Let this piece begin with a rejoinder that there exists a differentiation among the Hindus of India between those who are adherents of RSS ideology and those who are not. This distinction is essential to understand the prevailing socio-political environment of present-day India, which, in many aspects, is no different from Pakistan, where a broad gulf divides the followers and detractors of the extreme religious groups.
Having made the division clear, it should be evident that what follows in the subsequent paragraphs is not about Hindus, but about the supporters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu extremist and militant party, who lose no chance to display their hatred for Muslims. Unfortunately, Bhartia Janta Party (BJP) the political arm of RSS, that is in essence a progressive reflection of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is in power in India in the centre as well as in 20 of 31 states and Union Territories. Pakistan, therefore, has to devise a careful strategy to tackle Hindu extremists on its eastern borders.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a proud member of RSS since he was eight years old and was trained in the Savarkar, Hedgewar, Golwalkar and Mohan Bhagat ideology of “one religion, one culture.” During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he made Islamophobic remarks in 110 of the 173 speeches that he delivered. As is evident in his many of these statements, he doesn’t have favourable views of Muslims at large and Indian Muslims in particular. He would rather have them marginalized than see them in the mainstream.
Golwalkar, the second and the longest serving head of RSS, advised his follower in these words;
"Hindus, don't waste your energy fighting the British. Save your energy to fight our internal enemies that are Muslims, Christians, and Communists.” Bajrang Dal is the militant arm among the sister organizations spawned by RSS under the umbrella of the Sangh Parivar (Family of RSS). The Dal has been involved in the massacre of Muslims in Gujrat, burning of Christian churches, cow vigilantism, anti-Valentine day celebration protests, opposing Hindu-Muslim marriages, prohibition of Halal meat, and demolition of the Babri Mosque. It has promoted the restoration of a Krishna Temple by demolition of Eidgah mosque in Mathura and expansion of the Kashi temple in Varanasi over the Gyanvapi mosque. A long list of violent activities undertaken by the Dal have been catalogued here. Modi is a strong supporter of Bajrang Dal and its activities, hence being directly responsible for their unlawful anti-Muslim actions.
The three Rafale jets that India lost in the opening phases of Operation Sindoor cost nearly a billion US dollars. That is a lot of money which could have been used for public benefit
The Modi government has been flexing its military arm at Pakistan for the last decade. It claims to have carried out a surgical strike in October 2016 in Kashmir in response to the killing of 16 Indian soldiers by Kashmiri militants in a military camp in Uri. In February 2019, Kashmiri fighters killed 40 Indian soldiers in Pulwama. Modi responded by carryout airstrikes in Balakot in northern Pakistan. Now, on the 7th of May 2025, Modi carried out Operation Sindoor after four kashmiri militants killed 26 Indian tourists in the Pahalgam resort. All these strikes were carried out before any investigation linked Pakistan to these attacks. In the case of post Pahalgam strikes, when Modi and Indian ministers were making bellicose statements against Pakistan, their European friends advised caution and demanded proof of outside links. This angered the Indians, and their Minister of External Affairs is on record to have said that Indians wanted partners and not preachers. Clearly, India wanted to be treated like Israel in the latter’s dealing with the Palestinians – but the world refused to oblige. European nations have supported the right of India to defend itself against terrorism but have refused to name Pakistan as source of these incidents of terror.
One thing that Pakistan should never forget or overlook is the fact that the RSS, Modi and his associates hate Muslims in general and Pakistan in particular. They have a deep-seated desire to see Muslims eliminated from India, and Pakistan humbled and annihilated. They will not let any occasion go by to make that happen. It is an anathema to them, as often demonstrated by their statements, that any nation in the world would be friendly to Pakistan. Despite the blowing away of their cover in faking the surgical strike, suffering a setback in post Balakot strike and an outright defeat post Pahalgam strikes, Modi Sarkar continues to harbour evil designs against Pakistan. One redeeming factor that has emerged lately is the deteriorating economic and diplomatic relations between US and India, and former’s sudden interest in Pakistan. These developments alone should deter any misadventure by the Modi Sarkar.
Long strides in economy and technology have been made by the countries of the South Asian Subcontinent in the previous decades. That is especially true of India. Yet, with over 20% of world population, the share of the Subcontinent in the world economy remains under 12% and the number of people below the poverty line, at the income rate of $8.25 per day per person, amounting to PKR 71,000, BDT 30,000 and INR 20,500 per month, remains abysmally large. The people below the poverty line, who find it hard to meet both ends in life, have little interest in national or world affairs. India and Pakistan, therefore, cannot afford to spend heavily on procurement of large amount of expensive military hardware, let alone initiate cross border hostilities. The three Rafale jets that India lost in the opening phases of Operation Sindoor cost nearly a billion US dollars. That is a lot of money which could have been used for public benefit.
Hubris leads to ruin. Modi and his ilk have large egos and consider themselves part of some grand heavenly design for the glorification of Hindutva. They rule in a dictatorial manner. Dictators have a bad habit of basing their right to rule in divine interventions, not in the will of the people. They are also prone to demolishing the economic gains made under their rule rather than go away quietly. This is no different from the assumed grand designs of ISIS , the Taliban of some presumed Khorasani lashkar marching down the Oxus-Jaxartes and Tigris-Euphrates to the glory of Islam.
These are dangerous thought systems and do not augur well for the peace and prosperity of the Subcontinent. Pragmatism is a word very poorly understood and followed in this part of the world.
As the Pakistani nation celebrated Independence Day this month, it is imperative to remember that as long as the RSS is holding political and military power across the border, our guards have to be up all the time – with a sharp eye on whatever movements they make in the military or diplomatic spheres.