Another blunt talk by Mohan Bhagwat, but is he really walking the talk?

The reconciliatorytone and tenor of a recent speech in Pune by the Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mohan Bhagwat, evokes a sense of déjà vu.

Over the past four decades, ever since the Sangh Parivar launched the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement in March 1984, there have been numerous instances when one section of its top brass doused the flames lit by a different lot, not necessarily a rival faction. In the case of Bhagwat, he has at times taken to chastising his own loyalists as well as those who are outside the organisational structure and controls but are inspired by a consistent pursuit of Hindutva politics.

Also Read: RSS chief frowns upon temple-mosque disputes, bats for inclusive society

At Pune for instance, Bhagwat made several points, most notably that not every temple should be dug out and that no one becomes a Hindu leader merely by building a Ram temple. He also said that instead of living in constant hostility among one another, Indians should develop a model of harmony that becomes an example for others in the world to adopt.

‘Vishwaguru not Mahashakti’

“We talk of becoming ‘vishwaguru (global leader)’ and not ‘mahashakti (super power)’. This is because we have seen how people behave after becoming a superpower. To achieve selfish gains for the sake of supremacy is not our path…,” Bhagwat asserted.

The issues that were raked up in those speeches clearly provided an explanation, but without taking any names, for the distance that the RSS had maintained from the BJP from early 2024 onwards, after excessive personalisation of the party’s electoral campaign.

Also Read: Why September 2025 could be make or break for Narendra Modi

The aforesaid quote of Bhagwat, in which he juxtaposed Vishwaguru and Mahashakti, can be interpreted in multiple ways.

But first, the sarsanghchalak’s speech, in fact, should be framed against the backdrop of several of his past utterances, including allusive ones made sequentially following the Lok Sabha verdict when the Bharatiya Janata Party slipped below the majority mark.

Was Bhagwat referring to Modi?

Who was Bhagwat pointing at when he referred to people’s behaviour after becoming a “superpower”? Who also makes selfish gains for securing supremacy, which he made clear was a ploy that is not of the RSS?

Previously, Bhagwat contended that no one can become a Hindu leader merely by building a Ram temple. In this instance, the Ram temple is actually the fruition of an agitation waged for decades. So, was the RSS chief alluding to any particular leader who considers himself as the one who “built” the Ram temple and that person’s presumption of being a “Hindu leader”?

But it is a fact that the movement had petered out and legal proceedings were at a near-standstill for almost a decade. It was only after a possible prod, details of which remain unknown, in July-August 2019, after the Lok Sabha results were declared in the last week of May, that the long-pending last lap of hearings was started and concluded in mid-October that year.

Also Read: BJP trying to divide society by holding mosque surveys: Kharge

Clearly, the legal resolution of the debate was speeded up because Prime Minister Narendra Modi helmed the government. Just to recall, he personally performed the ground-laying ceremony for the new temple in August 2020 and also the ritual to consecrate and inaugurate it in January 2024, although it remains far from complete.

We will possibly never know if Bhagwat was questioning the presumption that Modi has, with these actions and events, firmed up his position as this era’s preeminent Hindu leader.

This political aspect of Bhagwat’s Pune speech has gone unnoticed because of its indirectness. In contrast, considerable thought has been given to his declaration that numerous wannabe Hindu leaders are currently raking up "Ram temple-like" disputes at various sites. Such action, it was unambiguously stated, was not acceptable to the Sangh Parivar.

Also Read: Under threat, Indian Muslims look for survival strategies: Academic Hila

This portion of the Pune speech, it needs little reiteration, was made against the backdrop of the spate of surveys and judicial orders for such exercises at several historical mosques (and not-so-historical ones), including Shahi Jama Masjid in UP's Sambhal, Dargah Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, and also the Adhai Din Ka Jhopra in the same state.

Given that cases against Islamic places of worship are in advanced stages in Varanasi and Mathura and at various stages over the Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, and at Bhojshala, Madhya Pradesh, Bhagwat’s statement comes as a relief.

False peace offering?

But it would be foolhardy to get seduced by this peace offering because Bhagwat says in the same breath that “there is no majority or minority here; we all are one. Everyone should be able to practise their way of worshipping in this country.” This formulation is exceptionally “problematic”.

Such a construct is based on the recognition that in India, different demographic groups exist with dissimilar faiths and varying ways of worship.

Also Read: Mohan Bhagwat's Vijayadashami speech: Duality at best, duplicity at worst

But, in this realistic setting, the denial of the existence of a minority which is unwilling to get co-opted into the majority is possible only when one views the nation from a majoritarian prism. Given this fact, propagating that, “extremism, aggressiveness, forcefulness, and insulting others’ gods is not our culture”, is little but disinformation.

After all, in any religious order, the existence of caste-based inequity results in each of the traits listed by Bhagwat.

Duplicitousness

Bhagwat’s duplicitousness - this characteristic is not his alone within the Sangh Parivar - becomes clearer when this speech is juxtaposed with several of his past lectures, including in June 2022 in Nagpur at the conclusion of the annual officers’ training camp of the RSS and the all-important Dusshera address in 2023.

In June 2022, he played to the “pseudo-secular” gallery by providing a direct headline point – “Whylook for shivling in every mosque”. And in 2023, he campaigned against using inflammatory tactics to garner votes (seemingly oblivious that this tactic has been most commonly used by BJP leaders).

It is not a different matter once again that the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign was most decisively imparted a communal flavour by Modi with his speech delivered in Banswara, Rajasthan. Several other addresses in the same vein by the sarsanghchalak can be dug out and cited. But these will only add to what is already established: That Bhagwat loves to “talk”, but not “walk” what he has spoken.

Also Read: Watch | Bhagwat’s Dussehra speech decoded | ‘RSS, Modi on same page’

Or, for that matter, if his admirers point to Bhagwat having no power to ensure enforcement of laws, speedy investigation and initiation of judicial processes, none of his clanspersons in crucial positions of governance have or will follow up on what he states.

For instance, can it be stated with a certain extent of confidence that the RSS chief’s latest directive – that a full stop be put on looking for temples beneath functional mosques – will be enforced by the Centre and state governments controlled by the BJP?

Genial, all-forgiving facade

Bhagwat’s compulsion is that while he must project a genial, all-forgiving façade for the global community, his own clanspersons must keep the hate-mill grinding because in their absence, space would be granted to fringe forces to take over the leadership of extremely Islamophobic groups and individuals.

After four decades of relentless reiteration that Ayodhya was a mere trailer and the “real film” was due to unspool in numerous theatres across the nation, it is a compulsion of Bhagwat to periodically put on the façade of a seeker of peace and unity.

Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal poses five questions to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

But social peace-making and the Sangh Parivar are mutually-contradictory ideas. Therein lies the duplicity of Bhagwat and each one in his political clan, right down to the micro-manager.

Even in battles for spoils or struggles for power within the clan, between the RSS and the BJP, between the top brass of the ideological fountainhead and the leadership of the BJP, which simultaneously has command over the government machinery, the framework is Hindutva.

All attempts at delineating the hardliners from the soft-liners are exercises in futility. Just like there is no “mainstream” distinct from the “fringe”.

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas, or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal).