The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Sangh" or the " family") is an umbrella term for the collection of Hindutva organisations formed by, and affiliated to, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva paramilitary organisation. These include the political party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), religious organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), students union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), among several others. In total, the Sangh Parivar has over 2,500 organisations.

The Sangh Parivar represents the Hindutva ideology and movement in India. Members of the Sangh Parivar or the supporters of its ideology are often referred to as "Sanghis".

History

In the 1960s, the volunteers of the joined the different social and political movements in India, including the Bhoodan, a land reform movement led by prominent Gandhian Vinobha Bhave and the Sarvodaya led by another Gandhian Jayaprakash Narayan. The RSS also supported the formation of a trade union, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and a student's organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and many other organisations like Seva Bharati, Lok Bharati and Deendayal Research Institute among others.

These organisations started and supported by the RSS volunteers came to be known collectively as the Sangh Parivar. The following decades have seen a steady growth in the influence of the Sangh Parivar in the social and political space of India.

Demolition of the Babri Masjid

According to a report by the UPA-instituted Liberhan Commission, the Sangh Parivar organised the demolition of the Babri Masjid. The Commission said— "The blame or the credit for the entire temple construction movement at Ayodhya must necessarily be attributed to the Sangh Parivar".

It also noted that the Sangh Parivar is an "extensive and widespread organic body", which encompasses organisations, which address and bring together just about every type of social, professional and other demographic grouping of individuals.

Ideology

Economics

While the BJP governments have often been seen as industry friendly, the opinions and the views of the Sangh Parivar constituents like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) find consonance with the known leftist stands on labour rights. The Sangh Parivar, as a whole, even the BJP in its earlier days, has advocated 'Swadeshi' (Self Reliance). Sangh Parivar leaders have been very vocal in their criticism of globalisation, especially its impact on the poor and native people. In 2000, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) led a protest against the role of international agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Social reform

The VHP founded a number of educational institutes such as Bharat Sevashram, Hindu Milan Mandir, Ekal Vidalayas and schools in tribal locations.

Social and political empowerment

The emergence of the Sangh Parivar in Indian politics has also brought many representatives of the backward classes, who had been victims of social neglect and casteism, to comparatively prominent positions in the government and administration. At the same time, the Sangh has refused to allow said backward classes a share in the national wealth.

In many villages across India, Dharma Raksha Samitis (Duty/Religion Protection Committees) promote religious discourse and form an arena for bhajan performance. The Sangh sponsors calendars of Hindu deities and provides instruction on sanctioned methods of conducting Ganesh Chaturthi and Navaratri.

Politics

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which represents the Sangh Parivar in national politics, has formed three governments in India, most recently being in power from May 2014 under the leadership of Prime minister Narendra Modi, re-elected in May 2019 and again re-elected in 2024.

Political opponents of the BJP allege that the party's moderate face merely serves to cover the Sangh Parivar's "hidden agenda" of undiluted Hindutva, detectable by the BJP's efforts to change the content of history textbooks and syllabi as well as other aspects of the education system.

Such criticism of the BJP arises in part from the fact that BJP had only 2 seats in the parliament in 1984 and after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 the party gained national recognition, and rose to power in 1998.

Reception

The Sangh Parivar has been described with monikers spanning the spectrum from "patriotic Hindus" to "Hindu nationalist". While its constituent organisations present themselves as embedded in the traditional ethos of Hinduism, their ideological opponents have characterised them as the representatives of authoritarian, xenophobic and majoritarian religious nationalism in India, These organisations have been accused of involvement with Hindu terrorism.

Fascism

The Sangh Parivar has been described as fascist by several scholars and academics. According to historian Sumit Sarkar, Muslims are portrayed by the Sangh Parivar as an inherently unpatriotic minority with undue privilege in the propaganda disseminated by its organisations, similar to the depiction of Jews in Nazi propaganda. All dissent, and even the possibility of dissent, is framed as a form of "pseudo-secular" minority appeasement. At the same time, the Sangh Parivar presents itself as uniquely indigenous and authentically Hindu, framing secular ideals as fundamentally anti-Hindu.

Whereas fascism rose to power in Italy and Germany within roughly a decade of its emergence, Hindutva, under the Sangh Parivar, followed a far longer period of gestation. Since the 1950s, its network of organisations has focused on ideological indoctrination and the circulation of ideas through popular culture, which Sarkar compares to philosopher Antonio Gramsci's theory of the "war of position", with the aim of ultimately creating a "Hindu Rashtra" (). The growth of the Sangh Parivar has been driven by a combination of street violence, infiltration of the police, and collusion with centrist political and judicial leaders.

List of organisations

thumb|Major organisations that make up the Sangh Parivar

The Sangh Parivar encompasses over 2,500 organisations across India and around the world. The following is a non-exhaustive list of notable organisations.

Political

  • Jammu Praja Parishad, literally, "People's Council", a political party active in Jammu from 1947 to 1963.
  • Hindu Makkal Katchi, literally, "Hindu People's Party", a regional political party in Tamil Nadu
  • Bharatiya Jana Sangh, literally, "Indian People's Association" a political party that existed from 1951 to 1977.
  • Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian People's Party (202 million as of 2024)

Economic and occupational

  • Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) - Indian People's Youth Front, BJP's Youth Wing
  • Bharatiya Kisan Sangh - Indian Farmers' Association (8 million as of 2002)
  • Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh - Indian Labourers' Association (10 million as of 2009)
  • Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad - All India Lawyers' Council
  • Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad - All India Students' Council (2.8 million as of 2011)
  • Swadeshi Jagaran Manch - Nativist Awakening Front

Social services

  • Deen Dayal Shodh Sansthan - for the development of rural areas on the basis of Integral Humanism (1.7 million as of 2002)
  • Bharat Vikas Parishad – Organisation for the development and growth of India in all fields of human endeavour (1.8 million as of 2002)
  • Seva Bharati - Organisation for service of the needy (founded in 1984)
  • Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam
  • Nele - Home for destitute children
  • Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Tribal Welfare Monastery

Women

  • Rashtra Sevika Samiti - National Volunteer Association for Women (1.8 million as of 2002)
  • Durga Vahini - Women's wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad

Religious

  • Vishwa Hindu Parishad - World Hindu Council (6.8 million as of 2002)
  • Bajrang Dal - Brigade of Hanuman (3.8 million as of 2002)
  • Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal, Indian Cow Protection Organisation
  • Hindu Jagarana Vedike - National Volunteer Association for men to protect the Hindus
  • Dharm Jagaran Samiti - Organisation for conversion of non-Hindus to Hinduism and their coordinating committee "Dharam Jagaran Samanvay Samiti"
  • Rashtriya Sikh Sangat - a sociocultural organisation with the aim to spread the knowledge of Gurbani to the Indian society
  • Muslim Rashtriya Manch - National Front of Muslims
  • Hindu Rashtra Sena - propagating for the establishment of Hindu Rashtra

Regional

  • Hindu Munnani - a religio-cultural organisation based in Tamil Nadu
  • Hindu Makkal Katchi -a religio-cultural organisation based in Tamil Nadu and it works along with Hindu Munnani
  • Hindu Aikya Vedi, Hindu United Front based in Kerala

Educational organisations

  • Ekal Vidyalaya, Involved in free education and village development in rural areas and tribal villages of India.
  • Saraswati Shishu Mandir, School
  • Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan, Educational Institutes

Socio-ethnic

  • Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Organisation for the improvement of tribals
  • Friends of Tribals Society

News and communication

  • Organiser, Magazine
  • Panchjanya, Magazine
  • Vishwa Samvad Kendra communication Wing, spread all over India for media related work, having a team of IT professionals
  • Hindustan Samachar a multi-lingual news agency.

Think tanks

  • Vivekananda Kendra, promotion of Swami Vivekananda's ideas with Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi as a "Public Policy Think Tank" with 6 Centres of study.
  • Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana (ABISY), All-India History Reform Project

Overseas

  • Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, literally, Hindu Volunteer Association overseas wing of RSS
  • Hindu Students Council, Overseas Hindu Students' Wing
  • Hindu American Foundation
  • National Hindu Students' Forum, Hindu student group in UK
  • India Development and Relief Fund, USA based charity

Others

  • Samskrita Bharati, promotion of the Sanskrit language
  • Central Hindu Military Education Society, to encourage more Hindus to join the Defence Services
  • Kreeda Bharati, Sports organisation.

See also

  • Bibliography of the Sangh Parivar
  • RSS Project (2025) by Felix Pal & Christophe Jaffrelot (CC BY-SA dataset)

References

Bibliography