Bhagwat celebrates Op Sindoor, backs swadeshi

Unity, self-reliance, and dependance on one's own resources formed the core of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's address on Thursday, the customary address by the organisation's Sarsangchalak on Vijayadashami that has, at least since 2014, been studied closely by people looking to understand the underlying motivations of the party in power at the Centre.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran and Pradip Kumar Maitra

The RSS, which turned 100 this year, is the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and, over the years, much of the latter's political agenda has been derived from long-held principles of the former.

Bhagwat's speech took on even more significance this year given the occasion and recent events, including a terror attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, that left 26 people dead and resulted in Operation Sindoor, in which India targeted terror and military installations in Pakistan, the tariffs on Indian exports levied by US President Donald Trump, and regime-changing protests in India's neighbourhood over the past few years, most recently in Nepal.

All of these found mention in Bhagwat's speech, as did the climate crisis - the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttara-khand have been ravaged by rains and floods this monsoon - which the RSS chief linked to materialism and overconsumption any indicators on what the government could or should do; it was more an endorsement of the government's approach to various issues, and a reiteration of the Sangh's own principles.

On Sindoor, Bhagwat lauded the Union government and the armed forces for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack. "The government and armed forces gave a befitting reply. It also showed the leadership's decisiveness and the war readiness of the forces," he said.

"We also realised who our friends are and where they are.

But even in the country, there are many attempts to create unrest..," he said.