Prominent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader and former Boudhik Pramukh of the organisation R Haribpassed away in Kochi following age-related ailments. He was 93.
Hari held the distinction of being the first pracharak from Kerala to assume the top leadership position within the RSS. Known as Hari Eattan among the RSS workers, he was one of the most senior RSS functionaries in the country.
A multilinguist, Hari has translated several works from Hindi, Sanskrit, Gujarati, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese, and English into Malayalam. He has to his credit around 50 books in various languages.
Born on December 5, 1930 to Ranga Shenoy, a former assistant accountant at Tata Oil Mills, and Padmavathy of Tripunithura, Hari studied in St Albert’s College and Maharaja’s College in Kochi. He pursued his undergraduate studies in Economics and took his master’s degree in Sanskrit.
Hari’s association with the RSS began during his college days. During the period of the internal emergency, he played a pivotal role in the covert operations of the RSS in Kerala.
In 1990, he became RSS’s Akhila Bharatiya Saha Boudhik pramukh and in 1991 Boudhik Pramukh. He had served as Boudhik Pramukh 1990 to 2005.