On Vijayadashami 1979, Balasaheb Deoras gave the annual address at the gathering in Nagpur. This page summarises what was reported about it.
The day
- Date: 1 October 1979 — the calendar date of Vijayadashami; our sources do not record the exact day of the gathering
- Place: Nagpur
- Address by: Balasaheb Deoras
What the address covered
According to Andersen and Damle, Deoras used his 1979 Vijayadashami speech to restate the RSS's traditional revivalist goals: uniting the Hindu community and ridding it of untouchability, the caste system and dowry. This came while the RSS was talking of opening its doors to non-Hindus. L.K. Advani's memoir also recalls Deoras's annual address at the Nagpur Vijayadashami rally in October 1979 and calls one observation in it remarkable and still relevant.
Context
Delivered after the fall of the Morarji Desai government in July 1979, with the RSS 'dual membership' controversy at its height.
How sure is this?
This account rests mainly on one source, listed below; details may be incomplete.
In the archive
Sources & copyright status
- Walter K. Andersen & Shridhar D. Damle, The Brotherhood in Saffron (Westview, 1987)
- L.K. Advani, My Country My Life (Rupa, 2008), Internet Archive full-text search snippets
- Historical facts: not subject to copyright. Quotations are short extracts as reported in the sources cited; speeches are summarised in our own words.
- Commentary and translations on this page: original to The Hindu Book. © The Hindu Book, all rights reserved.
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