Not all in RSS are keen to take off their khaki shorts

At 68, India is young with 65 per cent of the country’s population (nearly 800 million) being below 35 years of age. Prime Minister Narendra Modi proudly reiterates it in his speeches in the country and abroad. The emphasis on youth power was reflected best on March 13 when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s ideological parent - the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - reinforced the PM's view of changed demographics by announcing a change in its uniform, from khaki knickers to brown trousers.

However, the change has neither been prompt nor smooth. It has taken about eight years and several deliberations to "drop" the knickers, which are part of a 90-year-old tradition. The old guard was vociferously against replacing the knickers with trousers.

The seniors resisted it on four grounds - khaki knickers are identified with the RSS, shorts and bermudas are in vogue among the modern youth, they are cheaper than the trousers and more convenient to wear at "shakhas" and during exercises.

The youth brigade countered by pointing out that knickers discouraged younger people from joining the organisation. They also said that most of the programmes of the Sangh take place during the winter season and the RSS chief takes part in many of them. In such a situation, trousers would help the shakha-goers in north India resist the biting cold.

Traditionally, decisions in the RSS are not taken on the basis of majority, but by consensus. The RSS top brass takes a sense of the views presented and announces its final decision. In this case too, the stand taken by the young generation weighed on the mind of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and others, and it was decided to replace the "khaki chaddhi" - as the so-called secular-liberals call it - with trousers to attract a new generation to the Sangh's ranks.

The old guard may have given in, though with a heavy heart, but they have not completely yielded to the youth. The khaki shorts have not been shelved. The brown full-length pants will be compulsory only for formal ceremonial occasions like march pasts or parades. Khaki shorts, besides dhotis and lungis, will continue to be optional wear for the "shakhas".

The nostalgia of the veterans is best reflected in Sangh ideologue Rakesh Sinha's tweet:

#KhakiShorts will always remind us our history and legacies, we have changed it not abandoned it.

— Dr Rakesh Sinha (@RakeshSinha01) March 13, 2016

The Sangh's changing priorities with changing times is manifested not just in the changing to brown full pants from khaki shorts but also in the eradication of untouchability and equality of women. The resolution passed at the end of the RSS' three-day annual meeting - Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha - in Nagaur near Jodhpur on March 13 mentions doing away with caste discrimination and promoting social harmony.

In line with this thinking, the Sangh has opposed reservation in government jobs to affluent sections of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). It has also supported entry of Hindu women to all temples.

Though belated, the Sangh has finally caught up with modern thoughts. Yogasan and Judo-Karate have already been included in "shakhas". More changes in the time to come cannot be denied. At a time when the polity of the country is being polarised on caste and religious lines, the old guard coming around to the modern worldview, though reluctantly, can only be welcomed.