Khaki shorts out, brown trousers in
NAGAUR: The 90-year-old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to replace its trademark baggy khaki shorts with brown trousers to woo younger members.
General secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Sunday said there was no particular reason for picking brown but the RSS changed the uniform as it was not a “rigid” organisation and believed in moving with the times.
The decision to change the ‘ganavesh’ (uniform) however was fraught; a big chunk of swayamsevaks wanted to continue with khaki, a functionary said.
NAGAUR: The discussions went on for hours but in the end, the 90- year- old Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) decided to “move with the times”, replacing the trademark baggy khaki shorts with brown trousers to woo younger members.
General secretary of the RSS, Bhaiyyaji Joshi, announced on Sunday that after a protracted will-they-won’t-they dilemma, the Pratinidhi Sabha — the highest RSS decision-making body — voted for brown to replace the khaki shorts in drill and for other ceremonial purposes.
Joshi said there was no particular reason for picking brown but the RSS changed the uniform as it was not a “rigid” organisation and believed in moving with the times. “Our identity is not because of just khaki shorts but we have other elements as well and when we will start using new colour people will get used to it,” he said.
The decision to change the ‘Ganavesh’ (uniform), however, was fraught; a big chunk of swayamsevaks wanted to continue with khaki. In 2010, Joshi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had given into demand to retain khaki after a similar debate, despite reportedly being in favour of a new dress code.
“Some swayamsevaks were not too happy with the decision to change the uniform as they felt that it was now identified with the Sangh, others had proposed a changed to attract the youth,” said a functionary.
A discussion was mooted again at a Sangh meeting in Ranchi last year, where options for a new uniform were discussed and paraded before RSS members.
The desire to revamp the uni- form is motivated by the Sangh’s concerted efforts to woo the younger generation; from activities at ‘shakhas’ to the use of technology, the RSS is positioning itself as a contemporary organisation with a traditional outlook. A change in uniform — the options were navy blue, blue or grey trousers —was in line with this attempt.
But the process of replacing the old with the new will take time. According to Sangh functionaries, there are over 56,000 shakhas where swayamsevakas come for meetings and drill, and providing new uniforms will be a longdrawn process.