Yesterday, at the ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’, which is a three-day camp concluding today held at Sharoornagar Stadium in Hyderabad, sarsangchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Mohan Bhagwat said that he regards the entire 130 crore Indian population of India as Hindus irrespective of their religion. But following this, social media was on a frenzy. People accused him of spreading hate agenda and destroying the secular fabric of India. But what they failed to understand was, what were his intentions and the context of his speech.

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According to him, the Sangh considers a person who believes that India is his motherland, unconditionally loves India, its people and everything India as his own, as a Hindu. Anybody who loves and respects the culture and tradition of India and ensures that this culture is reflected in his life, anybody who looks at this creation with friendliness and care for the welfare of all fellow beings is a Hindu. Thus, he said that the entire society belongs to them and that the Sangh aims to build a united society where everybody resides in harmony and love. The swayamsevaks have always worked for the development and success of the nation without any selfish interests. They also have never taken any credit for serving the society, equally. Such are their values and commitment to this nation.

The purpose of the RSS is not to be just another organisation. Rather, it was to organise and strengthen the society and impart the right values: both culturally and socially. People always look towards their leaders and the government for development. But it is the responsibility of the RSS to work for the nation with unwavering dedication without any expectations.

Hinduism is not a religion. It is but a cultural identity. The children of Mother India may be from any part of the country, can speak any language they want to, or may follow any religion or chose to remain an atheist, but they are all Hindus, which makes all 130 crore Indians a Hindu society. Hindus do not believe in unity in diversity. Rather, they search for the unity from which this diversity came as there are many ways to achieve unity. Our country India is always a step ahead with its Hindutvavadi tradition.

Mohan Bhagwat rightly pointed out that the British rule is indeed to be blamed for creating the divide and rule policy which has been the root cause of all problems. He quoted Rabindranath Tagore’s Swadeshi Samaj which emphasised on the unity between Hindus and Muslims. He said that there are a few inherent contradictions between Hindus and Muslims, but the Hindu society is extremely capable to find solutions in a Hindu way to unite the society and thereby, the nation. According to the Hindu culture, people can have different faith, they can chose to believe in religion or not to, but what keeps them together is the Bharatiyata: our culture, our traditions and our selfless love for our nation.

In his speech, Mohan Bhagwat explained that there are three kinds of victories- Ashura, Rajasik and Dharma. People who belong to the Asura category always live in sorrow and spread this around them. They are violent in nature and despite their victory, they will always end up destroying everything around them. People who believe in the Rajasik category, are always self-centred and use others to become rich and are filled with pride. He goes on to lament that the world is filled with Tamasic and Rajasik forces. It is but our Bharatiya culture which is the sole culture capable of achieving Dharma Vijay and an organised Hindu Society can lead the world and can become a Vishwa Guru. It is only people with a Sattvik nature who spread positivity and work for the society constructively and are undeterred by the challenges and constraints they face. It is the success earned this way that will help us achieve Dharma Vijay.

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Thus, we should not jump to conclusions about the Sangh or its ideologies by the clickbait journalism of media houses who believe in creating unnecessary sensation out of nothing. We should rather understand what the RSS stands for. The progressive ideologies of the Sangh are indeed the need of the hour as in times of turmoil, when the country is being torn apart by the leftists and the jihadists, it is but our Bharatiya values that will keep us together as a country and as a society. Indeed, Bharatiyata stands for peace, harmony and unity. Jai hind!

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