The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh i.e. RSS was going to be 7 months after the establishment of the RSS that Dr. Keshav Balram Hedgewar called a meeting on 17 April 1926 at his house. 26 volunteers came in it. Suggestions were sought from them that if your organization should have a name, then suggest. There was also an immediate reason for this naming. Ramtek Tehsil of Nagpur was a pilgrimage center, where thousands of people used to gather on the festival of Ram Navami every year. There was no system to control that crowd in the British Raj.
Hedgewar felt that if disciplined volunteers make arrangements there, then a good message will go in the society. The problem was that without the name of any organization, they would also remain crowded. This meeting was called to solve this problem.
The finals were chosen from these three suggestions
According to Nana Palekar, the secretary of that meeting wrote in his report, “A total of 26 members were present. After much discussion, three names were sorted out, voting took place. No one else voted except ”.
Zari Patka Mandal had a direct relationship with Peshwai, this saffron symbol has always been respected. Professor PK Savalapurkar, who was present in this meeting, wrote that, “The name of Jari Patka Mandal was suggested by a college student of the first year, who later became a judge”. However, he also claims that the name ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ was already in the mind of Hedgewar. After the name was decided, Hedgewar asked these professors to speak on the meaning of this name and he also spoke for half an hour.
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The name of the Sangh is not because of this ‘Maharashtra’ or Hindu
However, some more names were also discussed, such as ‘Shivaji Sangh’. A suggestion of ‘Maharashtra Swayamsevak Sangh’ also came, while someone also suggested the name ‘Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh’. In this, Dr. Headgwar said, ‘We respect every great man and every state, but it will not be right to be named after a great man or the same state. We have to become the organization of the whole of India.
Later, many people also objected to Dr. Hedgewar about the name. Many people were surprised even if the name ‘Hindu’ was not in the name. Then Hedgewar explained to him the prevalence of the word ‘Hindu’. Even after this meeting, discussions continued for a long time, then the name was finalized.
It is clear that the union was not named easily. The volunteers and founder of that time, Dr. KB Hedgewar, had not even thought what the name of this organization would be, what would be uniform (costume). Who will be his chief and what will be his post, what will be the rules etc. But yes, what the organization wants and what they would do was decided.
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