India pushes RSS teachings into schools, sparking fears of indoctrination
Delhi students to study RSS ideology despite its absence in independence struggle and links to Hindu supremacist violence
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Schools in India’s capital are preparing to teach children about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu supremacist paramilitary group that serves as the ideological backbone of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Analysts and rights groups warn the move is an attempt to normalize extremist ideology through the education system.
The initiative, called the Rashtraneeti Programme — Rashtraneeti meaning “national policy” in Hindi — was launched in September and will run from kindergarten through Grade 12. Officials say the curriculum will highlight the RSS’s “history, ideology, and social work,” presenting it alongside lessons on India’s freedom struggle and democratic values.
Rights Advocates argue that embedding RSS content in classrooms amounts to rewriting history for political ends. Founded in 1925 and openly inspired by European fascist movements, the RSS played no role in India’s anti-colonial struggle. Instead, its leaders promoted Hindu supremacy.
Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, was himself a former RSS member closely tied to the Mahasabha.
Parents and educators fear the program could marginalize Muslim, Christian, Sikh, and Dalit students by glorifying an organization that has historically excluded and vilified minorities. Civil society groups say the curriculum risks turning schools into sites of indoctrination, where partisan ideology is dressed up as national history.
The opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has condemned the program as “whitewashing extremism,” arguing that students must be taught the full truth: that the RSS was absent from the freedom movement, and that its ideology directly fueled Hindu nationalist violence.
Teachers say they have received little guidance beyond preliminary training sessions, while schools are being instructed to form student committees, youth parliaments, and electoral clubs under the Rashtraneeti banner. Education experts warn this structure embeds Hindu nationalist ideology into school life itself, beyond classroom lessons.
Analysts see the program as part of the BJP’s larger Hindutva project to reshape India’s institutions. From media to judiciary and now education, the goal, they argue, is to recast history around Hindu supremacy, erasing the pluralist foundations of India’s democracy and normalizing extremist narratives for a new generation.
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