All people living in India are Hindus in terms of identity, said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday, explaining his organisation’s philosophy.
Bhagwat was speaking on the third day of his lecture series in Delhi when he explained the RSS’s views on Hinduism, education and caste.
“It’s Indian culture and Hindutva which believe in working with other schools of thought. All people living in India are Hindu in terms of identity and nationality,” Bhagwat said.
“Hinduism is a wrong word–”ism” is a closed concept. Hindutva, Hinduness is not any “ism” but a dynamic process. Gandhi ji has said the endless search for truth is called Hindutva. S Radhakrishnan has said Hindutva is a continous process,” Bhagwat was quoted by the RSS’s Twitter handle as saying.
A Hindu Rashtra (nation) does not envision the exclusion of Muslims and the RSS has not gone against the Constitution and the law of the land, Bhagwat had said on Tuesday, the second day of the lecture series called “Bhavishya ka Bharat – an RSS perspective”.
“We think everyone must abide by the Constitution…The RSS has never gone against the Constitution. (Sure), The words secular and socialist were added later, but now they are there,” he said.
Bhagwat said the concept of a Hindu Rashtra or Hindu nation does not rest on segregation or rejection of any community or faith. “Hindu Rashtra doesn’t mean there’s no place for Muslims. The day it becomes so, it won’t be Hindutva. Hindutva talks about one world family,” Bhagwat said. The RSS is the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
First Published: Sep 19, 2018 18:10 IST
Source: HindustanTimes