Madhukar Dattatraya "Balasaheb" Deoras joined Dr Hedgewar's first shakhas as a boy and led the organisation for twenty-one years, from 1973 to 1994. He steered it through the Emergency and widened its work towards social service and the fight against untouchability.
Life
- 1915Born in Nagpur on 11 December.
- 1927Joins the shakha as a boy, in Dr Hedgewar's time.
- 1930sGraduates in law; becomes a full-time worker and later organiser in Bengal and Nagpur.
- 1973Succeeds M. S. Golwalkar as head.
- 1974Gives the Vasant Vyakhyanmala lecture in Pune on social equality.
- 1975–77Imprisoned in Yerwada jail during the Emergency, when the organisation is banned.
- 1994Steps down because of ill health and names Prof. Rajendra Singh as successor.
- 1996Dies in Pune on 17 June.
Against untouchability
In his lecture at Pune's Vasant Vyakhyanmala on 8 May 1974, Deoras declared that if untouchability is not wrong, then nothing in the world is wrong — a statement that became a touchstone for the organisation's work on social equality. Under him the movement put new emphasis on service among the poor and on social harmony; Seva Bharati and many service projects in slums and tribal areas date from these years.
The Emergency and after
During the Emergency of 1975–77 thousands of members were jailed and the organisation helped run underground resistance and the Lok Sangharsh Samiti alongside other opposition groups. Its members played a significant part in the Janata movement that followed.
Criticism and debate
Letters that Deoras wrote from jail to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and to Vinoba Bhave in 1975–76 have been cited by critics as offers of cooperation with the Emergency regime; supporters argue that they were attempts to secure the release of detained workers and did not change the organisation's opposition. His support for the Ayodhya movement in the 1980s is also part of the debate over the organisation's role in that period.
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Frequently asked questions
What did Balasaheb Deoras say about untouchability?
In a lecture in Pune on 8 May 1974 he said that if untouchability is not wrong, nothing in the world is wrong.
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Read nextPandit Deendayal UpadhyayaSources & copyright status
- Walter K. Andersen and Shridhar D. Damle, The RSS: A View to the Inside (2018) — scholarly history; facts only
- Christophe Jaffrelot, The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics (1996) — scholarly history; facts and critical perspective
- Press reports of the Vasant Vyakhyanmala lecture, Pune (8 May 1974) — public speech; paraphrased
- Historical facts: not subject to copyright.
- Commentary and translations on this page: original to The Hindu Book. © The Hindu Book, all rights reserved.
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