As RSS journal ‘Organiser’ turns 80, Vice President calls himself an ‘ordinary swayamsevak’

Vice President CP Radhakrishnan on Friday described himself as an ordinary swayamsevak performing his national duty.

The V-P was delivering the valedictory address at the day-long celebration of the 80th anniversary of RSS magazine, the Organiser.

Speaking in the presence of RSS second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale, Radhakrishnan addressed the dais where other Sangh volunteers sat, and said, "Like you, we are ordinary swayamsevaks performing our national duty."

The V-P recalled his decades-old association with the Organiser saying he subscribed to the magazine after reading its select portions quoted in Tyag Bhoomi, the only RSS journal printed in Tamil language.

The V-P hailed Organiser for shaping national narratives on the Uniform Civil Code and Ram Mandir movement, saying the editor of Organiser, KR Malkani, was the first editor to be jailed after the imposition of the Emergency in 1975.

Radhakrishnan said the Organiser promoted a dialogue, bringing to its pages diverse viewpoints. "No democracy can survive without positive discussion," the V-P said, adding that today the Organiser is read in 54 countries.

Speaking before the V-P, Hosabale said the Organiser "was a part of the nationalist movement and the most quoted journal in the Indian Parliament."

"Journalism in modern times has become a business which I can understand given the demands of time. But the Organiser ran only on one capital -- commitment," said the RSS general secretary, adding that it is not easy to run a magazine when the ruling party is also from the same ideological family (read the BJP).

The event saw the presence of former editors of Organiser, including Sheshadri Chari and R Balakrishnan. The event was led by Prafulla Ketkar, the current editor of the magazine.