‘Golwalkar’: MS Golwalkar’s single-minded pursuit of a Hindu Rashtra and the forces that aided him

In 1946, Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s direct action day call catalysed large-scale conflagrations in Bengal, the fires of which would soon be carried across to the other parts of India by the headwinds of communal hatred that had been roiling the country in the run-up to the Partition. As religious hostilities tore India apart, MS Golwalkar, the monkish, bespectacled leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), saw an opportunity to reinvigorate the Hindu revivalist organisation he had been meticulously chiselling into shape as its second sarsanghchalak.

Six years before this episode, the RSS had faced a crucial setback following the British government’s decision to enact the Defence of India Act, the provisions of which restricted the public displays of militarism in India as imperial Britain navigated the travails of the Second World War. This had spelled doom for the organisation which largely drew upon the tenets of European fascist movements, and even adopted their outward trappings: Uniformed cadre, goose-stepping, and arms training.

As the British prepared to depart from India, the rigours of the 1940 law were loosened. Having led a rather circumspect life until that point, the RSS suddenly found its feet and reasserted itself with vengeance. Its cadre fanned out into parts of...

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