NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday broke new ground by visiting a mosque and a madrasa for the first time, expanding the organisation’s outreach to the Islamic community.
That the visits happened on a day when the National Intelligence Agency launched a nationwide swoop on activists of the Popular Front of India for alleged acts of terror, indicated an attempt of the Sangh to draw a line between the radical elements and those in the Islamic mainstream.
Bhagwat called on Umer Ahemed IIyasi, head of the All India Imam Organisation, at a mosque in Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg. He then went to the Madrasa Tajweedul Quran in Azadpur. During their hour-long meeting, Bhagwat agreed with Ilyasi that both Hindus and Muslims must work towards national unity.
At the madarasa, IIyasi introduced the RSS chief to the students as Rashtra Pita, but Bhagwat intervened and said there is only one father of the nation, adding “we are Bharat ki santan” (children of Bharat). “With this visit, a message should go that we all want to work towards strengthening India,” IIyasi said.
On August 22, Bhagwat had met five Muslim intellectuals — Najeeb Jung, S Y Quraishi, Zameer Uddin Shah, Shahid Siddiqui and Saeed Shervani.