After Golwalkar rejoined the RSS, Hedgewar began grooming him for leadership and he was placed in charge of the All-India Officers' Training Camp from 1937 to 1939. Although he had only ever been a lab assistant, Golwalkar presented himself as a professor, in an attempt to enhance popular admiration and glorify his personality. His acquaintances and followers referred to him as "
Guruji" (meaning "Teacher"), largely due to his image as a former professor and intellectual. Golwalkar's abilities (managing complex details of the large camp, public speaking, reading, and writing) were appreciated. In 1938, he was asked to translate
G. D. Savarkar's 1934
Marathi language (
Nationalism) into
Hindi and English. The resulting book,
We or Our Nationhood Defined, was published in Golwalkar's name and regarded as a systematic treatment of RSS ideology; the claim that it was an abridged translation was only made by Golwalkar in a 1963 speech. However, a comparative analysis of
Marathi language and
We or Our Nationhood Defined shows that the latter was indeed not a translation, but only text inspired by the former. Specifically, the pro-
Nazi ideas were Golwalkar's own. In 1939, at a
Gurupooja festival, Hedgewar announced that Golwalkar would be the next general secretary (, the second-most-important position in the RSS). A day before his death on 21 June 1940, he gave Golwalkar a sheet of paper asking him to be the RSS leader. On 3 July, five state-level (directors) in Nagpur announced Hedgewar's decision. Golwalkar's choice was said to have stunned the RSS volunteers as Hedgewar had passed over several senior activists. Golwalkar's background, training, and interests made him an unlikely successor, and
Madhukar Dattatraya Deoras said that several RSS leaders were skeptical about Golwalkar's ability as a . In retrospect, Hedgewar's grooming (including encouragement to obtain a law degree and the authorship of
We or Our Nationhood Defined), is seen as key to Golwalkar's later success. One reason for his choice is that he was thought likely to maintain RSS independence, otherwise liable to be regarded as a youth front of the
Hindu Mahasabha. As the leader of the RSS for more than 30 years, Golwalkar made it one of the strongest religious-political organisations in India; its membership expanded from 100,000 to over one million, and it branched out into the political, social, religious, educational, and labour fields through 50
front organisations. The RSS extended to foreign countries, where Hindus were recruited into organisations such as the Bharatiya Swayamsevak Sangh or the
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh. There was a subtle yet important shift in the RSS worldview. One of Golwalkar's major innovations was an
anti-communist,
anti-socialist ideology, with the slogan "Not socialism but Hinduism". According to
D. R. Goyal, the RSS'
anti-Marxist tinge made it popular with the wealthy sections of society who generously supported it. The RSS expanded into
Jammu and Kashmir in 1940, when
Balraj Madhok was sent as a to
Jammu with
Prem Nath Dogra as director. A was founded in
Srinagar in 1944, and Golwalkar visited the city in 1946.
Reorientation Golwalkar's religiosity and apparent disinterest in politics convinced some RSS members that the organisation was no longer relevant to the
nationalist struggle. It remained separate from the
freedom movement, and connections with the Hindu Mahasabha were severed. The RSS membership in the Marathi-speaking districts of Bombay became disillusioned and the Bombay , K. B. Limaye, resigned. Several defected and formed the
Hindu Rashtra Dal in 1943, with an agenda of a paramilitary struggle against British rule;
Nathuram Godse (
Gandhi's assassin) was a leader of that group. However, Golwalkar moved quickly to consolidate his position. He created a network of (provincial organisers), who would report to him rather than to the . Golwalkar recruited local Congress leaders to preside over RSS functions, demonstrating the organisation's independence from the Hindu Mahasabha. The RSS continued to expand
during the Second World War, especially in
North India and present-day
Pakistan. Many new members were religious,
small-scale entrepreneurs interested in consolidating their
caste positions with the RSS' Hindu symbols. Organisation policy during the war years was influenced by potential threats to Hinduism, with the RSS expected to be prepared to defend Hindu interests in the event of a
possible Japanese invasion. It also expected a renewed Hindu-Muslim struggle after the war. Golwalkar did not want to give the
British colonial government an excuse to ban the RSS. He complied with all governmental instructions, disbanding the RSS military department and avoiding the
Quit India movement. The British acknowledged that "the organisation scrupulously kept itself within the law, and refrained from taking part in the disturbances that broke out in August, 1942". In a speech given in June 1942, Golwalkar stated, "Sangh does not want to blame anybody else for the present degraded state of the [Indian] society. When the people start blaming others, then there is basically weakness in them. It is futile to blame the strong for the injustice done to the weak… Sangh does not want to waste its invaluable time in abusing or criticising others. If we know that large fish eat the smaller ones, it is outright madness to blame the big fish. Law of nature, whether good or bad, is true all the time. This rule does not change by terming it unjust". Golwalkar appeared ideologically opposed to an anti-British struggle. As per
Shamsul Islam and
Ram Puniyani, the RSS pledged to defend India's freedom by defending religion and culture, and there was "no mention of the departure of the British". He called the conflation of anti-Britishism with patriotism and nationalism a 'Reactionary View', which would have disastrous effects upon the entire course of the freedom struggle. Golwalkar acknowledged that his attitude confused people (including many in the RSS), leading them to distrust the Sangh. At the peak of the freedom struggle Golwalkar had famously uttered: "Hindus, don't waste your energy fighting the British. Save your energy to fight our internal enemies that are
Muslims,
Christians, and
Communists."
Ban and arrest When
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 by
Nathuram Godse, there was widespread apprehension that the RSS was involved. Golwalkar and 20,000 were arrested on 4 February, and the RSS was banned for "promoting violence and subversion". Godse said that he acted on his initiative, and no official connection between the RSS and Gandhi's assassination has ever been made. However, Nathuram Godse's brother
Gopal Godse—also accused in the assassination plot—said that Nathuram never left the RSS, and his statement was designed to protect the RSS and Golwalkar (who were in deep trouble after the assassination). Golwalkar was released on 5 August, after the six-month statutory limit expired. The RSS ban continued, and Golwalkar tried to negotiate with
Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel about having it lifted. The mass arrests, violence against members, and the ban by an independent Indian government of what was understood as a patriotic organisation was a shock to the RSS membership. Patel asked the RSS to join the Congress, but Golwalkar declined. Patel then demanded, as a precondition, that the RSS adopt a written constitution. Golwalkar responded by beginning a
satyagraha on 9 December 1948, and, along with 60,000 RSS volunteers, courted arrest. In Golwalkar's absence, the RSS leaders
Eknath Ranade,
Bhaiyaji Dani, and
Balasaheb Deoras suspended the satyagraha in January 1949 and, in collaboration with liberal leader
T. R. Venkatarama Sastri, wrote an RSS constitution. After Patel approved the constitution, the ban was lifted on 11 July 1949. The government of India stated that the decision to lift the ban had been made given Golwalkar's promise of loyalty to the
Constitution of India and the acceptance of India's national flag explicitly in the RSS constitution.
Sangh Parivar Organisations founded and supported by RSS volunteers became collectively known as
Sangh Parivar. == Writings and ideology ==