RSS calls for renewed push to 'decolonise mind': Dattatreya Hosabale

WASHINGTON: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has called for a renewed push to “decolonise the mind”, with its General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale arguing that distorted narratives about India’s history, culture and identity continue to shape public discourse decades after independence.

In an exclusive interview marking 100 years of the RSS, Hosabale told IANS that while India achieved political freedom, the process of intellectual and cultural decolonisation remains incomplete.

“Decolonisation has to take place,” he said, adding that “somewhere it is still not achieved fully”.

He said the persistence of a “colonised mind” has led to the spread of narratives that do not reflect historical facts or lived realities of Indian civilisation.

“The political freedom should open the doors for other freedoms, cultural and otherwise,” Hosabale said, stressing the need to correct the narrative about India and its civilisational roots.

He pointed to what he described as long-standing distortions in education and public understanding, including the teaching of the Aryan invasion theory.

“Even today, people think that… there was Aryan invasion, though it was proved that there is no such Aryan invasion in India,” he said.

Hosabale also highlighted what he called a lack of awareness about India’s scientific heritage and contributions, arguing that such gaps have contributed to a diminished sense of national confidence.