First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"Wearing a headscarf is not, in itself, a spiritual target. Those who do not “feel” the need to do so have the freedom to live their spirituality outside of this standard “garment.” And those who feel a need to follow this prescription and see it as a profound experience of intimacy and inwardness with the Creator also have the freedom to live their spirituality within the “garment” standard. In both cases, it is a matter of living one’s spirituality according to the same liberating approach. The headscarf is a part of the ethic and is, before all, a woman’s right. Women must have the right to choose to wear it or not to wear it, knowingly (an informed decision), because the right to wear it is inevitably linked to the right not to wear it."
"I did not want to express myself, from abroad, where I was participating in an academic seminar, on the reasons that led to my resignation."
"To avoid any malicious instrumentalization that would disguise my patriotism, my values, and my deep convictions."
"To those who would like to burden me, I would say that my action, as a volunteer in the Rabita, for almost ten years had no other ambition than to serve my country and to promote this third way, that of a peaceful Islam, contextualized and in tune with universal humanist values compatible with our cultural values."
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.