First ban and the acquittal

Following Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948 by a former member^[18] of the RSS, Nathuram Godse, many prominent leaders of the RSS were arrested and RSS as an organisation was banned on 4 February 1948. A Commission of Inquiry into Conspiracy to murder of Gandhi was set and its report was published by India's Ministry of Home Affairs in the year 1970. Accordingly Justice Kapur Commission^[41] noted the following:

...RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organisation as such as being responsible for that most diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace. It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS...

—Kapur Commission Report, ^[42]

RSS Leaders were acquitted of the conspiracy charge by the Supreme Court of India and following an intervention by the Court, the Indian Government agreed to lift the ban with condition that the RSS adopt a formal constitution. The second Sarsanghachalak, Golwalkar drafted the constitution for the RSS which he sent to the government in March 1949. In July of the same year, after many negotiations over the constitution and its acceptance, the ban on RSS was lifted.^[19]
On 15 January 2000, a daily, The Statesman, carried a story about the RSS by A G Noorani, which depicted the RSS as the killer of Gandhi.^[43] Subsequently the Delhi unit of the RSS filed a criminal case of defamation against author of the article A G Noorani along with the cartoonist and the Managing Director of the publishing house. When two of the accused did not respond to the Court summons, non-bailable warrants were issued in their name by the Court.^[44] On 25 February 2002, Noorani wrote an unconditional apology to the court in which he regretted writing the defamatory article against the RSS. On 3 March 2002, 'The Statesman' also published an apology regretting the publication of the said article.^[45]

Mission

The mission of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been described as the revitalisation of Indian value system based on universalism and peace and prosperity to all.^[56] 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 organisation.^[63]
But the immediate focus, the leaders believe, is on the Hindu renaissance, which would build an egalitarian society and a strong India that could propound this philosophy. Hence, the focus is on social reform, economic upliftment of the downtrodden and the protection of cultural diversity of the natives in India.^[63] The organisation says, it aspires to unite all Hindus and build a strong India, which could contribute to the welfare of the world. In the words of RSS ideologue and the second head of the RSS, Golwalkar, "in order to be able to contribute our unique knowledge to mankind, in order to be able to live and strive for the unity and welfare of the world, we stand before the world as a self-confident, resurgent and mighty nation".^[56]

History

RSS was founded in 1925 by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, who was a doctor in the city of Nagpur, British India.^[19] Hedgewar as a medical student in Kolkata had been a part of the revolutionary activities of the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar striving to free India from British rule.^[20] He had been charged with sedition in 1921 by the British Administration and was imprisoned for one year.^[21]
Hedgewar was educated by his elder brother. He then decided to study medicine in Calcutta, West Bengal. He was sent there by Dr. B. S. Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. There he lived with Shyam Sundar Chakravarthy^[22] and learned the techniques of fighting from secret revolutionary organisations like the Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar in Bengal. He is said to have joined Anushilan Samiti and he had contacts with revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil.^[23]
Previously he was involved in such type of revolutionary activities, This fact has been disclosed by so many writers viz. C.P.Bhishikar,^[24] M.S. Golwalkar,^[25] K.S.Sudarshan^[26] and Rakesh Sinha^[27]
After completing his studies and graduating, he returned to Nagpur, inspired by the armed movement. In his memoirs, the third chief of RSS, Balasahab Deoras narrates an incident when Hedgewar saved him and others from following the path of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.^[28] Later he left the revolutionary organisations in the year 1925 and formed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.