There is a need to guard against fear-mongering that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is against minorities or that Islam is in danger in India, feels Mohan Bhagwat.
The RSS chief said that the Sangh has always believed that the DNA of people of India is the same, and both Hindus and Muslims are one entity, reported PTI.
“When people speak about the need for Hindu-Muslim unity, we say we are already one, we are not separate,” he said at Ghaziabad on Sunday at a book launch event organised by Muslim Rashtriya Manch, the Muslim wing of RSS.
Dispelling fears that a majoritarian sentiment is gaining ground in India, Bhagat voices from the majority protest whenever atrocities take place against minorities.
“If anyone says that Muslims should not stay in India then he is not a Hindu,” Bhagwat said.
On the issue of violence against minorities by alleged cow vigilantes, Bhagwat said violence in the name of cow protection cannot be condoned, even though cows are revered in India.
“Law should take its course. They should investigate without partiality and punish the guilty. But anyone who is involved in lynching is not a Hindu,” he said.
About Sikhs and Muslims who objected to him referring to all Indians as Hindus, Bhagwat said: “If you don’t want to call yourself Hindu, you can say Indian instead, but we should all work for the country.”
RSS, the ideological front of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has often been accused by its opponents of fostering majoritarianism.
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