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In Vijaya Dashami speech, Mohan Bhagwat talks about Taliban, population policy
The RSS chief said India must be “prepared for all possibilities” as the government will hold talks with the Taliban and cautioned against the support shown to them by Russia, Turkey, China and Pakistan.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday spoke on a range of issues—including the Taliban, the country’s population policy and the coronavirus pandemic—during his annual Vijaya Dashami address at the RSS headquarters in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Friday.
The RSS chief said India must be “prepared for all possibilities” as the government will hold talks with the Taliban and cautioned against the support shown to them by Russia, Turkey, China and Pakistan. “Keeping the channels for dialogue open and considering the scope for a change of heart, India must be prepared for all possibilities,” he said during the Vijaya Dashami address, which is considered the most important event for the Sangh.
“Taliban may have changed, but has Pakistan changed? Has China changed its intent towards India? Considering the possibility of a change of heart, of dialogue solving issues, we still need to be prepared,” he said.
Bhagwat said that population imbalance has become a problem in India and urged for the formation of a population policy for the next five decades which is applicable to all groups. “While reimagining the country’s development one predicament comes to the fore which appears to concern many viz. the population. A population policy that is applicable to all groups is therefore imperative,” he said.
Mohan Bhagwat also alleged that the use of narcotics is rising in India and drugs are coming in from bordering countries. “Money from such businesses is used for anti-national activities. All of this should be controlled,” he said.
His remark on narcotics comes amid the arrest of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in connection with the alleged seizure of banned drugs from a cruise ship in Mumbai. Aryan Khan will remain in the city’s Arthur Road jail for another six days.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic in India which has infected more than 34 million people and killed 451,814 till now, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh president said that the pandemic has reinforced the usefulness of the traditional knowledge systems and the vision emanating from ‘selfhood’.
“We experienced the efficacy of our traditional lifestyle practices and Ayurvedic medicinal system in fighting and tackling the coronavirus,” the RSS chief said, adding the second wave of the pandemic was far more destructive than the first one and did not even spare the youth. He urged that everyone should be prepared for the upcoming third wave of Covid-19.
As the pandemic pushed school and college students across India to opt for online classes and lectures, leading to increased use of mobile phones and other technologies,
Bhagwat during his Vijaya Dashami address expressed concerns over the top (OTT) platforms.
“There is no control over what is shown on OTT platforms. Due to Covid-19, children have been using mobile phones. There is also no control over what children watch and don’t watch here.”
