The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s decades-long efforts to politicise sadhus in the pursuit of its grand project appear to be coming to fruition. Until now, it was the RSS, through the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, that organised dharma sansads and lured sadhus into attendance. Now, sadhus, especially those who enjoy the backing of the RSS, are themselves doing what their mentor wants them to do—organising dharma sansads not to discuss religious issues or spread the message of the Hindu monastic class, but to promote Hindutva politics to the masses by stoking communal disharmony. The Haridwar dharma sansad demonstrated this shift.
The event in Haridwar was held over three days in mid December 2021. Several sadhus gave incendiary speeches that, among other things, called for the massacre of Muslims before they became sadhus. Others, including Yati Narsinghanand, another senior monk of the Juna Akhara, now notorious for his hate speech at Haridwar, are part and parcel of the Hindutva politics of the Sangh Parivar.
