Nehru was not in RSS Camp, Right wing wrong again!

Claim

Rating

Explanation

The Congress official twitter page posted a picture of a Khaki shorts burning with a tagline below saying “145 days more to go” on 12th September 2022. This was posted as there were 145 days to complete the 150 days’ “Bharat Jodo Yatra.”


Twitter Link

The Khaki shorts in the tweet resemble the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) old uniform which was changed recently to ankle length trousers. Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the RSS with increasing severity in the recent months going as far as to accuse BJP-RSS have every institution in the country under their control.

As the Congress party tweeted the photo of a Khaki shorts burning, it was understood as an attack on the RSS and the BJP, the political wing of RSS. So, the BJP and RSS supporters are circulating a picture of Former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru’s picture in a Khaki shorts to claim that Nehru was also part of the RSS.

What’s the truth?

The photo of Jawarharlal Nehru in Khaki shorts is true. However it is the uniform of Seva Dal, a unit of the Indian National Congress founded in 1924 to fight the British colonial rule. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first president of Seva Dal, had participated in Seva Dal’s events in its uniform several times.

A picture of Jawaharlal Nehru in Seva Dal uniform which was taken in 1939 is also viral on social media, however with the claim that Nehru is wearing RSS uniform, which looks similar. The main difference between these uniforms is the cap. RSS has a black cap, which has remained unchanged from its inception in 1925.

The Seva Dal’s uniform has a white cap. In 2016, Congress had tweeted a photo of Nehru in Seva Dal uniform.


Twitter Link

Using Jawaharlal Nehru’s picture in the Seva Dal uniform to claim that Nehru attended RSS event has been circulating in social media from 2011. However, it intensified when Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s attendance to RSS event at Nagpur in 2018 received massive backlash.

This image and the claim that Nehru attended RSS event had been fact-checked by various news outlets and independent fact-checkers. Yet, the campaign that Nehru attended RSS event continues to go on.

Interestingly, Nehru was one of the harshest critics of the RSS and he even equated them with the Nazis and accused them of operating or following the same technique.

Conclusion

The viral image of Jawaharlal Nehru in shorts is the uniform of Seva Dal, a Congress outfit founded in 1924, a year earlier to RSS’ inception. The claim that Nehru attended RSS event is false. This has been spread by the right wing for over a decade.

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Ramasamy Jayaprakash

Ramasamy works as a Senior Sub-Editor at YouTurn and writes articles in Tamil and English. He also makes videos for YouTurn's Tamil & English YouTube channels.
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