Hindu Nationalism and Student Politics: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad between 1947 and 1985

Students in India have played politically significant roles both before and since independence. Organizations of both the left and the right attempted and at various points succeeded in mobilizing mass support among students. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the front organizations spawned by it, known collectively as the Sangh, have long been major proponents of Hindu nationalism and have considered students important. Despite this, the Sangh’s relationship with students has not received systematic analysis. This article, using sources primarily produced by the Sangh, analyzes different aspects of the Sangh’s relationship with students between 1947 and 1985. It attempts to demonstrate how during this period, primarily through its student front, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (All India Students’ Council, ABVP), the Sangh was keen on gaining control and influence over student politics. To do so, the ABVP sought to strategically moderate its image. At times the agitational or Hindutva aspects of the organization were foregrounded while on other occasions or even simultaneously the ABVP was portrayed as a peaceful “organization with a difference” that was nonpolitical and interested in service activities.