Guwahati: The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) 2025 of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday expressed serious concern over the unabated and planned violence, injustice, and oppression faced by Hindu and other religious minority communities at the hands of radical Islamist elements in Bangladesh. It termed this situation as a clear case of human rights violation. During the recent regime change in the neighboring country, several incidents were reported, including attacks on maths, temples, Durga Puja pandals, and educational institutions, desecration of deities, barbaric killings, looting of properties, abduction and molestation of women, and forcible conversions, said RSS Sah Sarkaryavah Arun Kumar while briefing the media on the resolutions passed during the three-day ABPS (21-23 March 2025) meeting, currently being held at the Janaseva Vidya Kendra in Bengaluru.
Highlighting the continuous decline of the Hindu population in Bangladesh (from 22% in 1951 to just 7.95% today), Kumar stated that this reflects the severity of the crisis. The historical oppression of Hindus, especially among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, remains a persistent issue. However, the level of organized violence and the government’s passive response in the past year is deeply alarming. Moreover, to deny the religious aspect of these incidents by claiming they are merely political is a negation of the truth, as the majority of the victims belong to Hindu and other minority communities, asserted the Sah Sarkaryavah, who was accompanied on the dais by Sunil Ambekar, RSS’s Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh. Senior RSS functionaries, including Karnataka Uttar & Dakshin Prachar Pramukh Aroon Kumar, Kshetra Prachar Pramukh Aayush Nadimpalli, Akhil Bharatiya Sah Prachar Pramukhs Pradip Joshi and Narendra Kumar, were also present at the briefing.
The RSS meeting also raised concerns about the rising anti-Bharat rhetoric in Bangladesh, which threatens to strain the historically deep-rooted ties between the two nations. The resolution warned of the interference of international forces, including Pakistan and Deep State elements, who seek to destabilize the region by fueling communal tensions and fostering distrust. The ABPS resolution underscored that Bharat and its neighboring countries share a common cultural and historical heritage, and any form of communal discord in one part of the region affects the entire subcontinent.
Despite facing severe persecution, Hindus in Bangladesh have shown remarkable resilience in their struggle for justice and religious freedom, stated Kumar.
Their peaceful, collective, and democratic resistance has received strong moral and psychological support from Hindus in Bharat and across the world. The Union government of Bharat has reiterated its commitment to standing with Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. It has engaged in diplomatic efforts with the Bangladesh government and has raised the issue at multiple international forums, he said. The ABPS resolution further called upon international organizations such as the United Nations and the global community to take serious note of these inhumane acts and pressurize the Bangladesh government to take concrete steps to halt the violence against Hindus and other minorities. He reiterated that the RSS remains resolute in its commitment to protecting the rights, dignity, and religious freedom of Hindus in Bangladesh and urges immediate intervention to address this grave humanitarian and existential crisis.
Kumar also revealed that the analysis, evolution of organizational work, impact, and transformation of society were also discussed during the ABPS. The Sangh has focused on the expansion and consolidation of impactful work over the last 100 years. He highlighted the journey of the RSS and provided details of its gradual expansion from a single shakha to an organization present throughout the country. The Sangh aims to be ‘Sarva Sparshi, Sarva Vyapi,’ touching all aspects of society and the nation. In this respect, the Sangh is present in 134 premier institutions today and aims to reach all institutions of Bharat in the coming days. The Sangh today works in the remotest and tribal parts of the country. For instance, there are 1,031 shakhas in Janjati (tribal) areas of Koraput and Bolangir in Odisha, consisting of Karyakartas from those communities, added the Sah Sarkaryavah.
The RSS works through consultation and mutual agreement, and thousands of meetings are conducted with various stakeholders in society. Briefing on the work for women’s empowerment during the last year, he said nearly 1.5 lakh men and women were contacted, and interactions were organized with them. As part of the Lokmata Ahilya Devi Holkar 300th birth anniversary celebrations, Kumar stated that 22,000 events and summits were held across the country to highlight the contribution of the great Lokmata Ahilya Devi, covering people from all walks of life. As part of the same celebrations, events to bolster women’s participation and contribution to society were held. In this respect, 472 women-centric one-day summits were organized during the year, where 5.75 lakh women participated.
The Sangh works towards finding solutions wherever there is an issue. For instance, in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, there were disabled children who were neglected and had no avenues to build a normal life. Sangh karyakartas identified such children and arranged not only for their medical support but also provided various avenues for them to lead a respectable life. The expansion of Sangh work does not mean merely an increase in the numerical strength of the RSS; it indicates an increase in the positive strength of society, he added. Answering a question on the unresolved issue of languages in border areas of many states, Kumar said that all languages are equal and any issue related to language must not divide people. “We are one people, one nation, and this is our uniqueness,” stressed Kumar, adding that food, region, and language must not become tools to divide but to unite us all.
