When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh speaks, the BJP not just listens but also heeds. This time though, things are different.
Five days after RSS second in command Dattatreya Hosabale told PTI News agency that India should be ready to engage in a dialogue with Pakistan, the saffron brotherhood is still calibrating a response to the controversial suggestion that flies in the face of BJP led Government’s stand that terror and talks cannot go together.
None other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly stressed the Indian position on talks with Pakistan post the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. He has said India will no longer distinguish between terrorists and the states protecting them. This policy of holding both attackers and their sponsors accountable has been the cornerstone of national security strategy since the Pahalgam attack.
But Hosabale’s suggestion diverts from this.
The BJP in fact appears to be wondering why the RSS general secretary, widely believed to be Sangh supremo Mohan Bhagwat’s successor, said what he said and what his motivation was.
Enquiries by The Tribune have revealed that the Sangh is also anxious post the controversial remarks by its senior functionary.
The RSS leaders are said to be mulling a response on the issue with reliable sources saying that Hosabale’s statement was impromptu and made during the flow of an interview. It was not particularly calibrated, they say.
“The RSS general secretary did not advocate talks with the Pakistan state. He said a window with its people, who share our culture, should be kept open just in case talks have to resume some day. He distinguished between the people of Pakistan and the Pakistani military leadership by saying that appropriate responses must follow terror strikes of the likes of Pulwama and Pahalgam," said an RSS leader.
That apart, there is a sense of concern and worry in the Sangh over Pakistan welcoming Hosabale’s take and Pakistani media playing up the issue.
RSS leaders are learnt to be discussing the repercussions of Hosabale’s remarks and the perception these have created.
They may react in due course or may let the matter rest. It is not clear either way.
What is clear is — just like the BJP, which appears to be in stunned silence, the RSS is also choosing to stay private about this issue.
None of the right wing outfits have officially endorsed Dattatreya Hosabale’s advice on Pakistan just yet.
The BJP has clearly distanced itself from the matter by staying aloof and distant from Hosabale’s position.
This is in stark contrast to last June when RSS second in command Dattatreya Hosabale called for a review of the words, “secular and socialist" in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution and ruling BJP’s top brass backed him.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal came out openly to endorse Hosabale’s statements even though days later, Meghwal told the Parliament that the Government had no immediate plans of dropping the twin terms.
Chouhan went as far as to say — the words secular and socialist militate against the core values of India and were controversially inserted in the Preamble during the Emergency. Soon afterward, then Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar described the two words as “ulcers".
What happened in June 2025 was expected. The Sangh Parivar spoke in one voice with Hosabale.
The ruling BJP acknowledged, even validated the parent organisation leader’s statement, aligning itself with the ideological position the Sangh general secretary articulated.
But this expected alignment of BJP and RSS positions didn’t happen this week when Hosabale recommended a dialogue with the Pakistan civil society while stating that the country’s military leadership was untrustworthy and had lost confidence.
What led him to say this — only time will tell.
