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Unique, incomparable and most democratic: How Mohan Bhagwat described the RSS
Hindutva is the central theme and the key issues that will be taken up will also include Ayodhya and cow protection. The RSS expects a high-profile audience including religious leaders, film stars, sportspersons, industrialists and even envoys from different countries at the event.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday launched a three-day outreach by introducing his organisation as “unique, incomparable,” and saying that the effort was to “share the idea of RSS with everyone.”
Bhagwat said the RSS is a “democratic organisation” that does not wield the “remote control” over any of its offshoots, nor does it aspire for “domination”, seen as an oblique reference to the opposition’s charge that the organisation micromanages the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to a star-studded audience at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan that included religious leaders, film stars, sportspersons, industrialists and even envoys from different countries, the RSS chief said he was “here to engage...to present facts...not convince people.”
The Sangh chief in his lecture, which lasted a little over an hour, also used the occasion to reiterate the Sangh’s role in the freedom struggle.
He wove the RSS’s contribution to the struggle for Independence in the story that he narrated about the founder Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar and his motivation for starting the Sangh. Oppositions parties have often accused the RSS of not having participated in the freedom struggle, a charge the organisation has repeatedly rejected.
Amid buzz that the RSS reached out to opposition leaders too, the Congress said its president Rahul Gandhi was not invited. Left party CPI-M too said that no invitation was received by its general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Amar Singh
The programme is called “Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective”. Bhagwat is to speak on all three days, presenting the Sangh’s view on various contemporary issues of national importance, the RSS has said. He will also interact with the audience.
The event follows Bhagwat’s address at a recent second World Hindu Congress in Chicago where the RSS chief urged Hindus to unite.
Sangh leaders explained why the RSS, founded in 1925 and the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made an unprecedented move to invite so many people from outside the organisation.
“The RSS is being criticised by one and all, especially by the opposition,” an RSS spokesman told news agency IANS, adding, “This event is to present our view, how we see the issues which the opposition has been using to target us and the government.”
RSS chief spokesperson Arun Kumar said, “Today, Bharat (India) is moving ahead towards regaining her special and unique position in the world. The RSS is realising that there is a growing eagerness amongst larger sections of the society including the intellectuals and the youth to know and understand the RSS perspective on various issues,”
The focus will be on presenting Hindutva as “an encompassing” idea that does not differentiate on the basis of religion or caste, said one RSS functionary, not wishing to be named. “The RSS wants to shift the focus from the political definition of Hindutva to a more philosophical one. The RSS is not anti-anyone or anything,” he said.
Bhagwat’s comments about Hindutva have in the past fuelled controversy.
In 2017, the Opposition parsed his statement that “Hindustan (India) is a Hindu nation... Hindutva is the identity of our nation... (Hinduism) that can incorporate others (religions) in itself.” Although the RSS immediately clarified that the Hindutva which Bhagwat referred to did not mean ‘Hinduism’ but ‘Hindu-ness’, the comment gave the Opposition ammunition to dub the RSS divisive.
The RSS’ outreach will see the organisation follow up the lecture series with more meetings across the country with individuals drawn from a cross-section of society.
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