Muslims must give up ‘rhetoric of supremacy’: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said Muslims have nothing to fear in India, but they must give up their “boisterous rhetoric of supremacy.”

In an interview to the RSS-affiliated weeklies Organiser and Panchjanya, Bhagwat also spoke in support of the LGBT community, saying that they, too, should have their private space, and the Sangh will have to promote this view.

“People with such proclivities have always been there, for as long as humans have existed… This is biological, a mode of life. We want them to have their private space and to feel that they, too, are a part of society. This is such a simple issue. We will have to promote this view because all other ways of resolving it will be futile,” he said.

“Hindu society has awakened”

According to Bhagwat, the new-found aggression among Hindus worldwide was due to an awakening in society that has been at war for over 1,000 years.

“You see, Hindu society has been at war for over 1,000 years. This fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign influences, and foreign conspiracies. Sangh has offered its support to this cause, and so have others.

There are many who have spoken about it. And it is because of all these that the Hindu society has awakened. It is but natural for those at war to be aggressive,” Bhagwat said.

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The RSS chief said India has been undivided (akhand) from the earliest times of recorded history, but was divided whenever the core Hindu sense was forgotten.

“Hindu is our identity, our nationality, our civilisational trait — a trait that considers everyone as ours, that takes everyone along. We never say, ‘Mine is only true and yours is false. You are right in your place; I am right in mine. So why fight? Let us move together.’ This is Hindutva,” Bhagwat said.

“Hindustan should remain Hindustan”

“The simple truth is this Hindustan should remain Hindustan. There is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat… Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy. ‘We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, everyone else is wrong; we are different, therefore, we will continue to be so; we cannot live together’ — they (Muslims) must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those who live here — whether a Hindu or a communist — must give up this logic,” the RSS chief said.

On the RSS’s engagement with political issues despite being a cultural organisation, Bhagwat said the Sangh has consciously kept itself away from day-to-day politics but always engaged with politics that affect “our national policies, national interest, and Hindu interest.”

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“The only difference is that our Swayamsevaks were not in positions of political power earlier. This is the only addition to the present situation. But people forget that it is the Swayamsevaks who have reached certain political positions through a political party. Sangh continues to organise society for the organisation’s sake,” he said.

“However, whatever Swayamsevaks do in politics, Sangh is held accountable for it. Even if we are not implicated directly by others, there is certainly some accountability, as ultimately it is in the Sangh where Swayamsevaks are trained. Therefore, we are forced to think — what should be our relationship? Which things should we pursue (in national interest) with due diligence?” he said.

New “thorns” for Sangh

Bhagwat recalled that the Sangh was earlier seen with contempt, but those days are now over.

“The thorns we encountered earlier on the road have changed their character. In the past, we had to brave the thorns of opposition and contempt. We could avoid those. And, at times, we have avoided them too. But the new-found acceptance has brought us resources, convenience, and abundance,” he said.

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Bhagwat said under the new circumstances, popularity and resources have become the thorns the Sangh should brave.

“If today we have means and resources, they should be seen as no more than instruments essential for our work; we should control them, they should not control us. We should not be accustomed to them. Our old habits of facing hardships must never die. Times are favourable, but that should not lead to vanity,” Bhagwat said.

Former Minority Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hailed Bhagwat’s remarks on Muslims. “The spirit of participation and not the battle to dominate leads to the path of development and trust. The result of this is that out of every 10 Muslims in the world, one is living in India. His social, economic, and educational rights are completely secure and strong,” he told journalists.

According to Naqvi, “the problem is not of common Muslims, it is of the contractors vying for Muslim votes,” in an apparent swipe at the Opposition.

(With agency inputs)