In March 1931, Balkrishna Shivram Moonje visited Fascist Italy, inspected its military and youth institutions, and met Benito Mussolini. He studied these institutions as models for organising Hindu society and later recommended adapting European youth organisations to Indian conditions. [1]
Borrowing from Europe is not the objection. The concern is how the ideas were used to organise society and assign a place within it to Sikhs and other communities.
For a Sikh, another question comes first: what governs religious understanding? In Sidh Gosht, the Siddhas ask Guru Nanak Sahib Ji about his Guru and discipleship.
The Roman line is only a reading aid, not the translation. The English sentence gives the plain meaning.
Guru Nanak Sahib Ji answers:
ਸਬਦੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਸੁਰਤਿ ਧੁਨਿ ਚੇਲਾ ॥
Simple reading: sabad guroo surat dhun chelaa.
Plain meaning: The Shabad is my Guru; my consciousness, attuned to it, is the disciple.
Reference: Ramkali, Mahalla 1, Sidh Gosht, Guru Nanak Sahib Ji, stanza 44, Panna 943. One-line excerpt. [2]
The stanza continues through contemplation of the One and the overcoming of haumai, self-centredness. Its subject is discipleship, not a modern constitutional arrangement. Historical research establishes what political writers proposed; their proposals do not thereby become the Guru’s account of Sikh meaning. [2]
The writers and their European sources
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar supplied an influential formulation of Hindutva in 1923. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, in 1925. Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar, known within the movement as “Guruji”, became its second chief in 1940. [3–5]
Savarkar drew upon Tilak, Maratha history, Shivaji and Indian religious literature. His memorial organisation also records his close study of Giuseppe Mazzini, the Italian revolutionary nationalist. After arriving in England in 1906, he translated selected Mazzini writings into Marathi and added a substantial introduction. The first edition appeared in June 1907. [6]
Historian Vikram Visana identifies Savarkar’s adaptation of Mazzini and the state theorist Johann Kaspar Bluntschli. His study distinguishes that earlier work from the later Hindutva formulation, reading the 1909 account of the uprising of 1857 as an argument for popular sovereignty through Hindu–Muslim unity. [7]
The Fascist institutions Moonje later studied were a different model from Mazzini’s revolutionary nationalism. Historian Marzia Casolari, who describes Moonje as Hedgewar’s mentor, reproduces his accounts of the Balilla and Avanguardisti, Fascist youth organisations, and his meeting with Mussolini on 19 March 1931. He subsequently referred to German youth movements as well as the Italian organisations when he told The Mahratta:
“I think they are eminently suited for introduction in India, adapting them to suit the special conditions.” [1]
Casolari dates Moonje’s preparatory work for the Central Hindu Military Education Society and the Bhonsala Military School to 1934. In his scheme for educating and organising Hindu boys, Italian youth organisations appeared as practical models for paramilitary training. [1]
The RSS already existed when Moonje made his visit, and he described it as independently conceived. His interest in Fascist methods is evidence of proposed borrowing, not an Italian founding of the organisation. [1]
Persecution offered as a lesson
Golwalkar’s 1939 We, or Our Nationhood Defined contains an approving discussion of Nazi Germany’s treatment of Jews. After describing their persecution in the name of racial purity, he calls Germany’s example:
“a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by”. [8]
What the passage commended was persecution, not simply national organisation. It was wrong in 1939 and remains wrong. The passage approved persecution already occurring, before the later Nazi programme to murder Europe’s Jews. [5, 8]
The same book prescribed assimilation into a Hindu national identity for communities it designated foreign. Those who retained a separate identity were to live in subordination, without citizenship rights. No person’s safety or equal standing should depend on surrendering a religious identity. [8]
In 2006, The Times of India reported that the RSS had disowned the book as representative of its position or Golwalkar’s mature thinking. Former spokesperson M. G. Vaidya endorsed that distancing. The report also carried the claim that the book was an abridgement of a work by G. D. Savarkar, V. D. Savarkar’s elder brother, known as Babarao. The later distancing does not change what the 1939 text commended. [9]
How the Sikh was classified
In Savarkar’s formulation, Hindutva extended beyond religious belief to territory, ancestry and culture. India had to be both the fatherland of ancestral belonging and the holy land from which the community’s sacred traditions arose. [5]
The definition included Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, while placing Muslims and Christians outside it because their principal sacred origins lay elsewhere. It made sacred geography a test of national belonging, although this could not establish an individual’s loyalty. [5]
His treatment of Sikhs is explicit. On printed page 113 of the 1923 edition, he writes:
“Let the Sikhs be classed as Sikhs religiously; but as Hindus racially, nationally and culturally.” [3]
The surrounding discussion acknowledges Sikh objections and allows rejection of Vedic religious authority. Even so, Sikhs are to remain Hindu racially, nationally and culturally. Their religious difference is accepted within a larger identity whose terms Savarkar supplies. Calling that identity national rather than religious changes the kind of claim being made; it does not establish its authority over Sikhs. [3]
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha had already defended a distinct Sikh identity in Ham Hindu Nahin in 1898, twenty-five years before Savarkar published this formulation. The book establishes that a distinct Sikh position had been articulated; it cannot establish the views of every Sikh. [3, 10]
A writer can admire Sikh courage and honour the Gurus while placing their teaching within a national story defined on other grounds. Respectful language does not settle whether the interpretation is faithful to the Guru’s teaching.
From national identity to education
The RSS’s 2017 FAQ describes Hindu as a national rather than sectarian identity, allowing different religious affiliations within it. It also describes the daily shakha, or local gathering, as combining exercise, patriotic songs, discussion and prayer. [4]
In Panjab, Jitender Veer Sarvhitkari Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 71, Mohali, is managed by Sarvhitkari Educational Society, identified on the school’s website as Vidya Bharati’s state unit. The website reproduces the Vidya Bharati mission of developing a generation:
“committed to Hindutva and infused with patriotic fervour”. [11]
Alongside that commitment, the mission calls for intellectual, physical and spiritual development, service to disadvantaged people and relief from social injustice. It appears under “Vidya Bharati Mission”, separately from the school’s shorter “Our Mission” statement. [11]
To establish how this mission is taught, we would need to examine textbooks and classroom materials. The statement alone cannot show what every teacher says or pupil believes. In lessons about Sikh history, accurate dates and respectful mention of the Gurus may coexist with a disputed political classification. The sources used to explain Sikh identity therefore matter, as does whether the lesson represents Sikh self-understanding and distinguishes the Guru’s teaching from the later classification.
Separately documented violence
Human Rights Watch’s investigations provide separate evidence about violence linked to Hindu nationalist mobilisation. They concern particular campaigns and conduct, rather than consequences that can simply be deduced from a 1923 text, and neither report is evidence about the school discussed above. [12, 13]
The 1999 investigation of attacks on Christians documented church destruction, assaults and coerced conversions to Hinduism in Gujarat’s Dangs district. It also recorded denials of organisational involvement by officials and representatives of the organisations concerned. [12]
Human Rights Watch’s 2019 report on cow-protection violence recorded at least 44 deaths, including 36 Muslims, across twelve states between May 2015 and December 2018. Through eleven detailed cases, it examined attacks, political connections and failures of police response. [13]
The translations, recorded visits and educational plans show a modern political movement being shaped through Indian and European sources. Presenting this as the recovery of an unchanged ancient teaching would leave those choices unexplained. Its definitions of belonging remain the work of political authors, open to examination on their content and consequences. [1, 6, 7]
Sikhi is its own religion, and Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji remains Guru. In Sidh Gosht, the consciousness is formed through Shabad and the fire of haumai is overcome. That discipleship gives me no licence to turn this examination into hatred of Hindu people, nor does it require surrender to another writer’s definition. A political classification does not become the Guru’s teaching simply because it includes the Sikh. [2, 10]
Related work
Ham Hindu Nahin: What It Still Means · Which “Hindu” Do You Mean? · Should a Sikh Sing Vande Mataram?
Verify
The Gurbani quotation is a one-line excerpt from Sidh Gosht, stanza 44, Panna 943, read with the preceding questions in stanza 43 on Panna 942. Savarkar’s Sikh classification appears on printed page 113 of the May 1923 edition. Golwalkar’s Germany discussion and minority prescription occur in chapters III and V respectively. Casolari’s discussion of Moonje’s military-education plans follows her account of his Italian visit.
Cross-check
Checked to 5 October 2026. Every check listed here was carried out again on 5 October 2026, rather than merely carried forward from the 23 September review. The Gurbani wording and complete stanzas 43–44 were checked at SriGranth, with Professor Sahib Singh Ji’s Darpan commentary displayed there. The 1923 title page and printed pp. 110–113 of Savarkar’s Hindutva were visually re-examined: page 113 contains “nationally” and a semicolon after “religiously”. Casolari’s youth-movement passage and account of the 1934 preparatory work were reread. Golwalkar’s passages were checked in the named electronic transcription and against [5]. The school’s mission statements, Vidya Bharati link and CBSE entry were checked, as were the relevant Human Rights Watch findings. Source limitations are specified below.
Correction note
Errors in wording, attribution, interpretation or historical evidence will be corrected with a dated note.
Source note
This study distinguishes documented intellectual borrowing, organisational statements and separately investigated conduct. The educational example establishes a published mission, not the beliefs of every pupil. The minority-violence findings retain the periods and attribution of the cited investigations. The English rendering of Gurbani is a learning aid, following the contextual explanation in Darpan; it does not replace the Gurmukhi. The initial source review was recorded on 23 September 2026. All online references below were accessed or rechecked on 5 October 2026; the scope of consultation is stated in the individual notes.
[1] Marzia Casolari, “Hindutva’s Foreign Tie-Up in the 1930s: Archival Evidence”, Economic and Political Weekly, 35(4), 22 January 2000, pp. 218–228. Consulted the article reproduced on Academia.edu and Casolari’s “Hindutva’s Fascist Heritage”, hosted by SabrangIndia, 28 April 2016, especially “Moonje’s Plans for Militarising Hindus”. Diary, newspaper and programme extracts are taken from Casolari’s research; the original archival documents were not independently inspected. Casolari dates preparatory work to 1934 and spells the school “Bhonsla”. This article uses the institutional spelling “Bhonsala”. The school’s own “Heritage” account dates the society to 1935 and the Nashik school’s inauguration to 12 June 1937; these are distinct from the preparatory work.
[2] Shabad Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Ramkali, Mahalla 1, Sidh Gosht, stanzas 43–44, Panna 942 and Panna 943, SriGranth. Commentary: Professor Sahib Singh Ji, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Darpan, displayed alongside the text at SriGranth.
[3] V. D. Savarkar, writing as “A Maratha”, Hindutva, May 1923. Scanned edition hosted by Savarkar.org, title page and printed pp. 110–113. The quotation is on printed p. 113, within the scan’s 112–113 spread (PDF page 60); printed and PDF page numbers differ. The wording and punctuation were visually rechecked on 5 October 2026. A later online quotation at Pranasutra omits “nationally” and replaces the semicolon with a comma; the quotation here follows the 1923 printing.
[4] Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, “Basic FAQ on RSS”, 3 June 2017. Sections on the founder, shakha and Hindu national identity. Used as the organisation’s own account.
[5] Sammyh S. Khan, Ted Svensson, Yashpal A. Jogdand and James H. Liu, “Lessons From the Past for the Future: The Definition and Mobilisation of Hindu Nationhood by the Hindu Nationalist Movement of India”, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 5(2), 2017, pp. 477–511. DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v5i2.736. A thematic analysis of Savarkar and Golwalkar, including national membership and exclusion.
[6] Savarkar memorial website, “Q & A”, 29 May 2017, account of Savarkar’s intellectual influences, the June 1907 Mazzini publication and his family, including his elder brother Ganesh Damodar, known as Babarao. The Marathi volume itself was not independently examined.
[7] Vikram Visana, “Savarkar before Hindutva: Sovereignty, Republicanism, and Populism in India, c.1900–1920”, Modern Intellectual History, 18(4), December 2021, pp. 1106–1129; first published online 5 November 2020. DOI: 10.1017/S1479244320000384. The publisher’s abstract and references were consulted; the attributed findings used here appear in the abstract.
[8] M. S. Golwalkar, We, or Our Nationhood Defined (Nagpur: Bharat Publications, 1939). Consulted electronic transcription hosted at sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com: chapter III, pp. 87–88; chapter V, pp. 104–105; preface, pp. 7–8. These page numbers belong to the re-typeset transcription, not the original printing. The passages were cross-checked against [5]. For the distinction between earlier Nazi persecution and the later systematic murder programme, see the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “‘Final Solution’: Overview”.
[9] Akshaya Mukul, “RSS officially disowns Golwalkar’s book”, The Times of India, 9 March 2006. This is a contemporary report of the distancing and abridgement claim. Golwalkar’s preface in [8] names G. D. Savarkar’s Rashtra Meemansa as an inspiration and mentions a forthcoming English translation. No independent comparison with the complete Marathi work is claimed here. For G. D. Savarkar’s identity, see the family account in [6].
[10] “Kahn Singh”, The Sikh Encyclopedia, for the 1898 publication date. See also J. S. Grewal, “An Argument for Sikh Nationality: Nabha’s Ham Hindū Nahīn”, in History, Literature, and Identity: Four Centuries of Sikh Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 275–297; publisher’s abstract consulted. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198070740.003.0015.
[11] Jitender Veer Sarvhitkari Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 71, Mohali, school website, “Vidya Bharati Mission”, the separate “Our Mission” section and the footer identifying Sarvhitkari Educational Society as Vidya Bharati’s state unit, read on 5 October 2026. The institution’s name and managing society follow the CBSE SARAS record, affiliation 1631282. A dated text extract of the mission statements and network description was retained in the research record on 5 October 2026; it is not an independently hosted web archive. No classroom observation or pupil-belief study is claimed.
[12] Human Rights Watch, Politics by Other Means: Attacks Against Christians in India, vol. 11, no. 6(C), October 1999. See chapter IV, “Violence in Gujarat”, including the Dangs investigation and recorded denials.
[13] Human Rights Watch, Violent Cow Protection in India: Vigilante Groups Attack Minorities, February 2019. See Summary and Methodology for the dated totals, eleven detailed cases and scope of the investigation.
Strong disagreement is welcome. Contempt is not.
Bhul chuk maaf karni Ji.
Gurjit Singh Sandhu
PanthSeva
London