Indian PM Modi praises Hindu nationalist organisation in unprecedented Independence Day address

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization, during his annual Independence Day address. This was reportedly the first time Modi has mentioned the RSS, considered the ideological parent of his ruling BJP party, in such a speech. The RSS was founded in 1925 to promote Hindutva, a nationalist ideology whose early founders drew inspiration from German Nazism and Zionism. The organization has been associated with acts of Hindu extremism and religious violence.