RSS-affiliated BMS opens first permanent office in Kashmir Valley at Pulwama

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS-affiliated labour organisation, on Thursday opened its first permanent divisional office in Kashmir Valley at Barsoo village in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The office, led by local Muslim Sameer Kuchay, is located about five kilometres from Lethpora, the site of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The modest single-storey building has security cameras and a small board reading "office", but no saffron flags or prominent signage. Police personnel have been deployed outside the office bearer’s residence.

BMS in-charge calls it a new beginning

Sameer Kuchay, the 36-year-old BMS in-charge for Kashmir and a resident of Barsoo, said the organisation had decided to work openly after years of operating discreetly in the Valley.

"This is the first experience of a Sangathan office in Kashmir. It is time to work openly and not discreetly. The situation in Kashmir has changed and we are coming forward now," Kuchay said.

Kuchay said he had been associated with the RSS since 2009 and began working with the BMS in 2016, the year Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed and large-scale unrest swept the Valley.

He came into public view after a Facebook video showed him hoisting the Tricolour in south Kashmir during the peak of terrorism.

"I followed Sangh ideology since 2009. On social media, I found it very patriotic and having no link with politics, and it works only for the development of the nation," Kuchay said.

Office to focus on workers' rights

BMS functionaries said the organisation had been active in Kashmir since 2020, after the abrogation of Article 370, and initially operated from a rented space in Shivpora, Srinagar.

According to Kuchay, the BMS currently has about 20 registered affiliated labour unions in Kashmir, representing around 30,000 employees and workers.

He said Pulwama was chosen for its central location, accessibility from south Kashmir and Srinagar, and the large number of labourers in the area. The office will focus on ensuring that employees and labourers receive their dues and are treated with dignity.

BMS distances itself from electoral politics

Kuchay sought to distance the organisation from electoral politics and allegations that it was anti-Muslim.

"We are not affiliated with anyone, not even the BJP or any other party. We have nothing to do with politics and nothing to do with religion," he said. "There is a feeling that we are anti-Muslim. There is nothing like that. We have nothing to do with religion."

"BJP and we may have a common ideology, but we are nowhere near politics," he added.

Kuchay said BMS follows RSS ideology, but its affiliated labour organisations and members understand that it is not affiliated to the BJP. He said the organisation focuses on addressing genuine grievances of workers and enjoys their trust.

Kuchay, who earlier served as Pulwama district vice-president of the BJP from 2017 to 2020, said he found himself unfit for politics and shifted his full attention to BMS work from 2020.

Leaders see changed Kashmir

The office was inaugurated by senior BMS leaders, including all-India organisation secretary B Surendran and North India organising secretary Sohan Lal Gupta.

Kuchay framed the development in generational terms, saying children and young people in Kashmir now want books in their hands rather than stones.

He said the opening of the office reflected the transformation in Kashmir and would help strengthen the organisation's grassroots work among labourers and employees.

Whether the office remains a quiet administrative hub or grows into a more visible presence will depend on local acceptance, security conditions and the BMS’s ability to deliver on its stated focus on workers' rights.