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Mohan Bhagwat explains RSS’ stance on cow protection, conversion, reservation and…

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) stance on contentious issues were articulated by Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the organisation on Wednesday, the last-day of an outreach programme.

The three-day lecture series, which ended with Bhagwat answering questions from the audience, was aimed at reaching out to those unfamiliar with the Sangh’s ideology. Excerpts:

Cow protection

It is a crime to take law in one’s own hands and there should be stringent punishment, but there should not be double-speak. Just as voice is raised against incidents of lynching, there should be protests against cow smuggling, too…There are many people involved in cow protection, and these are not the ones who lynch (in the name of cow protection). We should separate the two (groups). Good cow shelters are being run by Muslims, too. There have been experiments in prisons which have found that criminal tendency among the inmates sees a fall if they take care of a cow.

Caste

There is no reason to plan a mechanism for caste system. We must make efforts to eradicate it. Discrimination should end lock, stock and barrel. The Sangh has been working in this direction and results will be visible soon.

Education policy

We need a new education policy, which will hopefully include our value based systems. It is wrong to say that the standard of education is falling; it is the standards of those who teach that are falling. Students think of only earning though education; we are not instilling the sentiment to excel. People get degrees, but are not employable; there are many institutions, but research is dipping and there are fewer teachers… education policy needs a change.

Sanskrit and Hindi

English domination is not by policy, it is because of us. Most people converse in English, we should respect our mother language. It is necessary to preserve all languages, though there is no need to remove English. We need to make efforts to use Indian languages; those who speak Hindi must learn at least one other Indian language. To unite the country, we need to have a common language. The number of Sanskrit schools is dipping because we are not interested, nor is the government. We need to push for literature in Sanskrit.

Women

Women feel unsafe because of the way men look at them. Men need to change the way they look at women. All women, except the wife, are like mothers, these are our values. Women need to be imparted skills in self-reliance and the Sangh’s volunteers are already imparting these lessons.

Laws need to be more stringent and there should be punishment for criminals but society should also do its bit. In many areas women don’t step out and this is because of the prevailing atmosphere. We all need to work on it.

Religious conversion

Conversion should not be based on ulterior motives. If anyone pays someone money to attend the Church, it should be opposed.

Population

The Sangh has a resolution on the issue. While population also provides working hands, there is a need to rethink on certain aspects, after taking into consideration the likely scenario in the next 50 years. Demographic balance should be there…there should be a policy that covers all of it. It (the policy) should be equal, but address problem areas. Migration and conversion also leads to demographic imbalance.

Reservation

RSS backs existing policy. It should continue until such a time that the communities that it is meant for proclaim that it is not required anymore. As for reservation for communities (OBCs and the creamy layer) there are forums to decide on this. Politics of reservation is the problem, not the reservation.

Section 377

They (the LGBT community) are a part of the society. Times are changing and the society has to take a call on such issues, but at the same time, these are not the only pressing issues that are required to be debated.

Minorities

We did not use the word (minorities) before the British arrived. The Sangh has reservation about its usage. If Muslims are scared (of the RSS), I have said ‘come and see it for yourself’. Muslims near a shakha feel safer. What was said in (second RSS Sarsanghchalak MS Golwalkar’s book) ‘Bunch of Thoughts’ is not eternal. It was said in context; and (thoughts) don’t remain static…The politics of shamshaan, kabristan, bhagwa aatankwad is done by those whose only aim is to be in power…politics should be for the good of the people.

Use of NOTA in polls

In a democratic set up, we have to choose the available best. This has been the practice since the Mahabharata time. The available worst get the benefit when we use NOTA (none of the above) option.

First Published: Sep 19, 2018 23:47 IST

Source: HindustanTimes