E-Paper
‘Some countries’ seeking to replicate divide-and-rule policy: Mohan Bhagwat
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said “demonic forces” opposed to India’s progress were bent on fomenting trouble by inciting internal feuds
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has underlined the importance of harmonious co-existence while accusing “some countries” of seeking to replicate the divide-and-rule policy of India’s erstwhile British rulers to fulfil their “selfish goals”.
Speaking at a book release function in Nagpur on Tuesday evening, Bhagwat said “outside forces” cannot defeat a united India. He said the British adopted the systematic divide-and-rule policy after the 1857 revolt against the colonial rulers. “At the time of the Bengal partition, the British tried to divide Hindus and Muslims but they miserably failed because the people of the country were united and fought against it,” he said, referring to the 1905 division of the province into Hindu-majority west and the Muslim-majority East Bengal (now Bangladesh).
The 1905 Bengal partition was reversed in 1911 as Indian nationalists closed ranks and protested against the move.
Bhagwat noted that the Britishers succeeded over three decades later in 1947. “...the result is in front of us,” he said, referring to the creation of Pakistan following the 1947 partition on religious lines.
The chief of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor said “demonic forces” opposed to India’s progress are bent on fomenting trouble by inciting internal feuds. Bhagwat added Indians are forgetting that they are one. “The divide has been due to Britishers who sowed the seeds of communalism in India.”
He said the British told Muslims that they would be at a receiving end with no power, position, or influence in the case of a Hindu-majority state. “They similarly convinced Hindus about the dangers of staying with Muslims, who they claimed are by nature extremists.”
Bhagwat, who has spearheaded outreach to Muslims by visiting a madrasa and meeting members of the Muslim community against the backdrop of hate crimes and religious polarisation over issues such as ownership of religious sites, said no power in the world can defeat Indians until they are together. “That is why they make efforts to break us,” he said. “Some countries which do not want India to progress are trying to divide society,” he said.
He said “these forces” are using various issues to create enmity among people. “We are not showing our strength to the enemies sitting on the border, but we are fighting among ourselves. We are forgetting that we are one country.” He said Muslims have lived safely in India for centuries.
Earlier this month, Bhagwat said Indians look different and follow different faiths, but they all belong to the motherland.
