‘World will cease to exist without Hindus’: In Manipur, Mohan Bhagwat calls India an ‘immortal’ civilisation

“We saw the rise and fall of different nations, but we are still here and will remain the same,” Bhagwat said about India.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday spoke about ‘Bharat’ as a civilisation, while highlighting its strength of survival. Bhagwat said that the “network” of Indian society was such that the “Hindu community” would always survive.

“Bharatvarsh has been there since ever," Mohan Bhagwat said.(ANI)

Mohan Bhagwat was addressing gathering on the second day of his three-day Manipur visit.

“The world will cease to exist if Hindus cease to exist...” Bhagwat said as he spoke about how different countries had perished but India had emerged unscathed.

“Situations come and go. In the world, all countries had to face different circumstances. Some nations perished. Yunaan (Greece), Misr (Egypt) and Roma, all civilisations perished from the face of the earth,” Bhagwat said.

“We saw the rise and fall of different nations, but we are still here and will remain the same,” the RSS chief said, while adding that “Bharat is an immortal civilisation.”

Leaders expressing differing opinions due to ‘political compulsions’, says Bhagwat

Bhagwat said that the “basic understanding” among everyone was that the “entire India was ours", adding that leaders had now started expressing differing opinions owing to “political compulsions.”

“Bharatvarsh has been there since ever. There is a complete mention of Bharatvarsh in the Mahabharat, the Ramayan, and also in Kalidas' great literature,” Bhagwat said, according to ANI news agency.

He said that ‘Bharatvarsh’ had been “defined as the landmass from Manipur to Afghanistan.” Bhagwat said India had seen kingdoms change, and that there were times when there were many kings, and other times when there was “one great ruler.”

“There were times we were independent, and there were times when we were under attack. But India remained strong and stood as a united historic country...” the RSS chief said.

However, he said that the political landscape had changed after the second world war in 1945, following which there were different opinions on this matter.

Bhagwat met with tribal leaders in Manipur's Imphal on Friday, and called for social unity. He reiterated the purpose of the RSS, saying it “neither engages in politics nor remote-controls any organisation.” He further asserted the “shared consciousness” of India, while saying that unity “does not demand uniformity.”