On Vijayadashami 1997 (11 October 1997), Rajendra Singh gave the annual address at the gathering in Nagpur. This page summarises what was reported about it.
The day
- Date: 11 October 1997
- Place: Nagpur
- Address by: Rajendra Singh (the head of the organisation at the time was Prof. Rajendra Singh)
What the address covered
In an hour-long Dassera address, Rajendra Singh said English harmed India's interests and should be driven out. He dismissed the Gujral Doctrine and called for India to build the atom bomb and missiles. He also defended Kalyan Singh's resolve to build the Ram temple and demanded that the disputed sites at Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi be 'restored' to Hindus. Without naming Tata Tea, he alleged that internal security had collapsed. A.G. Noorani notes that the speech opened with warm praise of Gandhi and calls it part of an orchestrated RSS 'adoption' of Gandhi that year.
As reported
Because of English, educating our rural folk has become difficult.
Context
Rediff framed the anti-English line as the RSS jumping on Mulayam Singh Yadav's campaign. Critics read the Gandhi praise as tactical.
How sure is this?
This account is supported by two or more independent sources, listed below.
In the archive
Sources & copyright status
- Rediff On The Net (UNI), 'RSS declares war on English' (13 Oct 1997), Wayback Machine copy
- A.G. Noorani, 'The RSS and Gandhi: A Necessary Backstory', The Wire (book extract), citing Organiser of 26 Oct 1997
- 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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