RSS Emergency Scandal: 7 Shocking Truths That Expose the Myth of Resistance

Fifty years after the Emergency, the BJP-RSS narrative of heroic resistance crumbles under scrutiny. Archival evidence reveals RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras wrote to Indira Gandhi, pledging support for Sanjay Gandhi’s 20-point program, while many RSS members signed apology letters to secure jail releases—contrary to their claims of steadfast opposition. Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 1942 Quit India apology mirrored this pattern of compromise.

Today, as the BJP condemns the 1975 Emergency, India faces an “undeclared emergency” under its own rule: dissent is criminalized, minorities targeted, and institutions undermined. While socialists and communists bore the brunt of Indira’s repression, the RSS prioritized survival over struggle. The hypocrisy is glaring—celebrating past resistance while eroding democracy in the present. The real lesson? Authoritarianism thrives not just through force, but through rewritten histories and silenced dissent.

RSS Emergency Scandal: 7 Shocking Truths That Expose the Myth of Resistance

As India recently marked 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency (1975-77), political narratives have clashed over who truly resisted authoritarianism—and who quietly compromised. While the BJP and RSS claim heroic opposition, historical records reveal a different story—one of apology letters, political expediency, and a stark contrast between rhetoric and reality.  

The Emergency: A Dark Chapter Revisited 

The Emergency, declared by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, remains one of independent India’s most controversial periods. Democratic rights were suspended, dissent was crushed, and thousands—including opposition leaders, activists, and journalists—were imprisoned without trial. Yet, some Dalit leaders recall the era differently, acknowledging Indira Gandhi’s earlier progressive measures like bank nationalization and the abolition of privy purses.  

Last month, the Union Cabinet passed a resolution condemning the Emergency, lauding those who opposed it. The BJP, in particular, has aggressively positioned itself as a key resistance force—a claim echoed by the RSS. But does history support this narrative?  

The RSS’s Real Role: Apologies, Not Agitation 

Contrary to the BJP’s self-congratulatory stance, archival evidence and testimonies from journalists and political insiders suggest a far less heroic role.  

• Prabhash Joshi, the legendary journalist, exposed how RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras wrote to Indira Gandhi, pledging support for Sanjay Gandhi’s infamous 20-point program—a key justification for the Emergency. Joshi noted that many RSS and Jana Sangh members signed apology letters (mafinamas) to secure early release from jail.  

• TV Rajeswar, former Governor of UP and Sikkim, documented in his book India: The Crucial Years that the RSS sought alliances with both Indira and Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency.  

• Subramanian Swami (BJP) admitted in The Hindu (June 13, 2000) that Deoras and Vajpayee wrote apology letters to Indira Gandhi, distancing the RSS from Jayaprakash Narayan’s anti-Emergency movement. 

Dr. Suresh Khairnar, a freedom fighter and former chief of Rashtra Seva Dal, recalled confronting RSS inmates in jail for their betrayal. Their response? They were merely following Veer Savarkar’s philosophy—one of strategic compromise rather than confrontation.  

A Pattern of Compromise, Not Confrontation 

This was not the first time RSS-affiliated leaders chose apology over resistance:  

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee, arrested during the 1942 Quit India Movement, promptly disassociated himself from the rebellion in a written apology—securing his immediate release.  

• During the Emergency, while socialists, communists, and civil liberties activists endured imprisonment, RSS cadres were eager to negotiate their way out. 

As Prabhash Joshi aptly summarized:  

“They are not a fighting force, and they are never keen to fight. They are basically a compromising lot. They are never genuinely against the government.”  

From 1975 to 2025: An ‘Undeclared Emergency’? 

While the BJP-RSS glorify their supposed resistance to the 1975 Emergency, India today faces what LK Advani himself called an “undeclared Emergency” in a 2015 interview (The Indian Express). The parallels are unsettling:  

• Muzzling of dissent: Journalists, activists, and students face arrests under draconian laws.  

• Politicized prosecutions: The Bhima Koregaon case, prolonged detentions of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima, and others.  

• Institutional erosion: Judiciary, media, and investigative agencies face unprecedented pressure.  

• Majoritarian aggression: Lynchings, bulldozer justice, and laws targeting interfaith marriages and dietary choices. 

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index consistently ranks India as an “electoral autocracy”—a far cry from the democratic ideals the BJP claims to uphold.  

Conclusion: Rewriting History vs. Facing Reality 

The RSS-BJP’s myth-making around the Emergency is a deliberate attempt to whitewash their past compromises. The real heroes were the socialists, communists, and civil rights activists who endured imprisonment without apology.  

Today, as India slides into another era of suppressed freedoms, the question is not just about who resisted in 1975, but who is resisting now—and whether the BJP-RSS will ever acknowledge their own role in enabling authoritarianism, then and now.  

The lesson from history is clear: True democracy is defended not by rewriting the past, but by confronting the present.