Organiser (newspaper)
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''Organiser'' is an affiliated publication of the right wing,
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
organisation
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
(RSS), launched as a newspaper in 1947 in the weeks before the
Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
. Despite its professed claims of independence, it is regarded by scholars as an official organ of the RSS. The newspaper has been edited by A. R. Nair,
K. R. Malkani Kewalram Ratanmal Malkani (19 November 1921 – 27 October 2003) was a journalist, historian and politician associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Vice-President of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 1991 to 1994. He was Member of ...
,
L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...
, V. P. Bhatia, Seshadri Chari and Dr R. Balashanker. The current editor is Prafulla Ketkar. ''Organiser'' was relaunched in a magazine format since the edition of 1 April 2014.


History

After the
second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the leadership of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
(RSS) contemplated how to communicate its views quickly to the growing membership of the organisation. Its theoretical underpinnings established by the founder
K. B. Hedgewar Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1 April 1889 – 21 June 1940), also known by his moniker Doctorji, was an Indian physician and the founding ''Sarsanghachalak'' (or "Chief") of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Hedgewar founded the RSS in Nagpur ...
discouraged publicity and mass communication. He preferred informal communication of verbal messages carried by
RSS pracharak The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian Right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hind ...
s (full-time workers). However, in the run-up to Indian independence, the "activist pracharaks"–those that favoured more wide-ranging activities for the RSS than societal organisation—argued that the RSS needed to publicise its position on the
Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...
, on the goals of
independent India Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...
and on how Hindus should respond to communal tension. After discussion, the RSS leaders consented to the establishment of trusts that could publish newspapers and journals sympathetic to the RSS. Consequently, in late 1946, the swayamsevaks (volunteer members) in the
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
and
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
region sold shares for the
Bharat Prakashan Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to: * Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages ** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent (or South Asia) * Bharata, the name of several legendary figures or groups: ** Bhar ...
Trust and raised Rs. 400,000. The Bharat Prakashan Trust started publishing the ''Organiser'' as a weekly starting on 3 July 1947, roughly a month after the British announcement to grant independence and partition the country. The initial issues of Organiser focused on the impending partition of India and called for resistance to such proposals. The 1948 ban of the RSS following the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at age 78 in the compound of Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in central New Delhi. His assassin was Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Chitpavan Brahmin from Pune, Maharashtra, a ...
and the press attacks on the RSS strengthened the `activist' members calling for a network of newspapers. In subsequent years, further newspapers were started in vernacular languages, including ''Panchjanya'' and ''Rashtra Shakti'', and a news wire service
Hindusthan Samachar Hindusthan Samachar is the first multilingual news agency in India subscribed by more than 200 newspapers and almost all the news channels including Door Darshan (DD). It was set up in 1948 by S. S. Apte, offering its services in 10 languages: B ...
. `Activist' members of the RSS worked for the Organiser and other newspapers of the RSS. They were also the most regular contributors to the Organiser, writing on a wide range of social and policy issues where the RSS had a point of view. * In 1949, it argued for
political participation Citizen Participation or Public Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participato ...
by the RSS. * In 1952, ''Organiser'' opposed
Federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
and separate provincial governments. It also opposed the linguistic reorganisation of the states. * It opposed the
Hindu Code Bill The Hindu code bills were several laws passed in the 1950s that aimed to codify and reform Hindu personal law in India, abolishing religious law in favor of a common law code. Following India's independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress ...
. * It announced the formation of the
Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
organisations such as the
Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...
and the
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...
, and explained their rationale. It also printed regular news reports regarding their activities. * In 1954, it supported the RSS faction in the
Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...
and denounced the president
Mauli Chandra Sharma Mauli Chandra Sharma (M. C. Sharma) was a senior Indian politician, originally of the Indian National Congress. He was a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, serving as its Vice-President and President, before being forced out by the Rash ...
. * In 1980, it denounced the
Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
leadership over the dual membership issue and warned it that it would lose support both inside and outside the party. * In 1983, it took the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
to task for its alleged failure to attract "mass support," while it was able to attract non-Hindus. * In 1990, it denounced the
Mandal Commission The ''Mandal Commission'' or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educa ...
recommendation of reservations. * In 1998, it contemplated the form of the national government, whether it should be parliamentary, presidential, or some other form. * It denounced multinationals, the World Bank loans and the
economic liberalisation Economic liberalization (or economic liberalisation) is the lessening of government regulations and restrictions in an economy in exchange for greater participation by private entities. In politics, the doctrine is associated with classical liber ...
. * It campaigned against the NCERT textbooks that went against Hindu nationalist views. * In 1997, it covered the reconversion of tribal Christians. * It consistently paints the
Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
leader
B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
as a Hindu nationalist, an anti-Muslim and an opponent of the
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
party. * It expresses outrage about the perceived injustices to Hindus.


Current status

In February 2013, media reports indicated that the RSS had dismissed the editors of the ''Organiser'' as well as ''Panchjanya'' for having taken a pro-Narendra Modi stand ahead of the RSS's endorsement of him as the Prime Ministerial candidate, and while they extended no support for the BJP President
Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways cur ...
. Vijay Kumar, the Managing Director of Bharat Prakashan took temporary charge as the editor of ''Organiser''. In July, Prafull Ketkar, a political scientist from the BRD Arts and Commerce College for Women in
Nashik Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...
, was appointed as the editor. Multiple controversial articles have since appeared in the magazine, most notorious of which being an article calling
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
a "Godless country." The article invited widespread condemnation including a censure by the
Press Council of India The Press Council of India is a statutory, adjudicating organisation in India formed in 1966 by its parliament. It is the self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press Council Act of 1978., Q ...
. The publication of an interview of the RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat Mohan Bhagwat (, Marathi pronunciation: oːɦən bʱaːɡʋət̪ born 11 September 1950) is an activist currently serving as the 6th and current Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in India. He was chosen as the successor to K. ...
in the run-up to the Bihar polls is said to have embarrassed the BJP government and contributed to the defeat of the party in the polls. In January 2016, the RSS has appointed Jagadish Upasane, a former journalist with ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' and a director in the Bharat Prakashan Trust, as a "group editor" with full control over the editorial content of both ''Organiser'' and ''Panchjanya''.RSS appoints senior journalist Jagadish Upasane as group editor
Indian Express, 13 January 2016.


See also

* ''Panchjanya'' (newspaper)


References

; Sources * * * {{refend


External links


''Organiser''
1947 establishments in India Hindutva English-language magazines published in India English-language newspapers published in India Magazines established in 2014 Magazines published in Delhi News magazines published in India Publications established in 1947 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sangh Parivar Weekly magazines published in India World magazines