Bal Swayam Sevak Sangam – A Report

Bal Swayamsevak Sangam, Amravati
Youth mission: An impressive attempt
By Virag Pachpore – Organiser

“Who says RSS is witnessing a retarded growth these days? Who claims there is no inflow of new swayamsevaks in the daily RSS shakhas? They should come and see these resurgent and reverberating children gathered here from all over Vidarbha region, marching in tune towards a definite goal—the goal to take Bharat Mata to the highest pinnacle of glory; a goal to make her Vishwaguru—world leader once again”.

This was the instant reaction of a very senior and famous journalist of Amravati—a premier city of Vidarbha region, now more famous because the President of India Smt Pratibha Patil belong to this city, Pradeep Deshpande, editor of Janmadhyam, a largely circulated Marathi daily of Western Vidarbha region, who witnessed the splendid route march of the 2000-odd Bal swayamsevaks gathered there from 98 places in all the 11 districts of Vidarbha at the three-day winter camp of RSS.

“The participation of Bal swayamsevaks studying in standard VII to IX from all districts of Vidarbha is a hard slap on the face of the critics of RSS,” was the instant reaction of Shri Deshpande, who was never associated with the organisation.

The camp was organised at Amravati from December 18-20, 2009, but the preparations for the event began nearly six months in advance. It was routine for RSS workers to attend short duration camps in winter and long duration training camps in summer. But this was unique in the sense that every participant was selected after he cleared all the qualifying preconditions for the camp at his level. Each town was given a quota of only 22 Bal swayamsevaks, and they were selected after a strict test of various physical and intellectual qualifying preconditions. Different competitions like patriotic songs, Suryanamaskars, kabaddi etc. were organised and the swayamsevaks prepared themselves for these competitions. A total of 6500 swayamsevaks were initially selected and from amongst them only 1545 were granted entry to the camp after passing the selection process which continued for six months in all the shakhas of Vidarbha.

Each participating swayamsevak was given a special invitation letter signed by Vidarbha Prant Karyavah of RSS. The letter guaranteed not only entry to the camp, but also acknowledged the efforts taken by that swayamsevak to make him fit for the same. This added a special significance to the camp.

The spectacular route march of the swayamsevaks was supported by an impressive Band Unit of 280. This was divided into five units and they marched with perfect cohesion, coordination and harmony. There was not a single moment when one could detect any flaw in their playing of various instruments and the marching steps. The people of Amravati welcomed these ‘future of Bharat’ with open hearts showering flower petals, rangolis, and slogans—Kaun chale bhai kaun chale-Bharat maa ke lal chale’. Later commenting on the route march Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat said Dr Hedgewar, the founder of RSS saw great potential in these Bal swayamsevaks when he started the Sangh. Today, the RSS has become a force to reckon with not only in Bharat but the world also takes cognizance of its existence.

The enthusiasm of these children was so high that they refused to be budged by the torrential rain that lashed Amravati on the midnight of the very first day of the camp. There was no sign of rain till night and suddenly after mid-night it started raining cats and dogs throwing all the arrangements to the winds. But that did not deter the swayamsevkas. Their spirit was very high. Immediately help came from the people and alternate arrangements were made in nearby public halls in Kiran Nagar area of the city. People even offered to make arrangements in their houses for the participants.

Addressing the grand public function of the camp organised at Prerana Sthal of Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, Shri Mohan Bhagwat, who spent a day with the participants, said that Bharatiya Sanskriti inculcates love for mother and motherland. We follow a lot of gods and goddesses, worship according to different ways, but love for motherland is the one common bond that binds all of us together. The country can be made powerful, strong and vibrant with inculcation of this love for motherland alone. The Sangh has been doing this work since its foundation.

Shri Bhagwat said that Sangh wanted to create an army of individuals who harbour uncompromising love for the motherland. There were many leaders, many policies and schemes, but that did not change the condition of the society. Problems remained the same, nay they aggravated further. Today our borders are not safe and secure, rising prices of essential commodities have made life hell for the common man, unemployment and suicides by the farmers have further aggravated the problems. To overcome all these ills, the only solution is to create a strong force of patriotic, nation-loving patriots and the Sangh is exactly doing the same since last 84 years, he said.

Hitting hard at those raising the language issue, Shri Bahgwat said it was ironical that we don’t take pride in belonging to a great culture, and a strong country, but raise petty issues like language, caste and religion and engage ourselves in fight. This will weaken the country and divide the society into various fragments. We must give up this and stand as a united, strong, patriotic and vibrant nation.

Noted industrialist Shri Sanjay Jadhav presided over the concluding function.

Vidarbha Prant Sanghachalak Shri Dadarao Bhadke and Sah Prant Sanghachalak Shri Ram Harkare also shared the dias. Thousands of Amravatikars attended the concluding programme.