Taking umbrage over the portrayal of freedom fighter Rajguru as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) 'sevak' in a recently released book, his descendants have asserted that there was no evidence to prove the freedom fighter's association with the Sangh.
The book, written by former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak and journalist Narender Sehgal, claims that Shivaram Rajguru, who was sent to the gallows along with Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev Thapar in 1931, was a Sangh "swayamsevak".
"There is no proof available (to suggest) that Rajguru was a RSS swayamsevak and neither did our grandfather tell us so," Satyasheel and Harshwardhan Rajguru, grandsons of the revolutionary freedom fighter's brother, said in Pune on Monday, 2 April.
"However, it is true that during Rajguru's brief stay at Nagpur, the arrangements for their stay were made by a Sangh swayamsevak," they told a Marathi news channel.
Rajguru fought for the entire country’s freedom. His name should not be associated with any particular organisation.Rajguru’s kin
Senior RSS leader M G Vaidya said that RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar might have made "secret arrangements" for Rajguru's stay in Nagpur.
Asked if Rajguru had visited the Mohite Bagh unit of the RSS in Nagpur, the Sangh's headquarters, Vaidya said:
‘You are asking if Rajguru visited (the branch). He may have come. Did Dr Hedgewar make some arrangements for him? He may have done so. When Aruna Asaf Ali was underground during the freedom movement, she stayed at the house of Delhi RSS functionary Hansraj Gupta’
"If (Rajguru) came (to Nagpur), there is a possibility that Dr Hedgewar made secret arrangements for his stay. This is a possibility as Dr Hedgewar was a revolutionary and had relations with revolutionaries," he said.
On being asked whether there were occasions when Rajguru was discussed in the Sangh’s 'boudhik' deliberations, Vaidya, the former RSS Boudhik Pramukh (in-charge of intellectual training), said, "At least I have not heard of this".
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