Politics
Inside India’s RSS, the legion of Hindu ultranationalists
NAGPUR: Brandishing bamboo sticks and chanting patriotic hymns, thousands of uniformed men parade in central India, a striking show of strength by the country’s millions-strong Hindu ultranationalist group.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — the National Volunteer Organisation, or RSS — marked its 100th anniversary this month with a grand ceremony at its headquarters in Nagpur.
AFP was one of a handful of foreign media outlets granted rare access to the group, which forms the ideological and organisational backbone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in power since 2014.
Like the 75-year-old prime minister, critics accuse it of eroding the rights of India’s Muslim minority and undermining the secular constitution.
At the parade, RSS volunteers in white shirts, brown trousers and black hats marched, boxed and stretched in time to shrill whistles and barked orders.
“Forever I bow to thee, loving Motherland! Motherland of us Hindus!” they sang, in a scene that evoked paramilitary drills of the past.
“May my life […] be laid down in thy cause!”
‘Proud’
Hindus make up around 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people.
Founded in 1925, the RSS calls itself “the world’s largest organisation”, though it does not give membership figures.
At the heart of its vision is “Hindutva” — the belief that Hindus represent not only a religious group but are India’s true national identity.
“They are willing to fight against those who will come in their way […] that means minorities, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and other Hindus who do not subscribe to the idea,” historian Mridula Mukherjee said.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat uses softer language, saying that minorities were accepted but that they “should not cause division”.
Anant Pophali, 53, said three generations of his family had been involved with the group. “The RSS made me proud to be an Indian,” the insurance company worker said.
Bloody origins
The RSS was formed during the imperial rule of the British. But it diverged sharply from that of independence efforts by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party, whose leader Jawaharlal Nehru considered them “fascist by nature”.
Mukherjee said archives showed “a link between the RSS and fascist movements in Europe”.
“They have said, very clearly, that the way the Nazis were treating the Jews should be the way our own minorities should be treated,” she told AFP.
The RSS does not comment directly on such parallels, but Bhagwat insisted that “today we are more acceptable”.
The RSS was an armed Hindu militia during the bloody 1947 partition of India and the creation of Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Hindu extremists blamed Gandhi for breaking India apart. A former RSS member assassinated him in 1948, and the group was banned for nearly two years.
But the RSS rebuilt quietly, focusing on local units known as “shakhas” to recruit. Today, it claims 83,000 of them nationwide, as well as over 50,000 schools and 120,000 social welfare projects.
At a shakha in Nagpur, Alhad Sadachar, 49, said the unit was “meant to develop togetherness”.
“You can get a lot of good energy, a lot of good values, like helping those in need”, he said.
At a shaka that AFP was allowed to attend, dozens of members — many middle-aged or elderly, and not in uniform — gathered for an hour of calisthenics and song.
But in a show of symbolism, they congregated beneath a saffron flag — the colour of Hinduism — rather than India’s tricolour.
‘A country that is one’
The RSS remains deeply political. The group re-emerged in the late 1980s, spearheading a movement that ended with a violent mob demolishing a centuries-old mosque in Ayodhya — now replaced by a gleaming temple to the Hindu god Rama.
“That was the turning point,” said Mukherjee, the historian, adding that the RSS was “able to create a mass mobilisation on religious issues, that became at its heart clearly anti-Muslim”.
The group helped deliver Modi’s BJP party an electoral landslide in 2014.
Since then, Modi — a former RSS “pracharak”, or organiser — has pursued policies that critics say marginalise India’s estimated 220 million Muslims, 15% of the population.
“There has been a clear increase in terms of violence, lynching and hate speech since Modi has taken over,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, director of the US-based Centre for the Study of Organised Hate.
RSS leaders deny it has participated in atrocities. “Those allegations are baseless,” Bhagwat said.
“Atrocities were never done by the RSS. And if it happens anyway, I condemn that.”
Under Modi, it has expanded its reach.”The RSS has been able to stir Indian society in a direction that is more nationalistic, less liberal in a Western sense,” said Swapan Dasgupta, a former nationalist parliamentarian.
But volunteer Vyankatesh Somalwar, 44, said the group only pushed “good values”.
“The most important thing is to contribute to your country,” he said. “A country that is one, above all.”
- Contract supports APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems.
- Work to be completed by March 2036.
- Includes multiple allies under foreign military sales plan.
The United States Air Force has contracted Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in a $488 million deal to provide engineering and technical support for F-16 radar systems under its Foreign Military Sales programme, with Pakistan among the beneficiary countries.
According to an official award notice issued by the US Department of War, the firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract covers support for F-16 System Programme Office Foreign Military Sales (FMS) as well as Air Force and Navy requirements.
The contract includes engineering and technical support for APG-66 and APG-68 radar systems. The work will be carried out at Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2036.
The contract involves foreign military sales to multiple countries, including Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Thailand and Türkiye.
The US Air Force said the contract was awarded on a sole-source basis. Fiscal 2026 non-appropriated, Air Force and Navy funds amounting to $2,644,922 have been obligated at the time of the award.
The Air Force Lifecycle Management Centre at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting authority for the agreement, which was awarded on April 27, 2026.
The development comes months after the United States, in December 2025, approved the sale of advanced technology and support services worth $686 million for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet.
According to a letter from the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress dated December 8, the package covers Link-16 data link systems, cryptographic gear, avionics upgrades, training, and wide-ranging logistical support.
The DSCA says the decision aligns with Washington’s broader strategic aims, stating the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”
The letter notes that the upgrades are intended to modernise Pakistan’s Block-52 and Mid-Life Upgrade F-16s and address operational safety requirements. According to the letter, the sale will “maintain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future threats by updating and refurbishing its Block-52 and Mid Life Upgrade F-16 fleet.”
- US approves of sales to Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Israel.
- US govt says emergency exists to waive congressional review.
- Washington faces scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, UAE, Qatar.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has bypassed congressional review to approve military sales totaling over $8.6 billion to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The State Department announcements on Friday came as the US and Israel’s war against Iran marked nine weeks since its start and more than three weeks since a fragile ceasefire came into effect.
The State Department said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that an emergency existed that required immediate sales to those countries and waived the congressional review requirements for the sales.
The announcements included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01 billion and of Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems (APKWS) costing $992.4 million.
The principal contractor in the APKWS sales to Qatar, Israel and the UAE was BAE Systems, the State Department said.
RTX and Lockheed Martin were the principal contractors in the integrated battle command system sale to Kuwait and in the Patriot air and missile defense replenishment sale to Qatar, the State Department added.
Northrop Grumman was also a principal contractor in the Kuwaiti sale.
Over the years, Washington has faced scrutiny for military ties with Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar over those countries’ human rights track records that rights advocates say involve restrictions on and reported abuses of minorities, journalists, voices of dissent, the LGBT community and labourers.
Those nations have denied supporting or engaging in domestic rights abuses.
US support for Israel has also come under scrutiny from rights experts, particularly over Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis and led to assessments of genocide from scholars and a UN inquiry.
Israel calls its actions self-defence after Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people in an October 2023 attack.
Washington has maintained support for its allies.
- Pentagon announced withdrawal of 5,000 troops.
- Transatlantic tensions simmer over Iran, tariffs.
- Germany on right track with Bundeswehr expansion: minister.
BERLIN: A planned drawdown of US troops from Germany should spur Europeans to strengthen their own defences further, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday, following the latest salvo from Washington against transatlantic ties.
The Pentagon announced on Friday that the United States would withdraw 5,000 soldiers from Germany, its largest European base, as a rift over the Iran war and tariff tensions place further strain on relations between the US and Europe.
Pistorius said the move was expected.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has questioned Washington’s strategy in the Middle East.
Germany boosting troops, military infrastructure
Pistorius said the partial withdrawal would affect a current US presence of almost 40,000 soldiers stationed in Germany. Other estimates put the active-duty troop presence at 35,000.
“We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our own security,” Pistorius said, adding, “Germany is on the right track” by expanding its armed forces, speeding up military procurement and building infrastructure.
Germany wants to boost the number of active-duty Bundeswehr soldiers from a current 185,000 to 260,000, though critics of the defence minister have called for more in response to a widely perceived growing threat from Russia.
Nato members have pledged to take on more responsibility for their own defence but with tight budgets and vast gaps in military capability it will take years for the region to meet its own security needs.
Long-range fire battalion cancelled
The US military presence in Germany, which began as an occupation force after World War Two, peaked during the 1960s when hundreds of thousands of American military personnel were stationed there to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The US presence includes the giant Ramstein airbase and Landstuhl hospital, both of which have been used by the US to support its war in Iran, as well as previous conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon decision means one full brigade will leave Germany and a long-range fires battalion that was due to be deployed later this year will be cancelled.
The loss of the long-range fires will be a particular blow to Berlin, as it had been due to form a significant extra element of deterrence against Russia while Europeans developed such long-range missiles themselves.
US awards $488m F-16 radar support contract for Pakistan, other countries
US bypasses congressional review for military sales of $8.6bn to Middle East allies
Germany urges stronger European defence after US reduces troops
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