Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s Iron Man, took an unflinching political and legal stand against the RSS in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948.
While acknowledging its nationalist façade, Patel held the RSS’s divisive and extremist ideology directly responsible for breeding the climate of hatred that enabled Gandhi’s murder.
As Home Minister, he swiftly banned the organization, condemning its secretive operations, glorification of violence, and contempt for constitutional values. Patel demanded total ideological reform and a binding written pledge to uphold India’s secular Constitution. His decisive action was a clear message: no force—however cloaked in patriotism—can be allowed to endanger the Republic.
