A groundbreaking investigation released on December 11, 2025, has documented more than 2,500 entities with verifiable connections to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The research, conducted over six years by Sciences Po’s Centre for International Studies and The Caravan magazine, represents the first comprehensive mapping of the RSS’s global reach.
Titled “Seeing the Sangh: Mapping the RSS’s Transnational Network,” the project challenges the organisation’s public acknowledgment of only about three dozen affiliates. Investigators traced connections using publicly available documents, identifying patterns of shared leadership, overlapping addresses, collaborative events, and financial transactions spanning India and multiple countries.
Felix Pal, a lecturer in political science and international relations at the University of Western Australia who led the investigation, described what the research uncovered. “The Sangh is history’s oldest, richest, largest far-right network,” he said, adding that most organisations in the Hindu far-right consist of “seemingly innocuous organisations, service providers, publishing houses, cow shelters, that act as key vectors for Sangh legitimacy, as well as for flows of informational and financial resources.”
The release comes months after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat insisted in August that “the sangh does not control, neither directly nor remotely,” claiming affiliates “are independent, autonomous and they gradually become self-dependent.” Days before Bhagwat’s statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared the RSS “the biggest NGO in the world” during his Independence Day speech.
Jammu Complex Houses Twenty Sangh Entities
Researchers documented a striking example in Jammu’s Amphalla neighbourhood, where a single four-hectare property accommodates more than 20 organisations. This represents nearly half the Sangh’s presence in Jammu and Kashmir. The site, originally granted in 1916 to religious leader Champa Nath by Dogra ruler Pratap Singh for Vedic teaching, now hosts orphanages, schools, medical facilities, a cow shelter, and regional offices of acknowledged Sangh wings.
All four office-bearers listed for Ved Mandir Balniketan hold Sangh positions. President Gautam Mengi serves as RSS sanghchalak for Jammu and participates in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the organisation’s highest decision-making body. Vice-president Bal Krishan Gupta sits on the Ved Mandir Committee. Secretary Sudesh Pal and vice-secretary Satish Mittal regularly appear at Sangh events.
The site’s funding sources extend internationally. One facility received initial support from the India Development and Relief Fund, a US-based entity with established Sangh ties, and subsequent backing from the VHP of America. Another facility received sponsorship from Sewa International’s Canadian branch.
Local press reports describe the complex as “Keshav Bhawan,” following a pattern of naming RSS headquarters after founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. Media accounts detail how RSS chief Bhagwat stays there during regional visits for “close door meetings with the top functionaries of J&K Sangh and its offshoot organisations.”
A 2012 event hosted by Sewa Bharati Jammu and Kashmir drew representatives from what Sangh publication Samvada claimed were fifty organisations. The site has also hosted conferences organised by Sanskrit Bharati, the Sangh’s Sanskrit language revival wing.
Houston Warehouse Serves as Hub for Multiple Entities
Similar patterns emerged in the United States. A warehouse at 4018 Westhollow Parkway in Houston’s western suburbs, connected to Star Pipe Products owned by the Bhutada family, appears in records as the southwest Houston office of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, the overseas RSS wing. The same address also registers as headquarters for the VHP of America. This raises questions about whether the two major US Hindutva organisations function as separate entities.
Other organisations linked to this location include SVYASA, a yoga foundation, and Hindus of Greater Houston. Also at this address is Sewa International, which received $2.5 million in 2021 from former Twitter executive Jack Dorsey and routes funds to Sangh operations in India.
The Bhutadas, whose business premises house these organisations, demonstrate how individual families facilitate the network’s transnational operations. Star Pipe Foundry, the family’s Rajkot-based business, sponsors Rishihood University, formerly Vision India Foundation, an RSS-affiliated institution. The Bhutada Family Foundation provides financial support to multiple Sangh organisations. Family members hold positions in the Hindu American Political Action Committee, which funds Sangh-aligned US politicians, and the Hindu American Foundation, which lobbies for Sangh interests.
Ramesh Bhutada, vice-president of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, directs several organisations. These include Param Shakti Peeth of America, which raises funds for Hindu supremacist ideologue Rithambara, and Patanjali Yogpeeth Foundation, the diasporic arm for godman Ramdev. His participation in training camps for overseas RSS workers in India demonstrates how distant branches maintain coordination.
Rigorous Methodology Underpins Investigation
To establish these connections systematically, the investigation team created a weighted evaluation matrix with 34 different indicators of Sangh connection. Organisations founded by RSS pracharaks received the maximum individual score of 1. Those displaying garlanded photographs of RSS founders scored 0.5. Entities listed as affiliates of known Sangh organisations scored 0.25. Combined scores determined connection strength, with 1 indicating definitive inclusion.
Investigators examined whether organisations used specific bureaucratic terminology such as karyavah and sanghchalak. They checked if organisations occupied premises alongside acknowledged Sangh entities, hosted RSS leadership, and showed evidence of financial flows from Sangh sources. The Hindu Sevai Sangam in Malaysia, for instance, was connected to the network after investigators noticed the use of these organisational titles in a predominantly Tamil community. They then discovered Golwalkar quotations and photographs resembling RSS-style shakhas in the organisation’s publications.
All data came from publicly accessible sources: Sangh publications, organisational records, autobiographies, blogs and social media. The team verified every data point through multiple sources, cross-referencing Sangh materials with academic literature, financial filings and government documents.
Network Reveals Eight Distinct Organisational Types
The investigation’s systematic approach revealed distinct organisational categories within the network, each serving specific functions in the Sangh’s broader strategy.
Cadre organisations including the RSS itself, BJP, ABVP and Bajrang Dal maintain membership rolls, formal hierarchies and mobilisation capacity. These typically originate as direct RSS offshoots with significant pracharak oversight.
Coordinating organisations such as Vidya Bharati, Sewa Bharati and VHP function as intermediaries. They channel information and resources between core Sangh organisations and peripheries. While Vidya Bharati claims more than 12,000 schools, actual operations occur through state-level bodies like Saraswati Shiksha Parishad in Madhya Pradesh. Nearly half of all Sangh organisations connect to the network through a single link, making these mediating bodies essential to network function.
Campaign organisations emerge for specific purposes before potential dissolution. Historical examples include the Punjab Relief Committee and Bastuhara Sahayata Samiti for Partition refugee assistance. The Morvi Relief Committee handled disaster response. Recent formations include the Ambedkar-Phule Network of American Dalits and Bahujans, created to oppose California legislation against caste discrimination.
Front organisations maintain separate identities while remaining functionally identical to parent bodies. Sewa Bharati operates under different names across states: Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti in Odisha, Jankalyan Samiti in Maharashtra, Vivekananda Seva Nyas in Tripura. Vidya Bharati similarly operates as Vananchal Shiksha Samiti in Jharkhand, Vivekananda Kendra in Tamil Nadu, and Samarth Shiksha Samiti in Delhi. Internal Sangh publications use parent and front organisation names interchangeably.
Covert organisations conceal both their Sangh connections and their activities. They typically engage in actions carrying reputational risks. Examples include the Hindu Jagran Manch and various Senas connected to BJP leadership. These maintain minimal visible network connections and limited public information.
Showpiece organisations exist primarily to counter accusations about Sangh ideology. The Samajik Samrasta Manch formed in 1983 following the Meenakshipuram Dalit conversion to Islam. The Rashtriya Sikh Sangat appeared in 1986 after anti-Sikh violence. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch launched months after the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. These organisations typically sit at network endpoints without generating subsidiary groups.
Training organisations prepare personnel for various roles. Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini develops political leaders. The Central Hindu Military Education Society trains military personnel. Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana produces yoga instructors for global deployment.
Knowledge production organisations create intellectual frameworks legitimising other Sangh activities. The Vivekananda International Foundation publishes policy proposals subsequently cited by government officials. As The Caravan previously reported, the foundation produced detailed military intervention proposals for Kashmir. Officials later used these to justify territorial annexation.
The largest category comprises last-mile organisations: small service providers including eye clinics, blood banks, village schools, orphanages and leprosy treatment centres. These entities interface directly with communities the Sangh seeks to reach. Most occupy network termini with single connections to coordinating bodies. They frequently downplay Hindutva ideology while presenting accessible entry points. Simultaneously, they serve as conduits for diasporic charitable funding.
Activists and Researchers Respond to Findings
Christophe Jaffrelot, research director at Sciences Po’s CERI and co-director of the Sciences Po South Asia Programme, noted the dataset reveals penetration across social and professional sectors. “This network is not confined to India but is expanding globally thanks to the support of the diaspora, something this database captures also in great detail,” he said.
Hartosh Singh Bal, executive editor of The Caravan, emphasised transparency needs. “The RSS is widely recognised as the country’s largest and most powerful organisation, yet we have long lacked transparency regarding its size, geographical reach, and affiliated organisations,” he said. “The RSS operates with a distinct ideology, and those engaging with its affiliates, whether in India or abroad, deserve to know about these connections.”
Dr John Dayal, veteran human rights activist and member of the National Integration Council, described the investigation’s significance for civil society. “This major national media investigation finally brings empirical permanence and perspective to what many of us in academia, church and civil society have documented for decades through ground reports and fact-finding missions,” he told Christian Today. “The RSS has long cloaked its poisonous claws and fangs in the guise of being merely an ‘inspiration’ to independent organisations. It is now confirmed as a calculated bureaucratic machinery designed to penetrate every sphere of Indian life.”
Dayal emphasised the lived experience of minorities. “The data confirms what minorities in India experience daily: a coordinated network whose reach extends far beyond what the Sangh publicly acknowledges, operating through seemingly innocuous service organisations that serve as entry points for ideological consolidation and social control. It should be a matter of grave concern to the world that its ideology now rules India. Its venom will remain the body politic long after the current regime is memory.”
Shabnam Hashmi, founder of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy) and veteran activist against communalism, highlighted the investigation’s importance for international understanding and future generations. “The Caravan’s in-depth investigation provides a critical perspective on the RSS and its network, which extends far beyond India’s borders through affiliated organisations. This reporting will help the international community understand the nature and scope of this far-right organization,” she told Christian Today. “Most of us who have been fighting on the ground to preserve India’s plurality, diversity and constitutional fabric are, to a great extent, aware of the Sangh’s penetration in all spheres of life. This documentation is crucial for younger generations and all those who refuse to see the influence of the RSS.”
Speaking to Christian Today, A.C. Michael, former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission and national coordinator of the United Christian Forum, pointed to the financial implications of the network’s structure. “None other than PM Modi himself confirmed that RSS is the largest NGO in the world which receives highest amount of donations in India even though it is not a registered body. RSS has nearly hundred subsidiaries worldwide which are described as affiliates, organs, fronts, progeny, etc. Most of them are registered and these monies come in to these accounts keeping the slate of RSS clean,” he said.
Michael highlighted the impact on minority communities. “Same money received from abroad are used to fund the activities that are targeting the Christian community by denying their right to practice guaranteed under the constitution of India. This doesn’t end here. RSS also has a political wing which is today in power. RSS uses these monies in promoting political ambitions and funding the campaigns from mohalla levels to national.”
He emphasised selective enforcement of regulations. “They are very cleverly misusing the FCRA policy as they selectively target organisations belonging to minorities by suspending their FCRA.”
Internal Documents Reveal Contradiction with Public Stance
While RSS leaders publicly maintain distance from affiliated organisations, internal publications tell a different story. These documents openly describe organisational unity in ways that contradict public statements.
RSS ideologue Ratan Sharda wrote that “fortunately for RSS, and unfortunately for other organisations, no one has studied or researched RSS with this view point” of coordinating a large network. “For RSS, samanvay or harmonious co-ordination within and with organisations allied with it is a serious business, and that is the secret of the harmonious existence of this large Hindu Undivided Family.”
Sangh publications use terms like “affiliates,” “organs,” “fronts,” “progeny,” “RSS-inspired,” “projects,” “sister organisations” and “associate organisations” interchangeably within single texts. Internal materials make no distinctions between organisations. Current RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambekar stated, “The Sangh is a network of networks. There is no limit on the number of organisations that can be seeded to support the multiple issues in society that necessitate intervention.”
The stated goal is “Sangh samaj banega,” meaning the Sangh will become society itself. RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar articulated that “RSS should not be an organisation within the society, but an organisation of the society.” Former RSS chief Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar wrote, “The Sangh has never entertained the idea of building an organisation as a distinct and separate unit within society. Right from its inception the Sangh has clearly marked out as its goal the moulding of the whole of society.”
Public Access and Future Research
The interactive dashboard is now accessible through The Caravan’s website. The data repository at Sciences Po will open to vetted academics who demonstrate relevant research purposes through an application process. Public submissions of additional data are welcomed for independent verification and potential dataset inclusion.
Pal indicated the research enables new investigative directions. These include examining resource movement, understudied priorities such as hundreds of residential schools and hostels, and concealed internal conflicts. “These questions, and so many others that animate those looking into the Sangh, require, as a pre-requisite, an understanding of what the Sangh actually is. We hope we have provided an initial roadmap in this regard,” he said.
