Writing to President Murmu, a BJP leader requests the Bharat Ratna for Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS

In a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Jamal Siddiqui, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and head of the party's minority wing, urged her to think about awarding Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, to the party's centennial celebrations.

Siddiqui referred to Hedgewar as "a great freedom fighter and the architect of nation-building," saying that India would honor him in order to not only recognize his "invaluable contribution" but also to instill nationalism in the country's youth. Born in 1889, Hedgewar was a medical student in Calcutta (now Kolkata) when he joined the revolutionary front Anushilan Samiti. He was influenced by theorists such as Bagha Jatin, Prafulla Chaki, and Barindra Ghosh. On Vijayadasami Day in 1925, he established the RSS.

According to Siddiqui, Hedgewar was imprisoned for a year after being detained by the British administration on sedition charges for his 1921 lectures in Katol and Hinganghat. "Similarly, he was imprisoned for nine months in 1930 in connection with the Jungle Satyagraha, but his determination remained unwavering, and he declared, 'India belongs to Indians; we demand complete independence.'"