential lunch reaffirms rise of RSS; no second term for Pranab Mukherjee". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ "Mohan Bhagwat: RSS has discarded chunks of Golwalkar's thoughts". The Times of India. 20 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ a b Pal, Rajesh (14 February 2018). "5 Times Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Supremo, Stirred Controversy". The Quint.
- ^ Singh, Kautilya (11 September 2017). "Hinduism only true religion in world, those who want to return to its fold are welcome: Mohan Bhagwat". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ Narayanan, Dinesh (26 February 2015). "Why Mohan Bhagwat's Recent Statements are a testament to the RSS's core ideology". The Caravan.
- ^ "RSS Can't Be Bracketed Into Any Ideology, Says Chief Mohan Bhagwat". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
- ^ "Solution to pain of Partition is undoing it: Mohan Bhagwat". The Indian Express. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Naqvi, Jawed (30 November 2021). "The fuss about 'reunification'". Dawn. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
- ^ Mahajan, Shruti (12 January 2023). "Powerful India Hindu Group Hints at Support for LGBTQ Couples". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
- ^ Staff (11 January 2023). "Mohan Bhagwat, chief of influential Hindu group RSS, expresses support to LGBTQ community". WION. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- ^ "When is India's Independence Day? Not August 15, 1947, per Mohan Bhagwat, Kangana Ranaut et al". Telegraph India. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
- ^ Maitra, Pradip Kumar (7 March 2017). "RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to get honorary doctorate in veterinary sciences". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ Anand, Arun (13 December 2020). "Know what RSS under Mohan Bhagwat stands for and how it's changing in this new book". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
External links
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