The Indian Express
On December 18, 1947, Congress stalwart and then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel said in Jaipur that he appreciated the enthusiasm of young men of the RSS, “but that it should be diverted to constructive channels”, and that a great deal needed to be done to make India militarily strong.
Three days later, Patel wrote to a Congress freedom fighter from Karnataka, Gangadhar Rao Deshpande, repeating the same message, while adding that one had to be careful while channelling the RSS’s energies positively, as “very few people are prepared to listen to reason”. This was in response to Deshpande’s letter to him stating that the RSS was a “well-knit and disciplined organisation”.
Addressing an event in Lucknow on January 6, 1948, Patel spoke up for the RSS again. “In the Congress,
ANI
The Times of India
Health and Me
Tampa Bay Times Health