To fight 'conversion', RSS will take 8,000 students from ‘deprived classes’ to Maha Kumbh

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) plans to take nearly 8,000 students from underprivileged backgrounds, primarily from Scheduled Caste (SC) communities, to visit the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj starting Thursday. As reported by the Indian Express, the RSS’s educational wing, Vidya Bharti, stated that students from Sanskar Kendras would be part of this trip to familiarize them with Hindu traditions and prevent them from being influenced by religious conversions. The trip will include students over the age of 10, accompanied by their parents. Around 2,100 students from 14 districts in Uttar Pradesh’s Awadh region are scheduled to stay in the Maha Kumbh area from January 16 to 18.

According to Ramji Singh, an instructor at Seva Bharti schools in Awadh, the purpose of the "Kumbh darshan" is to instill an understanding of India’s cultural and spiritual heritage, making students more aware of their roots when faced with conversion attempts by missionaries. Another RSS member noted that the participating students belong to Dalit communities, which the organization refers to as the "vanchit samaj" or deprived sections of society.