The Times of India, Mumbai: For lakhs of his followers Shri Guruji was another Swami Vivekananda and a venerated protector of Hindutva, while his innumerable critics look upon him as the dictator of Hindutva. Still it can not be denied that he was an advocate of strength who wanted a strong and united India that would forge ahead without giving up its glorious historic identity.

The Indian Express, Delhi: He was a great scholar of Indian history and was greatly concerned about security of the country’s northern and eastern borders. He was one of those very few people who could never accept the idea of partition. He wanted Indian Muslims in the national mainstream.

The Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad: Like Swami Vivekananda he was the embodiment of the spirit of India. He was energy personified and selfless action was his message. He was a genuine nationalist who did not look for inspiration to foreign lands and foreign ideologies.

 

Sanmarg, Calcutta: In his death India has lost a great leader and guide. He was very much needed for preservation of Hindu religion and culture. He was a watchful sentinel of nationalism and was ceaselessly engaged in awakening the national spirit.

 

The Mail, Madras: Guruji Golwalkar’s philosophy of Hindu nationalism was to build up a nation through the right ‘Sanskar’, to inculcate a spirit of devotion to the motherland and pride in our history.

 

The Pioneer, Lucknow: Shri Guruji led a life of dedication. Calling such a great patriot narrow-minded or communal is an injustice to him. He propounded the principle that only a united nation could become a powerful nation.

 

The Tribune, Chandigarh: If personality is like the perfume of a person, the late Shri Golwalkar certainly had an extraordinary personality.

 

Blitz, Mumbai: He had no axe to grind, and in the pursuit of his ideals languor was not in his heart, weakness was not in his word, weariness was not on his brow. It would be good if other political leaders emulate his example of dedicated life and win the respect and confidence of his followers.

 

Mother India, Mumbai: Here was a man cast in the mould of our immotal Rishis like Vyas, Valmiki, Ramdas, Tulsidas, Tukaram, Vivekananda and a thousand others. Can such a man die? No! This is one death that builds a shrine of memory in our hearts for rest of our lives. These Rishis never die. They live in the eternity of time and come closer to us everyday. Like many Rishis before him Guruji was also a child of Hinduism, the Religion Eternal, which has a covenant with god to bless this ancient land with such pilgrims of virtue and noble ideals at regular intervals.

 

Navbharat Times, Delhi(Hindi): No nation can be transformed into a strong nation so long as the set of virtues prominently present in the life of Shri Golwalkar is not present in it. Guru Golwalkar was one of those personalities whose greatness can be described as ‘viraat’.

 

Dinmaan Delhi (Hindi): During his lifetime he tried to bring together all the religious heads of different sects in the Hindu Society to carve out a new path acceptable to all, and which could bind the entire society in a common bond.

 

Aaj, Banaras (Hindi): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh cannot be charged with communalism. The credit of keeping Sangh aloof from active politics goes to Shri Golwalkar’s personality and high ideals. He was like a Rishi, and his concept of Hindu Rashtra was as noble as that of Swami Vivekananda, Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Shri Aurobindo.

 

Rajasthan Patrika, Jaipur (Hindi): He was unique and powerful personality. He had an ideology of his own and a large number of people followed him in their commitment to it. Even those who were bitterly against the concept of Hindu Nationalism praised his erudition.

 

Punjab Kesari, Jalandhar: Guruji’s dedication to work of the Sangh can be seen from the fact that till 7:30 before his death he considered himself well enough to participate in the daily prayer along with the Swayamsevaks.

 

Ranchi Express, Ranchi: In modern times, after Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Golwalkar was the only person whose personality and actions influenced millions of people.

 

Navjyoti Herald, Jaipur: Contrary to the propaganda carried on against him by interested parties, Golwalkar had nothing to do with religious fanaticism and blind communalism. He toiled hard to make the Hindus understand the priceless heritage of Hinduism. He wanted them to know that they were the inheritors of a moral, spiritual and religious tradition, the earliest in the history of civilization.

 

Prabuddha Bharat, Almora: Now the controversies about Shri Golwalkar have been reduced to ashes and his pure character shines brightly. His life is now an open book for all to read. You may not have agreed with him on many points. This does not matter any more. What matters is that you here find a man, a character, that is spotless, fearless. He lived not for himself but entirely for others. At any time, about how many men in this world can this be said? Still the greatest service Shri Golwalkar rendered to India and her people was that he upheld certain values by practice and precept, which this nation needs for its survival and well-ordered growth. When most of the ardent and well-meaning political leaders of this country were talking of and working for river-valley projects, industrialization, family planning, higher standards of living and so on, he was practising and preaching discipline, strength, fearlessness, character, sacrificial service, dynamic patriotism, without which none of the aforesaid modern objectives could ensure a better future for India. Above all in these days of open ‘Watergates’ of indiscipline and fostering corruption in more places than we may know, Shri Golwalkar left behind him disciplined men of character all over India.

 

Loksatta, Mumbai (Marathi): To rise above lust for power is difficult even for great men. Hence it is that every political party of every country without exception takes interest in the struggle for power. The Sarsanghchalak had turned his face away from power and had led his personal like in accordance with it, thus giving a definite direction to Sangh work.

 

Kesari, Pune (Marathi): He offered the flower of his life at the feet of the immortal nation. As the river Ganga merges into the sea, so did the wide stream of his flawless work meet the ocean of his countrymen and become one with it.

 

Sakal, Pune (Marathi): Even his opponents found his faith in his work, his patriotism and his devotion to social well-being quite beyond doubt. He has placed before us the ideal of a life of total dedication and sacrifice.

 

Maharashtra Times, Mumbai (Marathi): Golwalkar Guruji had the strength of the Sangh behind him, but he did not even dream of using it for political bargaining. He had politely turned down Sardar Patel’s invitation to join the Congress. Where, now, are people who would remain loyal to their ideal and dedicate their lives to service of the Society?

 

Manus, Pune (Marathi): It has been a favourite idea with Indian thinkers in respect of administration and social culture that a class of saints, unattached to power of any kind, should work for the good of the nation. Even though in modern times it was Gandhiji who had declared the desirability of this principle it was Shri Guruji alone who had done his utmost to bring it into practice.

 

Gujarati Samachar, Ahmedabad (Gujarati): The country has lost powerful exponent of nationalism.

Jansatta, Ahmedabad: He was a shining light in the tradition of Pandit Malviya and Swami Vivekananda, and carried on their tradition as an exponent of Nationalism.

 

Matrubhoomi, Trivandrum (Malayalam): The work that Shri Guruji did proves that the young generation can be inspired towards social service, which is much higher than shouting slogans. Even those who do not accept his ideology and criticize it have to bow their heads before his sense of dedication and his integrity.

 

Manorama, (Malayalam): With Shri Guruji’s death a powerful personality in the nation’s life has disappeared. He created a service force of disciplined young men.

 

Malayalam Express, Trivandrum: Our country had a tradition of dedication to the ideal of emancipation through renunciation. This is the Rishi tradition, and it also firmly believes that national progress should be achieved through organized social strength rather than through political power. The lives of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Shri Ramakrishnadev, Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji and Shri Golwalkar prove that even in modern times this tradition continues unbroken.

 

Dinmani, Madras (Tamil): The service rendered by him as the chief of RSS is unique. His success in inculcating good qualities like devotion to God, devotion to country, spirit of sacrifice, discipline etc, in removing the tears from eyes of the poor and making them work as sentinels of the Society, is unparalleled.

 

Kalki: Guruji was one of those great men who fight for their ideals and dedicate their lives to them.

Prajavani, Bangalore (Kannada): The Hindu nationhood propounded by him was not sectarian but national. He believed that all those who had implicit faith in and who gloried in the culture and traditions of the country, looking upon it as motherland, were undoubtedly Hindus.

 

Udayvani, Manipal: Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar was a vital force that shines once in centuries. He created a whole generation dedicated to national culture. People like him are the nation’s glory and a shining chapter in history.

 

Samaj, Cuttack: The great mission of his life was to restore India to it’s glorious position from which it had miserably fallen in modern times. He had extraordinary organizing capacity and, like Shivaji nursed the dream of building up a powerful country.

 

Alok, Guwahati: The current of awakening the Hindu Society, which had forgotten its identity, that he initiated will flow for ever in this country.