RSS-linked ban, effective from 1996 lifted; ‘Bureaucracy can now come in knickers’, quips Congress

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led central government recently lifted a decades-old ban on government employees associating with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its activities, a move that was heavily censured by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

In a post on X, Ramesh shared the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on July 9, stating that the ban on government staff taking part in RSS activities, which was in place since 1966, has been removed.

The RSS was initially declared an unlawful organisation in 1948 due to concerns over its activities after a member, Nathuram Godse, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

Ramesh said, “Sardar Patel had banned the RSS in February 1948 following Gandhi ji’s assassination. Subsequently, the ban was withdrawn on assurances of good behaviour. Even after this the RSS never flew the Tiranga in Nagpur.”

In 1966, a fresh ban was introduced, the Congress leader pointed out. The order stated, “As certain doubts have been raised about the government’s policy with respect to the membership of and participation in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh and the Jamaat-e-Islami by government servants, it is clarified that government have always held the activities of these two organisations to be of such a nature that participation in them by government servants would attract the Central Civil Services Conduct Rules.”

Ramesh lambasted the lifting of the ban and questioned the timing of the move, saying, “After June 4th, 2024, relations between the self-anointed non-biological PM and the RSS have nosedived. On July 9, 2024, the 58-year ban that was in force even during Mr Vajpayee’s tenure as PM was removed.”

“The bureaucracy can now come in knickers too I suppose,” Ramesh jibed, alluding to the RSS uniform of khaki shorts which was replaced by brown trousers in 2016.

On its part, the RSS hailed the move, saying it would strengthen the country’s democratic system. It also accused the earlier regimes of furthering their own political interests by imposing the ban in the past.

“Due to the RSS’s contributions in times of national security, unity-integrity, and natural disasters, the various types of leadership in the country have, from time to time, praised the role of the RSS,” said the outfit’s leader Sunil Ambekar.

“Due to their political self-interests, the then-government unjustly prohibited government employees from participating in the activities of a constructive organisation like the RSS,” he claimed. “The recent decision of the Government is appropriate and will strengthen the democratic system of Bharat.”

BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya also shared the screenshot of the order and welcomed the decision, saying, “The unconstitutional order issued 58 years ago, in 1966, imposing a ban on Govt employees taking part in the activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been withdrawn by the Modi Govt.”

Malviya stated that the original order should not have been passed in the first place.