The Bharatiya Janata Party is today the most prominent member of the family of organisations known as the "Sangh Parivar" and nurtured by the Rashtria Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS). Like the RSS, the BJP is wedded to India’s unity and integrity, its intrinsic identity and the social strength, individual character and cultural uniqueness that have been the hallmark of this great country and its people for
millennia. And the Sangh Parivar has a very clear and clear conception of Indian history. Here was a great civilization whose influence and imprint spread from Sri Lanka to Tibet, from Southeast Asia to Central Asia, from one end of the Indian Ocean to the other. It weathered the storms of invaders, from the Greeks to the Huns, from the Shakas to the Islamic armies of Turks and Afghans. It fought and resisted external oppression and its essential civilization and culture survived great challenges and attempts at effacement. The glory of Vijayanagara and the heroism of Maharana Pratap, of a Shivaji and of a Guru Govind Singh are testimony to the Indian spirit. In more recent times this torch of nationalism and Indian identity was carried forward by Swami Dayanand and Swami Vivekanada. And in the present century the good work has been carried on by Sri Aurobindo, Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and others. The RSS, founded by Dr K.B. Hedgewar in 1925 and consolidated by Shri Guruji M.S. Golwalkar after 1940, sees itself as the legatee of this heroic tradition. It believes in the principle of: "Justice for all and appeasement of none". It has no doubt about Hindu identity and culture being the mainstay of the Indian nation and of Indian society. This identity and this culture informs all Indians, irrespective of religious or denominational faith. To the RSS, all Indians, irrespective of religious background, notwithstanding their mode and place of worship, are equal.
