AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questions RSS’ claims of contributing to India’s independence, cites archives and writings to challenge PM Modi’s praise.

Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi strongly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for crediting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with a role in India’s independence movement. Speaking at a public gathering, Owaisi argued that no RSS member had gone to jail or laid down their life for the country after its formation in 1925.

Quoting from biographies and colonial records, Owaisi claimed that RSS founder K.B. Hedgewar’s brief imprisonment during the Dandi March was only intended to attract members to the organisation, not as part of genuine participation. He further alleged that British archives confirm the Sangh never posed a threat to colonial rule.

The AIMIM chief also highlighted the RSS magazine Organizer, which in 1947 dismissed the tricolour as “inauspicious,” and later rejected the Constitution in favour of the Manusmriti. Referring to M.S. Golwalkar’s book Bunch of Thoughts, Owaisi said the Sangh had historically labelled Muslims, Christians, and the Left as “internal threats.”

“The Prime Minister knows this history but still chooses to glorify the RSS,” Owaisi remarked, adding that India’s first prisoner sent to Kala Pani was a Muslim freedom fighter from Hyderabad—evidence, he said, of the community’s deep sacrifices for the nation.

Owaisi also waded into the ongoing “I Love Muhammad” controversy, questioning why expressions of faith in Prophet Muhammad draw objections while “I love Modi” is accepted without resistance. His comments come after Kanpur police booked several people for displaying “I Love Muhammad” boards during an Eid-e-Milad procession.

The remarks not only escalate the political war of words but also raise questions about how history is interpreted in today’s ideological battles. For many observers, the debate reflects a larger struggle over ownership of India’s national narrative.