RSS at 100 stands tall but is shadowed by a fraught past and fractious present https://thefederal.com/category/opinion/rss-centenary-mohan-bhagwat-najeev-jung-opinion-219376  Najeeb Jung &Amogh Dev Rai 6 Dec 2025 The Federal

Founded in 1925 by KB Hedgewar in Nagpur, the RSS emerged from a sense of Hindu social vulnerability in the light of the Khilafat movement. Hedgewar’s diagnosis was less political than civilisational:

Under MS Golwalkar, who led the Sangh from 1940 to 1973, the movement acquired a more defined ideological frame. He articulated the concept of a Hindu Rashtra

Madhukar ‘Balasaheb’ Deoras, who succeeded Golwalkar in 1973  understood that to remain socially relevant, the RSS needed to expand beyond its insular, caste-homogeneous roots and engage with the institutions of a democratic polity.

Under Mohan Bhagwat, who became Sarsanghchalak in 2009, the RSS has adopted a more reflective tone, He has engaged in dialogue with Muslim groups, distanced the RSS from earlier exclusionary theories, , and  encouraged debates on caste inequality.

Today, in the BJP-governed states, there is repeated bulldozing of Muslim homes, ill-treatment of Christians, calls of lynchings and hate speeches or boycotting minority businesses.

https://thefederal.com/category/opinion/rss-centenary-celebrations-210093

https://thefederal.com/category/news/italian-fascism-influence-hindu-nationalism-212257

https://thefederal.com/category/opinion/rss-100-hindutva-brahminical-opinion-209537

https://thefederal.com/category/news/rss-freedom-struggle-mridula-mukherjee-208529

What Happened to Gujarat’s Grand Projects? The Untold Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LfAMtk7Dww What Does This Data Say

Databite Weekend examines Gujarat’s most ambitious projects —

Dholera Smart City – India’s first “futuristic” city that still lies empty.
GIFT City – the billion-dollar financial hub struggling to attract real business.
Statue of Unity – a ₹3,000 crore monument that failed to generate promised revenue.
Seaplane Project – Modi’s grand inaugural flight that never took off again.
GSPC Gas Fields – Gujarat’s biggest fiscal disaster, losing ₹19,000+ crore in public money.

political optics have overshadowed the public good, and Gujarat’s debt has skyrocketed from ₹45,000 crore to ₹3.4 lakh crore. 

 Caste in Indian cities: Why urbanisation has not brought equality  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HOmXiaE0Fg  Frontline Magazine Vakulabharanam challenges the popular belief that urbanisation dissolves caste hierarchies. Drawing on census data and comparative urban research, he shows how Indian cities remain deeply segregated by caste, class, and religion even when they appear socially mixed on the surface... Why caste does not disappear in cities and how it reorganises itself
-How urban segregation works through housing, labour, and credit markets
-What mixed neighbourhoods can (and cannot) achieve
-Drawing parallels between caste segregation in India and racial segregation in the US
-The historical roots of urban inequality in cities like Hyderabad and Mumbai
-Why “world-class” city visions often deepen exclusion
-What fighting caste discrimination in cities realistically looks like today