RSS chief warns parents of 'OTT danger'; woos women to organisation

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that young Hindu girls and boys converting for marriage is wrong and emphasised the need to instil in them pride about their own religion and traditions.

Addressing RSS workers in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, on Sunday (October 10), the Sarsanghachalak, said, “How do conversions happen? How do Hindu girls and boys adopt other religions for petty selfishness, for marriage? Those who are doing it are wrong but it is another matter. Don’t we nurture our children? We need to give them these values at our home. We need to instil pride in them for ourselves, our religion and respect towards our tradition of worship,” Bhagwat said.

Bhagwat asked parents to speak to their children with confidence without getting confused. “Answer the questions if they come. Do not be confused. We should prepare our children and for that we need to learn,” he said.

The Sarsanghachalak said it is the responsibility of parents to preserve their family values and traditions. To know more about their culture, the RSS chief suggested people to pay visits to tourist locations in India, consume home-grown food and wear traditional outfits.

Bhagwat enumerated six ‘mantras’ to stay rooted in Indian culture: language, food, devotional songs, travel, dress and house.

The RSS leader also sought to differentiate between following traditional practices and untouchability. “Do not differentiate on the basis of caste. There should be no untouchability. Society is habituated to guessing religion from names. Differentiation of people should be completely removed from the heart,” he said.

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Bhagwat pointed out the absence of women from RSS functions. “The aim of RSS is to organise Hindu society. But when we organise RSS programmes, we see only men. Now if we want to organise the whole society, then it has to have 50 percent women,” he said.

He also asked parents to watch out for what their children watch on OTT platforms. “The OTT platforms show all kinds of things. What comes in the media is not with the perspective of what will be good for children and for our value system. We have to teach our children what to watch and what not to at home,” the Indian Express quoted Bhagwat as saying.

He also asked the audiences to discuss matters concerning environment, saving water and plantations.