Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru was so impressed by the readiness of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh volunteers during the China War, from managing traffic to donating blood and delivering aid material, that he invited them to the Republic Day Parade of 1963. KR Malkani writes in his book ‘The RSS Story’ that Nehru had said at that time, “Given the spirit, even the Lathi could successfully face the bomb.” 2000 Sangh volunteers participated in that parade in full uniform (Sangh uniform). This march of Sangh volunteers with bugle band became the topic of discussion that day. But the next day in the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, this march was in discussion for a different reason and that reason was the uniform.
Many MPs had objections as to why the Sangh was called? Nehru pacified everyone by replying that all citizens were invited to that parade, so the Sangh also took part. An MP again raised an interesting question that how good it would have been if the Congress Seva Dal also took part in this parade. So a senior MP from Delhi replied that we could have participated, but the problem was with the uniform. The previous MP asked, what kind of problem? The Delhi MP said, “We had only 250 uniforms, we knew that if we had come for the parade, we would have been much less in comparison to them, so we decided not to go to the parade. On this, the former MP surprised everyone by saying, “Sangh volunteers bring their own uniforms, the Sangh does not give them uniforms.”
Sangh’s All India Publicity Chief Sunil writes in his book “The RSS: Roadmaps for the 21st Century” that when the first meeting after the establishment of the Sangh was held on 9 May 1926 at Doctorji’s residence, along with topics like meeting once in 14 days, setting up a gymnasium, celebrating Shiv Jayanti, the uniform of the Sangh was also discussed.
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You will be surprised to know that the first uniform of the Sangh was decided, it was first worn in the Congress session 5 years before the birth of the Sangh. Sunil Ambekar explains in a little more detail that this uniform was decided by Doctorji. It was first worn by the volunteers of ‘Bharat Sevak Samaj’ started by him during the Nagpur Congress session in 1920. KR Malkani tells in his book ‘The RSS Story’ that earlier the uniform consisted of a khaki shirt and khaki shorts reaching up to the knees.
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There was another reason for maintaining this uniform in the beginning. When Martand Rao Jog, who retired from the Army in 1920, joined the Sangh, he was given the job of training the youth and he used to conduct drills etc. in the Army style. Due to this, sticks were also added to it. In such a situation, there was no immediate need for change in uniform. Yes, after five years the khaki cap was replaced by a black cap. No reason behind this change is clear till date. Those who think well of the Sangh say that the reason behind it is the desire to differentiate itself from military organisations, while its opponents have linked it to the black cap of Mussolini’s army. However, Mussolini’s cap was made round and tight to the head keeping the cold in mind.
The biggest change in the uniform of the Sangh happened in 1940, and the reason for this was the British. When the Second World War started, the British also became alert in India. One of the organizations he had his eye on was a union. In those days, the uniform of the Sangh did not have the common black shoes like today but had long boots. This boot was made in Nagpur only. In such a situation, volunteers from different cities used to send letters there according to the needs of different sizes. One day news was received that these letters were being read openly by the English officers, then a volunteer warned Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar that he should not write anything in the reply which would make him suspicious, then Hedgewar replied that reading our letters would give him only one benefit, his knowledge on shoes would increase.
The Sangh also said goodbye to these long boots during the Emergency and replaced them with the black boots that are worn today. Actually the British did not like the military uniform of the Sangh. On 3 July 1940, Guru Golwalkar became the new Sarsanghchalak of the Sangh and on 5 August the British issued a circular under the Defense of India Act. In which military drill, use of military uniform as well as any kind of group exercise was banned. Due to this, several hundred volunteers were arrested in many cities. Even before this, during the time of Dr. Hedgewar, in June 1939, the British Home Department had advised the Central Province Government to use Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1908) to ban the association. After about 11 months of efforts, the Chief Secretary of the Central Province wrote to the Central British Government that it was not practical, imposing a ban would cause so much opposition that it would not be manageable.
When Guruji came to command the Sangh, this British circular was like a litmus test for him. He was selected for the highest responsibility out of thousands of volunteers and it was expected that the Sangh would reach greater heights under his leadership. He really took a far-sighted decision, and decided that there would be some changes in the uniform and training of the Sangh. First of all it was decided to replace the khaki shirt with a white shirt.
Information about many more changes Shubhangi written as a biography of Guru Golwalkar Bhadbhade’s book gives ‘evolutionary’. She writes, “The shape of the belt, paint and cap changed. The practice of wearing brass plates with the name RSS was stopped. There was a custom of wearing a whip and cross belt for the key officials, Guruji got that stopped too. Similarly, orders like ‘Attention’, ‘Stand it is’, prevalent in English, were stopped and orders like Sangh Daksh, Sangh Aarambh were started.
Words like platoon, company were discontinued and words like Gana, Vahini, Anikini were introduced in their place. The word ‘Band’ was replaced by the word ‘Ghosh’. The lines of songs played on it like Blue Bells, Fancy Ball, Lovely Fox stopped and in their place compositions like Dhwajarohan, Durga, Shivrajstavan, Ganesh, Datratreya, Chetak, Kaveri etc. started being played. In these compositions there were not only words but also the roar of Indian spirit.
After changing the shoes, the leather belt was also changed to resin in 2010 and at the same time the years old demand was reiterated that the neckerchief should be replaced with paint so that the young generation who was hesitant in wearing it would feel comfortable. But it was decided that a decision on this subject would be taken after five years. During this period, opinions will be taken from volunteers across the country.
After about 6 years, in 2016, the Sangh’s representative assembly in Nagaur (Rajasthan) decided that while khaki neckerchief will continue, brown pants can also be worn as an alternative. Although the color of the shirt and cap changed, the type of belt and shoes changed, but there was no change in the form or color of khaki shorts for 90 years, hence this change was much discussed across the country and it also came into trend from the next Vijayadashami.
However, all this did not happen so quickly that the British government’s circular came and it was done under pressure, rather Guru Golwalkar made the disaster an opportunity. Brainstorming on that continued for the next three years. Meanwhile, the British government also took action against some Sangh officials in Delhi, Punjab and Madras for this reason. Finally, on 28 April 1943, Guru Golwalkar ended military training by sending a letter to all branches. The military department of the Sangh and the post of Sarsenapati were also abolished forever, like the khaki shirt.
back story: Dr. Hedgewar had dug a tunnel in the teacher’s study room, had to hoist saffron on the fort.
Next story: 100 years of Sangh: Hedgewar was ready to go to any extent against cow slaughter
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