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Reacting to comments from Congress-ruled Karnataka, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat dismissed the questions raised against the organisation and said he cannot “waste time” replying to all. Mohan Bhagwat said, in fact, criticism makes the RSS more famous, which is obvious from what he has witnessed in the Karnataka episode. “Criticism makes us more famous. We have witnessed that in Karnataka. We will encourage them to raise more questions,” Bhagwat said while addressing the ‘100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons’, a two-day lecture series in Bengaluru. “Answering questions, why do we do so? Every question need not be answered. We answer for the benefit of our organisation. But again and again, ask the question to raise doubts on Sangh. We have other work to do. We cannot waste our time replying to all.” Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge has, of late, consistently criticised the RSS over its “influence” in society, questioning its past and credentials as an organisation as well as asking it to take permission for its activities since it is not registered. Priyank Kharge also strongly reacted to Bhagwat’s “no Ahindu in Bharat” comment from the day before and said the RSS chief may say anything to claim that everybody has accepted the RSS but there are large sections of society that have been left out of their ideology, “and that is a fact”. “This has nothing to do with Christians and Muslims, who don’t even belong to the religion. Even within the Hindu fold itself, who are the people who created the varnas? Who are the ones who kept Dalits out? Who excluded tribals?” Kharge asked. The RSS chief said there is no “Ahindu” (non-Hindu) in India, stressing that every citizen, regardless of faith, descends from the same ancestors and shares a common cultural foundation rooted in Hindu civilisation. “It is not that the British gave us nationhood; we are an ancient nation. Every country has a core culture, and the core culture of Bharat is Hindu. Whatever description we give, it leads us to the word Hindu. There is actually no ‘Ahindu’ in Bharat. All Muslims and Christians are descendants of the same ancestors. They probably don’t know it, or they have been made to forget it,” he said. ‘NO SPECIAL AFFINITY TO A PARTY’ Bhagwat gave the example of the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya to explain that the RSS did not align with any political party. He said even if the Congress were in power, the RSS would have supported them in the Ayodhya temple construction just as it did with the BJP. He, however, said the organisation wanted a Ram Mandir and the swayamsevaks stood by those who took the initiative to construct it. “We wanted a Ram Mandir and our swayamsevaks stood by them who stood for the construction…the BJP was there, we supported them. If the Congress was there, that party too. No special affinity to a party, we support rashtra neeti (national policy) and not rajneeti (politics),” he said. He added: “We do not support any political party. We do not participate in vote politics. Sangh works in uniting society and politics by nature is divisive. We keep out of politics. We support policies, now that we are a force, we will exert the force to support right policies, not individual and not a party.” Alignment with Sabka saath sabka vikas? RSS chief Bhagwat- There are people who think like Sangh in that party (BJP). Even today’s opponents they are our potential swayamsevaks of the future. We are already in sabka saath and sabka vikas.
