1. Field Marshal Cariappa in his speech to RSS volunteers said "RSS is my heart's work. My dear young men, don't be disturbed by uncharitable comments of interested persons. Look ahead! Go ahead! The country is standing in need of your services"
2. Nov 1949, Dr. Zakir Hussain : "Allegations against RSS of violence & hatred against the Muslims are wholly false."
3. Nov 1949, Dr. Zakir Hussain: "Muslims should learn the lesson of mutual love, cooperation and organisation from RSS".
4. Jayaprakash Narayan in 1977: "RSS is a revolutionary organization. No other organization in the country comes anywhere near it."
5. Noted Gandhian leader and the leader of Sarvoday movement, Jayaprakash Narayan, who earlier was a vocal opponent of RSS had the following to say about it in 1977 "RSS is a revolutionary organization. No other organization in the country comes anywhere near it. It alone has the capacity to transform society, end casteism and wipe the tears from the eyes of the poor." He further added "I have great expectations from this revolutionary organization which has taken up the challenge of creating a new India".
6. Sikh intellectual and author of 'A History of the Sikhs', Khushwant Singh, credits members of the RSS with helping and protecting Sikhs who were being targeted by members of theCongress political party during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots. Singh who otherwise has been critical of the RSS and believes that it is a " communal organization and dangerous to the country's secular fabric"
7. The RSS also has been banned in India thrice, during periods in which the government of the time claimed that they were a threat to the state: in 1948 after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, during the Emergency (1975–77), and after the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition. The bans were subsequently lifted, in 1949 after the RSS was absolved of charges in the Gandhi murder case, in 1977 as a result of the Emergency being revoked, and in 1993 when no evidence of any unlawful activities was found against it by the tribunal constituted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
8. After the Independence of India, many organizations including the RSS aspired to liberate Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese occupation. In April 1954, the RSS formed a coalition with the National Movement Liberation Organization (NMLO), the and Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD) for the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. On the night of 21 July, United front of Goans, a group, working independently of the coalition, captured the Portuguese police station at Dadra and declared Dadra as free. Subsequently on 28 July, volunteer teams of the RSS and AGD captured the territories of Naroli and Phiparia and ultimately the capital of Silvassa. The Portuguese forces which escaped and moved towards Nagar Haveli, were assaulted at Khandvel and were forced to retreat till they surrendered to the Indian border police at Udava on 11 August 1954. A native administration was setup with Appasaheb Karmalkar of NMLO as the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on 11 August 1954.
9. In 1955, RSS leaders demanded the end of Portuguese rule in Goa and its integration into India. When Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru refused to obtain it by armed intervention, RSS leader Jagannath Rao Joshi led the satyagraha agitation straight into Goa itself.
10. The RSS earned recognition based on its volunteer work during the Sino-Indian War in 1962. RSS was invited by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to take part in the Indian Republic day parade of 1963. It along with several other civilian organizations took part in the parade. This event helped the RSS increase its popularity and its patriotic image.
11. Later in 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars too, the RSS volunteers offered their services to maintain law and order of the country and were apparently the first to donate blood.
12. In 1975, the Indian Government under the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, proclaimed emergency rule in India, thereby suspending the fundamental rights and curtailing the rights of the press. The volunteers of the RSS formed underground movements for the restoration of democracy. Literature that was censored in the media was clandestinely published and distributed on a large scale and funds were collected for the movement. It said that the movement was "dominated by tens of thousands of RSS cadres, though more and more young recruits are coming". Talking about its objectives it said "its platform at the moment has only one plank: to bring democracy back to India".
13. It has been noted that the RSS volunteers participated in the Bhoodan movement organized by Gandhian leader Vinobha Bhave. RSS leader M. S. Golwalkar believed that the movement should inculcate a right and positive faith in the masses that can make them rise above the base appeal of Communism.
14. The mission of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been described as the revitalization of Indian value system based on universalism and peace and prosperity to all. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the worldview that the whole world is one family, propounded by the ancient thinkers of India, is considered as the ultimate mission of the organization.
15. The RSS has advocated the training of Dalits and other backward classes as temple high priests (a position traditionally reserved for Caste Brahmins and denied to lower castes). They argue that the social divisiveness of the Caste system is responsible for the lack of adherence to Hindu values and traditions and reaching out to the lower castes in this manner will be a remedy to the problem. The RSS has also condemned 'upper' caste Hindus for preventing Dalits from worshipping at temples, saying that "even God will desert the temple in which Dalits cannot enter".
16. During M. K. Gandhi's visit to RSS Camp accompanied by Mahadev Desai and Mirabehn at Wardha in 1934, he was surprised by the discipline and the absence of untouchability in RSS and commented "When i visited the RSS Camp. I was very much surprised by your discipline and absence of untouchablity ". He personally inquired to Swayamsevaks and found that they were living and eating together in the camp without bothering to know their castes.
17. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar while visiting the RSS camp at Pune in 1939 observed that Swayamsevaks were moving in absolute equality and brotherhood without even caring to know the cast of others. In his address to the Swayamsevaks, he said that " This is the first time that I am visiting the camp of Sangh volunters. I am happy to find absolute equality between Savarniyas (Upper cast) and Harijans (Lower cast) without any one being aware of such difference existing." When he asked Dr Hedgewar whether there were any untouchables in the camp, he replied that there are neither "touchables" nor "untouchables" but only Hindus.
18. RSS runs 27,041 schools (Ekal Vidyalaya) in remote tribal areas : 7,53,123 socially deprived tribal students are enrolled.
19. RSS has 45,00,000 volunteers assembling in 40-50,000 shakhas each day. The largest volunteer organization in the world!
20. RSS has participated in many relief activities during natural calamities.
Check some photos
